Community-based organizational membership and climate resilience capabilities building in Northwest Ghana

The impacts of climate change on agro-based rural smallholder households in Ghana’s Savanna ecological zone continue to threaten livelihoods and food security. Community-based organizations (CBOs) and women’s groups are essential for building climate resilience in vulnerable agrarian communities in developing countries, yet they remain under-explored. This study explored whether membership in community-based organizations improves climate resilience in rural farming communities. It investigated whether membership in CBOs significantly predicts households’ self-assessed ability to cope with climate shocks and stresses. It is anchored in the perspective of social and cooperative associational networks as facilitators of resilience building. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design and drew on perceptions from 2,107 household heads across purposively selected districts in the Upper West and Savannah Regions. The study confirmed a strong positive link between membership in CBOs and perceived climate change resilience-building capabilities. However, structural barriers related to land tenure, access to and ownership of assets, and voice significantly reduce the resilience-building capacity of female-headed households compared to male-headed households. The study concludes that climate change adaptation policies targeting rural households must leverage social networks and address structural barriers hindering women’s adaptive capacities. It reinforces the importance of CBOs as social networks as crucial tools for fostering community resilience and development.