International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN: 2319-7064 ResearchGate Impact Factor (2018): 0.28 | SJIF (2018): 7.426 Volume 8 Issue 10, October 2019 www.ijsr.net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Assessing the Impact of Change in Rainfall and Temperature on Crop Yields (Maize and Cassava) in Some Selected Areas in Ghana Wisdom Osabutey 1 , Yuan Shaofeng 2 , Xu Jianchun 3 , Patrick Gbolonyo 4 Zhejiang Gongshang University, Xiasha Educational District, Hangzhou, China Abstract: The agriculture sector is the largest source of employment for Ghanaians and is dominated by smallholder farmers. Not much technical knowledge or scientific skills arerequired for individual local farming, this makes agricultural the major driver of poverty reduction. However, agricultural growth heavily depends on climatic variables such as rainfall patterns, atmospheric temperature, etc. the current growth is still driven by land expansion. The objective of this paper was to investigate the impact and relationship between the climatic variables mentioned above on crop yield such as maize crop and cassava crops. The said crops were selected the among the top local food crops cultivated in almost every district. In other to examine the relationship between the climatic variables on crop yield, regressionmodel’s analysis was used. The significate p-value were set at 5%. We observe that there is a statistically significant difference between rainfall, temperature and area per hectare on crop yield in the three selected districts in Ghana. The results indicate that in Kwahu South district average temperature has a statistically significant relationship on crop yield (maize yield). Also, in Offinso North district, there is an indication that average temperature, average rainfall and area per hectare has a statistically significant relationship on crop yield (cassava yield). We also found that in Twifo Praso district area per hectare has a statistically significant relationship on crop yield (cassava yield). Food insecurity, and some policy plans to reduce food insecurity were also highlighted. Keywords: Crop yield, Regression, Temperature, Rainfall, Maize, Cassava, area per hectare 1. Introduction Globally, various climatic studies have estimated a reduction of crop yields due to changes in surface temperature and precipitation especially for the developing countries which is heavily dependent on agriculture and lacks resources to counter the negative effects of climate change (A.KikoyoJoelNobert, 2016). In Ghana agriculture plays a vital role in the socio-economic development of the district and the region at large, it contributes 10 percent to the national revenue (Ghana Statistical Service, 2014). Maize and cassava are some of the most important cereals crops in the whole of Africa and they are key crops for Ghana’s agriculture due their diversity in use. Ghana’s agricultural sector has and continues to be the largest sector of the Ghanaian economy since independence(Ghana Statistical Service, 2014). Crop framing is traditionally cultivated without any sophisticated equipment or skills. Hence this paper considers it very important to assess the factors that affect the yields of these crops. The relationship between crop yield and water supply traditionally has been based on empirical production functions which cannot be extrapolated reliably beyond the location for which they were developed (Foster e.a., 2017). (Weldearegay & Tedla, 2018)Said Food availability is diminished by change in agricultural productivity, decreasing in rainfall quantity and lands devoted for crop production. Food availability decline is an attribute of environmental tribulation like rainfall, atmospheric temperature, population and fluctuation in food price (Weldearegay & Tedla, 2018). However, a community where their livelihood is substance farming, rainfall is the main determinate for food production (Weldearegay & Tedla, 2018). According to (Ghana Statistical Service, 2014) published about Twifopraso estimated, 72 percent of households are engaged in agriculture. Nearly nine outof every ten households (85.7) in the rural areas as compared with about 14.3 percent ofhouseholds in the urban areas are engaged in agriculture. Majority of these farmers (86.6) are involved in crop farming. This study aimed at finding answers to the following research questions 1) How does the change in rainfall and temperature affects crop yield? 2) How significate is that impact if it does at all? 3) Does rainfall have any relationship with temperature? 4) How significate is the relationship of rainfall on temperature, if it does. Research and policy debates on the world’s drylands are increasingly focused on the challenges of undertaking coupled human-environmental assessments (Antwi-Agyei, Fraser, Dougill, Stringer, & Simelton, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to use regression model to show the relationship between climatic variables (Rainfall and Temperature) in some selected areas in Ghana. The paper also observed the relations of rainfall and temperature on crop yield in those selected areas in Ghana. Twifopraso TwifoAtti-Morkwa District is one of the twenty administrative districts in the central region of Ghana(Ghana Statistical Service, 2014). The district has a soil type soils developed over granite that are well drained and respond well to phosphorus fertilizer application. They can be found in the northern part of the district around Mampoma, Morkwa, Agona and Nkwankyemaso. They are excellent for the cultivation of tree crops such as cocoa, oil palm, citrus, and coffee, and food crops such as plantain, cocoyam, banana, maize and cassava(Ghana Statistical Service, 2014). Paper ID: ART20201578 10.21275/ART20201578 316