Human Vulnerability to Climate Variability in the Sahel: Farmers’ Adaptation Strategies in Northern Burkina Faso

Abstract

In this study, the authors investigate farmers' vulnerability to climate variability and evaluate local adoption of technology and farmers' perceptions of adaptation strategies to rainfall variability and policies. A survey was conducted in a community in northern Burkina Faso following the crop failure of 2004. In 2006, following a better harvest, another survey was conducted to compare farmers' actions and reactions during two contrasted rainy seasons. The results confirm that farmers from this community have substantially changed their practices during the last few decades. They have adopted a wide range of techniques that are intended to simultaneously increase crop yield and reduce yield variability. Micro water harvesting (Zaï) techniques have been widely adopted (41%), and a majority of fields have been improved with stone lines (60%). Hay (48%) and sorghum residues are increasingly stored to feed animals during the dry season, making bull and sheep fattening now a common practice. Dry season vegetable production also involves a majority of the population (60%). According to farmers, most of the new techniques have been adopted because of growing land scarcity and new market opportunities, rather than because of climate variability. Population pressure has reached a critical threshold, while land scarcity, declining soil fertility and reduced animal mobility have pushed farmers to intensify agricultural production. These techniques reduce farmers' dependency on rainfall but are still insufficient to reduce poverty and vulnerability. Thirty-nine percent of the population remains vulnerable after a good rainy season. Despite farmers' desire to remain in their own communities, migrations are likely to remain a major source of regular income and form of recourse in the event of droughts.

Documenting livelihood trajectories in the context of development interventions in northern Burkina Faso

“…This is also true for the shorter meteorological record available for Kongoussi and other stations (West et al 2008). There has been some recent improvement in precipitation and there is great scientific interest regarding Sahelian rainfall recovery and the "greening" of the Sahel (Herrmann et al 2005;Barbier et al 2009). At the time of fieldwork in 2004, however, people consistently expressed their belief that they were in a long-term drought (West 2010).…”

Climate change, food security, and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa

“…In northern Burkina Faso, farmers mentioned land scarcity and new market opportunities, rather than a changing climate, as the main reasons for changing their farming practices. They adapted by using micro-water harvesting techniques, storing hay and sorghum residues to feed livestock, and have adopted dry season vegetable production (Barbier et al 2009). …”

Politiques sur les forêts et l’adaptation aux changements climatiques au Cameroun

“…Ainsi, les ressources des forêts constituent un patrimoine indispensable pour la subsistance des millions de Camerounais qui en dépendent, et aussi pour le développement du pays (Nkem et al 2007, Somorin et Braatz 2007. C' est donc fondamentalement la subsistance des communautés dépendantes des forêts (Barbier et al 2009), le développement national et les activités économiques liées aux forêts qui sont mis en danger par la vulnérabilité des écosystèmes forestiers aux impacts climatiques. L'adaptation des aspects écologiques (l' écosystème lui-même) et des aspects sociaux (les populations et leurs moyens d' existence, tributaires des ressources forestières) de ce système interdépendant s'impose donc (Locatelli et al 2008).…”