Religion as a coping strategy to climate-induced depressive symptoms among farmers in Yapei in Ghana's Savannah Region

Sandra Obiri-Yeboah^1*Adolf Awuku Bekoe²Eric Kofi Doe³

• ¹Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy, College of Humanities, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
• ²Department of Psychology, Methodist University Ghana, Accra, Ghana
• ³Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

In a devastating climate change impact, religion becomes a coping strategy in responding to climate-induced livelihood losses and associated psychological conditions of vulnerable populations. However, there is still a knowledge gap on how vulnerable farmers in impoverished communities use religion as a coping mechanism for managing climate-induced depressive symptoms in Africa. This study aims to explore religion as a response mechanism to climate-induced depressive symptoms of affected people in Yapei in the Central Gonja district of Ghana. The study employed a qualitative research design using 20 in-depth interviews and four (4) focus group discussions. Each FGD comprised ten participants selected based on their experiences of climate-related livelihood losses in Yapei. The study found that climate-related livelihood losses due to flooding and drought caused depressive symptoms, such as the inability to think clearly or eat or sleep well, with suicidal ideation among the study participants. Among both male (75%) and female (25%) participants, the climate-related livelihood losses resulted in these depressive symptoms. However, their beliefs and faith helped them to deal with the losses, which underscored religion as a coping mechanism. A strong belief in God to change the situation provided relief in managing the distress. The study recommends faith-based and mental health-inclusive adaptation strategies and policies to minimize climate-related disaster effects on human well-being.