Estimating Yields of Household Fields in Rural Subsistence Farming Systems to Study Food Security in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Climate change has an increasing impact on food security and child nutrition, particularly among rural smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Their limited resources and rainfall dependent farming practices make them sensitive to climate change-related effects. Data and research linking yield, human health, and nutrition are scarce but can provide a basis for adaptation and risk management strategies. In support of studies on child undernutrition in Burkina Faso, this study analyzed the potential of remote sensing-based yield estimates at household level. Multi-temporal Sentinel-2 data from the growing season 2018 were used to model yield of household fields (median 1.4 hectares (ha), min 0.01 ha, max 12.6 ha) for the five most prominent crops in the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance (HDSS) area in Burkina Faso. Based on monthly metrics of vegetation indices (VIs) and in-situ harvest measurements from an extensive field survey, yield prediction models for different crops of high dietary importance (millet, sorghum, maize, and beans) were successfully generated producing R² between 0.4 and 0.54 (adj. R² between 0.32 and 0.5). The models were spatially applied and resulted in a yield estimation map at household level, enabling predictions of up to 2 months prior to harvest. The map links yield on a 10-m spatial resolution to households and consequently can display potential food insecurity. The results highlight the potential for satellite imagery to provide yield predictions of smallholder fields and are discussed in the context of health-related studies such as child undernutrition and food security in rural Africa under climate change.

“We Will Always Ask Ourselves the Question of How to Feed the Family”: Subsistence Farmers’ Perceptions on Adaptation to Climate Change in Burkina Faso

“…The study by Ndamani and Watanabe indicated that household income, education, and household size influenced farmers’ adaptation to CC in Ghana. The subsistence farmers from the Nouna HDSS area were homogeneous in regards to education level, income, assets and farm size, thus these factors were not integrated in the sampling and analysis [ 5 , 106 ]. With regards to gender, the study targeted interviews with heads of households who are primarily men.…”

“…Climate variability defined as “… variations in the mean state and other statistics (such as the occurrence of extremes…) of the climate on all spatial and temporal scales beyond that of individual weather events ”, constitutes one facet of perceived and experienced climate change for populations [ 4 ]. These events are projected to have a negative impact on the crop yield of farmers in Burkina Faso [ 5 ]. Farmers’ will also face a plethora of direct and indirect CC effects.…”

“…An indirect effect is that of the food and nutritional status of households, for which to this date, there are few studies Mank et al [ 8 ]. Karst, et al [ 5 ], Belesova, et al [ 9 , 10 ], have studied crop yields, rainfall and temperature patterns and childhood malnutrition in the study area, the Kossi province [ 5 , 9 ]. Belesova et al, linked child malnutrition to trends in rainfall and temperature in the study area and projected child deaths from malnutrition till 2100 using climate impact models which reflect a 1.5 warming by the end of the century [ 10 ].…”

“…Belesova et al, linked child malnutrition to trends in rainfall and temperature in the study area and projected child deaths from malnutrition till 2100 using climate impact models which reflect a 1.5 warming by the end of the century [ 10 ]. These studies indicate the importance of agricultural adaptation for the sustainability of subsistence farming populations [ 5 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Climate Change, Health Risks, and Vulnerabilities in Burkina Faso: A Qualitative Study on the Perceptions of National Policymakers

“…Changes to rainfall and yields contribute to one of Burkina Faso’s greatest CC&H vulnerabilities, which lies at the intersection of CC, nutritional and food security, due to the relationship between precipitation and agriculture [ 12 , 13 ]. As CC alters precipitation patterns, the country’s agricultural sector, which employs and serves as a means of subsistence for over 70% of the population, is and will continue to be severely impacted [ 15 , 33 ].…”