The five papers in this volume represent a selection of ongoing research on climate change in Ghana. They focus exclusively on agriculture given its significance in Ghana’s economy. The lead off paper is by Ferdinand Mawunya and Samuel Adiku and is entitled, ‘Implications of Climate Change for Agricultural Productivity in Ghana: An Agrometeorological Perspective’. This paper sets the stage for the remaining papers by explaining the process of climate change for the benefit of non-technical readers. What will be the possible impacts of climate change on specific crops grown in Ghana? This question is answered in the paper titled “Assessing the Potential Impact of Climate Change on Maize Production in Two Farming Zones of Ghana Using the CERES-Maize Model”. Maize is a major staple food crop for the majority of Ghanaians and accounts for about 20% of caloric intake. The paper “Climate Change Impacts on Crop Productivity and Possible Adaptations in Ghana” reviews current trends in climate and agriculture in Ghana and assesses how the projected changes in climate will impact on agricultural production. In the fourth paper “ Farmer-Oriented Coping Strategies for Minimizing Climate Variability Impact on Agricultural Production in Ghana” by Samuel Adiku follows up on the study by Olesen et al. by examining how climate variability affects agricultural production in Ghana. He provides empirical evidence of climate variability in terms of changing frequency of extreme events. The projected negative impacts of climate change will not only affect farmers’ crop yields and incomes, but also there will be flow-on effects to the rest of the sectors in the economy as explained in the last paper “The Economic Impacts of Agricultural Productivity Losses Due to Climate Change: Estimates for Ghana and the Policy Implications” .
