People in northern Ghana face an increasing number of challenges such as social change,
political neglect, globalization and a lack of income generating alternatives. On top of this
difficult situation they have to adapt to an increasing number of extreme climatic events that
threaten the income from rainfed agriculture, their most important livelihood strategy.
Hundreds of small multi-purpose reservoirs were built during the past 60 years to help
the rural population deal with the difficult environmental conditions by enhancing flexibility
and diversifying income sources. Fisheries in these reservoirs were assumed to be a rather
incidental benefit. Growing uncertainty and difficulty in organizing a livelihood make it
necessary to consider all of the possible uses of small reservoirs, including the use of small
reservoirs for fisheries. This study aims to contribute to the resilience of the rural poor in the
Upper East Region of Ghana to environmental disturbances through improved understanding of
the potentials of fisheries in small reservoirs. Resilience is thereby understood as the potential to
create opportunities for doing new things, for innovation and development, even, or especially,
during times of disturbance or crisis.