Sustainability analysis of observed climate change adaptation strategies in maize farming in Benin, West Africa

Abstract

The aim of this article was to analyse possible relationships between observed climate change adaptations as developed by farmers and the sustainability level of their production systems. The sustainability levels were measured through a participatory indicators-based approach. A tri-variate Tobit regression model including the observed climate change adaptations as explanatory variables was specified to analyse the main drivers of the measured sustainability levels. Data collection was conducted by survey methods on 336 maize producers randomly sampled and interviewed based on a questionnaire in North Benin. The results highlighted that farmers’ socio-economic characteristics such as contact with extension services, organization membership, access to credit, farm size and observed climate change adaptations such as on-farm diversification, land use changes and other adaptations were found to be the major driving forces underlying the sustainability level of maize farming systems. Among the observed climate change adaptations, on-farm diversification and land use change strategies were found to be sustainable options, whereas other adaptations such as change of activity (e.g. on-farm to off-farm activity), migration to another agro-ecological zone, prayers and access to credit appeared to be unsustainable options.

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