Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the implications of changing agricultural land use for farmers' livelihoods, poverty alleviation, and household food security in the context of globalisation and environmental change, concerns which are central to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Paper long abstract:

Many smallholder farmers in the Jaman North District of Brong-Ahafo Region in Ghana are shifting from food crop production to increased cultivation of cashew, an export cash crop. This paper examines the implications of this changing agricultural land use for farmers' livelihoods, poverty alleviation, and household food security in the context of globalisation and environmental change, concerns which are central to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Using qualitative, participatory research with 60 participants, the research found that farmers valued the additional income stream, but were also apprehensive about the long-term consequences of allocating so much land to cashew plantations and leaving little land available for food crop production. Young, middle and older generations were concerned about food security and the weak bargaining position of cashew farmers in negotiating fair prices with export companies and intermediaries. Greater integration into the global economy exposed farmers to multiple risks, which reflect wider structural inequalities including: the uneven effects of economic globalisation, persistent poverty, rises in food prices, hunger and food insecurity, growing competition for land, global-local power imbalances, gender and generational inequalities, as well as climate change and threats to agricultural sustainability. We argue that the Sustainable Development Goals concerning poverty, hunger, good health, gender equality, reduced inequalities, sustainable agricultural production and adaptation to climate change will only be met if there is greater understanding about the complex interactions between sustainable food systems, changing land use and poverty alleviation in particular places.