The impact of adoption intensity of climate change adaptation strategies on livelihood outcomes of smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana

Given the growing impact of climate variability on agricultural output, it is essential to understand how adaptation strategies can sustain the livelihoods of smallholder cocoa farmers. This study identifies the adaptation strategies employed by cocoa farmers and determines the impact of adoption intensity of the strategies on their income and food security using cross-sectional data from 600 respondents in the Ashanti, Western, and Western North regions of Ghana. A doubly robust multivalued inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (MIPWRA) procedure was employed on food security (food consumption score) and income. From the estimation procedure, we observe that cocoa farmers who adopted a moderate or high number of adaptation strategies experienced statistically significant improvements in income per hectare (about 5–12%) and food consumption scores (about 11–15%) compared with those who adopted few strategies. The result indicates that employing multiple adaptation strategies is associated with better livelihood outcomes, particularly in terms of income generation and food security. Policies that promote broader adoption and diffusion of adaptation strategies are needed to boost cocoa productivity, improve food security, increase incomes, and enhance the adaptive capacity among cocoa farmers in Ghana.