Training Handbook for Climate-adaptive, Resilient Livelihoods: Empowering Women and Transforming Gender Relations in the Volta Delta, Ghana

This training handbook has been prepared as a means of strengthening the resilience of women in rural Ghana. It is intended to be used by facilitators to build women’s capacity to use land more productively, generate improved financial returns, and add value to the agricultural sector by: processing agricultural products, accessing microfinance and, strengthening management practices. This handbook was originally developed as a guide for training women and other groups of people who face local climate change impacts and related economic challenges in Ghana’s Volta delta region. Following the handbook’s use in this original context, this edition has been prepared for more wider use throughout Ghana. In the Volta delta region, coastal erosion and the salinisation of groundwater and lagoons have adversely affected communities’ fishing and agricultural livelihoods. The lack of opportunities to earn a living locally has led to the migration of able-bodied males, and the highest number of female-headed households in Ghana. Women are left to take care of their families. At the same time, the patrilineal inheritance system in the Volta region makes it difficult for them to access and hold tenure over land.