The Role of Local Level Institutional Arrangements in Climate Change Adaptation of Rural Dwellers in Northern Ghana

Abstract Literature on the contribution of local level institutions to the development of collective response strategies to socio-ecological change is limited. In this article, the role of local-level institutional arrangements in developing and mobilising stocks of adaptive capacity is examined. Using Focus Group Discussion and Interviews, participants drawn from 7 communities in the Saboba district of Ghana were engaged on the local level institutional arrangements, their impacts on climate change adaptation and their effects on the climate change decision making of rural dwellers in the district. Using the qualitative content analysis technique to analyse the data, it was evident that local level institutional arrangements impacted the practise of adaptation strategies both negatively and positively. The positive impacts included serving as a channel for conflict resolution and mediation, source of security, and source of unity, and the negative impacts included the following: corrupt tendencies, loss of income, higher cost of production, decreased output, and high cost of shea nuts. The study also showed that the impacts of these institutional arrangements influenced climate change adaptation decisions making on: acquisition of land and trees; sharing of profits; and purchasing of shea nuts for processing into butter. The study concluded that institutional arrangements at the local level are critical for climate change adaptation, which is a key response mechanism for rural communities threatened by climate change impacts.