Agriculture is predominantly rainfed in Ghana where the climate is dominated by the inter tropical convergence zone and the hot, dry harmattan winds blowing from the Sahara.The south of the country experiences a bimodal rainfall regime, with a major and a minor rainfall season while the north of the country has a unimodal rainfall regime. Climate change scenarios show that mean temperatures in the Savannah Zones, predominantly in the north, can be expected to increase by approximately 2°C by 2050.

This paper reviews the central role of institutions for climate-smart agriculture (CSA), focusing on the role of institutions in promoting inclusivity, providing information, enabling local level innovation, encouraging investment, and offering insurance to enable smallholders, women, and poor resource-dependent communities to adopt and benefit from CSA. We discuss the role of state, collective action, and market institutions at multiple levels, with particular attention to the importance of local-level institutions and institutional linkages across levels.

Cocoa is one of Cameroon’s most important agricultural commodities and exported cash crops, and women are particularly active in the sector. In order to gather more gender sensitive information, GTZ conducted a survey among 1000 Cameroonian male and female producers. The aim of the survey was to determine the extent and consequences of gender inequality in this key agricultural sector, with the rationale that gender inequalities in the agricultural sector hamper potential economic growth in a country where agriculture is so crucial for the economy.