Drought can Make Farmers Feel Worried and Hopeless: Ghana Study Finds Social Networks Help
Droughts are a familiar hardship in Ghana’s semi-arid north, where rainfall is erratic and agriculture is the mainstay of rural economies. The economic and environmental effects of drought have been well documented. But less attention is paid to its psychological toll on farmers and their families.
We conducted a study in the Talensi district of Ghana’s Upper East region to assess the impact of drought on the mental wellbeing of peri-urban farmers in semi-arid Ghana. We are a multidisciplinary team of scholars working in the area of resilience, sustainability and more recently psychological wellbeing.
We also investigated whether social capital (people’s social support networks) affected the impact of drought on three mental health outcomes: depression, anxiety and stress.
Based on a survey of 507 farmers, we found that prolonged periods of drought were strongly linked to increased levels of depression, anxiety and stress.
Our research also offers hope, however: personal social capital reduced the severity of these mental health impacts.
Our findings offer important insights for policymakers, especially in the context of climate change, which is intensifying drought conditions in the region. This study is among the first in Ghana – and the broader west African region – to empirically examine the mental health effects of drought on farmers using validated psychological tools.
It opens a crucial conversation about how vulnerability in the era of climate change is addressed. Our study demonstrates that climate adaptation planning is incomplete without integrating psychological wellbeing.
Vulnerabilities
Droughts are slow-onset disasters. Their effects accumulate gradually. But their impact on livelihoods and psychological resilience is deep.
In northern Ghana, where rain-fed agriculture dominates, even short delays in rainfall can trigger food insecurity, livestock losses and economic instability.
In the Talensi district, where we conducted the study, average annual rainfall is around 950mm. But it’s poorly distributed and increasingly erratic. The land has shallow, gravelly soil that has low moisture retention. These environmental conditions, compounded by the lack of irrigation infrastructure, make farmers highly vulnerable to climatic shocks.
For the study, we randomly selected 507 farmers across two communities – Awaredone and Yameriga. These communities combine crop cultivation with livestock rearing. Farmers cultivated mainly millet, rice, maize, cowpea and soybeans. Livestock were cattle, sheep and goats. We conducted our survey between September 2022 and March 2023. We used a combination of validated psychological scales and structured interviews in local languages to assess the impact of drought on mental health outcomes. We then used structural equation modelling to model our findings.
Our results were striking.
Stress levels
Our statistical modelling showed a significant link between the severity of the effects of drought and elevated levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Farmers experiencing longer or more intense drought periods were more likely to report psychological distress.
Many farmers spoke about the hopelessness they felt when they watched their crops wither, or their animals die. They also spoke of the weight of not being able to provide food or income for the household.
Farmers reported symptoms such as insomnia, irritability, persistent worry, and even suicidal thoughts.
As one farmer we interviewed put it:
When the rains fail, it is not just the crops that die. Sometimes, our spirits die too. But when a neighbour shares food or even just listens, it brings life back.
Not all farmers were equally affected. Those with strong social support networks – including relationships with family, friends, neighbours and community groups – reported better mental health outcomes, even when they experienced the same drought conditions.
This is where the concept of personal social capital comes in. It refers to the resources – emotional, informational, or material – that individuals can access through their social relationships. In rural and peri-urban Ghana, this might mean receiving food from a neighbour, emotional support from relatives, or shared labour during the farming season.
Social capital acted as a buffer, we found. It moderated the relationship between drought and mental health outcomes. In other words, farmers with strong social ties were better equipped to cope with the psychological impacts of drought.
Why it matters
We conclude from our findings that combining social capital with other forms of capital – human, physical, financial and natural – alongside sustainable livelihood diversification programmes could reduce the underlying issues that make people vulnerable to the mental health impacts of drought.
This points to an urgent need to include mental health in disaster response and climate adaptation planning. As climate change intensifies, droughts are expected to become more frequent and severe in Ghana’s northern regions.
We argue that interventions should not only focus on boosting agricultural productivity or providing technical training. Instead, a more integrated approach is needed – one that combines climate adaptation with mental health support and community mobilisation. This is particularly relevant for the region, where health services are overstretched and mental health is often a taboo subject.
Therefore, enhancing social capital – through savings groups, farmer cooperatives, or traditional mutual aid networks – can improve psychological resilience. In practical terms, this might mean strengthening farmer-based organisations, promoting inclusive governance, and incorporating mental health education into climate adaptation services.
Donors and NGOs can also play a role by supporting psychosocial support programmes that are culturally sensitive and locally grounded.
If left unaddressed, the psychological burdens of drought could erode the social fabric of farming communities, reduce productivity, and trap households in cycles of poverty and distress. But if we recognise the value of social support systems – and invest in them – we can build more resilient, healthier communities.
