Combining Feminist Political Ecology and Participatory Diagramming to Study Climate Information Service Delivery and Knowledge Flows among Smallholder Farmers in Northern Ghana

Citation:

Nyantaki-Frimpong, Hanson. 2019. “Combining Feminist Political Ecology and Participatory Diagramming to Study Climate Information Service Delivery and Knowledge Flows among Smallholder Farmers in Northern Ghana.” Applied Geography 112: 1-17.

Author: Hanson Nyantaki-Frimpong

Abstract:

Using innovative diagramming and a feminist political ecology (FPE) approach, this paper examines gender, power, and equity considerations in the delivery of climate information service (CIS) to smallholder farmers. Based upon a multi-method triangulation fieldwork involving a survey (n = 998), participatory listing and scoring activities (n = 82), and network diagramming (n = 180), the paper illuminates several structural barriers to acquiring CIS. These barriers include gender norms and expectations, patriarchal values, time poverty, and the format in which technical climate forecasts are presented to illiterate farmers. Another key finding is the multiple subject positions beyond gender within which women are embedded, such as the intersection of seniority, religion, class, and positions within households, that further reconfigure access to CIS. In addition to contributing to emerging intersectional research in FPE, the paper proposes innovative ways of studying household relations and politics. More specifically, it illustrates how feminist political ecologists could deploy participatory network diagramming to provide a nuanced, powerful, and graphic account of subtle politics at the household scale.

Keywords: climate information service, smallholder farmers, gender, participatory diagramming, feminist political ecology, Ghana

Topics: Age, Class, Agriculture, Environment, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Households, Intersectionality, Religion Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Ghana

Year: 2019