Current Institutional Affiliation
Teaching Assistant, INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES, University of Ghana, Legon

Award Information

Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa: Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Fellowship 2014
Institutional Affiliation (at time of award):
INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES, University of Ghana
EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON SOCIAL NETWORKS AND GENDER INEQUALITY AND THE IMPLICATION FOR FOOD SECURITY IN FISHING COMMUNITIES IN GHANA.

Men and women experience climate change differently. In most developing countries where economic as well as socio-cultural constraints restrict women`s access to paid employment, their livelihood is made dependant on climate sensitive sectors such as subsistence agriculture (Skinner 2011). Therefore, a change in weather patterns of these countries, as are being currently experienced, can lead to hardship for most women because of their dependence on these sectors as sources of livelihood. The present study seeks to examine the complex ways in which fisher folks in Anomabu, a fishing community in Ghana, network for resources through social interactions as adaptation strategies to climate change. It will explore how climatic changes being experienced in the fishing communities work through existing gender inequalities to make women and children more vulnerable to climate change. It will further examine the implication of these changes for development and food security in the communities and what policies can be adopted to address them. A mixed research methods approach will be used for the study and will involve: in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation for the qualitative component and household survey, using questionnaire as the research instrument in the fishing communities.

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