Global Journal of Science Frontier Research, H: Environment & Earth Science, Volume 23 Issue 5

© 2023 Global Journals 1 Year 2023 55 Global Journal of Science Frontier Research Volume XXIII Issue ersion I VV ( H ) Addressing Security Risk Caused by Climate Change Across Nations: The Role of Non-State Policy Actors Table 1: Role of NGOs in Adapting to Climate Change Impact in Northern Ghana The second case study sought to assess the role and contribution of non-state actors in addressing security threats posed by climate change with a special emphasis on how NGOs address food security threats in Northern Ghana. An analysis of the empirical literature suggests that non-state actors in the form of NGOs have been influential in helping farmers to mitigate and adapt to the nuances of climate change impacts. The various activities of the NGOs have been presented in themes below: Addressing maturity issues A major challenge posed by climate change has been the variable rainfall pattern which in recent times appears unpredictable. In other words, farmers find it difficult to determine when exactly the rains may set in and when they will cease dropping. Sometimes the rains cease at a premature period and crops which are yet to mature may suffer destruction and farmer losses whilst an eventual food crisis may occur. How do we get this challenge resolved? Non-state actors in the form of NGOs operating in Northern Ghana have been responding to this challenge by providing crops with shorter maturity periods to farmers so that even if the rains cease to flow prematurely, the crops would have reached harvest season by that time. These crops have earlygestation times to be adopted to cope with the change in rainfall pattern. Farmer Education, sensitization, and extension services to farmers Knowledge is power and the provision of relevant climate information services to farmers goes a long way to help them understand the key issues, and occurrences, and how to navigate them. Smallholder farmers have held on to traditional or indigenous knowledge and procedures of farming for a longer period; in the wake of climate change impacts, there at times is the need to adapt by altering farm practices and farming methods that can withstand the new conditions of the time. Consequently, the relevant NGOs tend to provide farmers with new and drought-resistant methods of farming that can stand climate change conditions. These have been beneficial to smallholder farmers. Product marketing A major challenge faced by smallholder farmers has been post-harvest losses which have been exacerbated by climate change where the life span of many crops tends to reduce. Access to the ready market, therefore, has become an important aspect in the value chain without which there will be serious food security threats exacerbated by climate change. What the NGOs do is facilitate access to wider markets so that smallholder farmers can easily local consumers for their products. In many cases also motivate farmers to identify potential markets and entities that will demand their products ahead of farming. Value addition and income-generating activities The NGOs tend to inspire smallholder farmers to add value to their raw farm products by processing raw materials such as cassava into ‘gari’ and rice into ‘parboiled’ rice. Processing the crops reduces their vulnerability to side effects of climate change and their susceptibility to becoming unwholesome. The processed products also tend to have higher price value which will augment the social and economic side of farmers. Provision of Insurance Package Due to the uncertainty that may surround crop planting and their survival due to the unpredictable nature of rainfall, smallholder farmers mostly tend to run at a loss when the unfortunate happens. Many people tend to be discouraged or even if they would, may not put in their all because of this possibility. To address this challenge, NGOs have introduced farmers to and encouraged them to adopt the practice of ‘’crop insurance’’. It must be noted that this technique has not been very popular or on a wider scale due to the fact that it is coupled with some key complexities such as requiring farmers to painfully record rainfall patterns in their farmlands to get enough proof to substantiate their claim that their crops did not yield better because of poor rains and drought which will be the basis to get the claims from their insurers. More challenging the gadget to help farmers keep records of rainfall that their farmlands receive is not readily available to them. Better water management In view of the erratic rainfall pattern, it has become imperative for farmers to be educated and encouraged to make bunding or barricades in the farmlands to retain water for some time after rains. The retained water in the farmlands could improve the amount of water in the soil. The adaptation measure was rated high among all the International NGOs that were included in the study. Access to water for farming A crucial role played by NGOs in addressing climate change food security threats has been water issues and making sure crops have access to water for reasonable farming. On some occasions, they educate and train farmers on how to deploy barricades to store water in the farms when during the rainy season which will be put to use when the rains cease prematurely. Another way by which they help in water provisioning has been the