Religion, Climate Change, and Food Security in Africa: Religion, Food Security, and Resilience of Rural People in Ghana

Agriculture in Ghana is mainly characterized by small farm sizes of less than two hectares that are mostly farmed by rural folks, including women and girls. For most of these people, whose main source of income is farming, climate change is one of the greatest threats to livelihoods and food security. Higher temperatures, frequent flooding, drought, and erratic rainfall patterns, among others, are major challenges to small-scale farming. There is a need for resilience of rural people to help them to adapt to external and internal factors while transforming existing conditions to become more food secure. Using the biblical pattern in the Book of Genesis (chapters 12 and 26) regarding the farming activities of Abraham and Isaac in times of drought as a basis, we draw semblance to modern-day difficulties facing agriculture in terms of climate change and its associated problems. Resilience encompasses three main aspects: adaptability, transformation, and persistence. These three concepts are portrayed in the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac and can be translated into today’s rural agricultural farming in Ghana to address the problem of food security. We employ both qualitative and quantitative data analysis and use primary and secondary data to draw conclusions and make recommendations.