Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Farmers’ Perceptions of Climate Change and Agricultural Adaptation Strategies in Rural Sahel

  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Farmers in the Sahel have always been facing climatic variability at intra- and inter-annual and decadal time scales. While coping and adaptation strategies have traditionally included crop diversification, mobility, livelihood diversification, and migration, singling out climate as a direct driver of changes is not so simple. Using focus group interviews and a household survey, this study analyzes the perceptions of climate change and the strategies for coping and adaptation by sedentary farmers in the savanna zone of central Senegal. Households are aware of climate variability and identify wind and occasional excess rainfall as the most destructive climate factors. Households attribute poor livestock health, reduced crop yields and a range of other problems to climate factors, especially wind. However, when questions on land use and livelihood change are not asked directly in a climate context, households and groups assign economic, political, and social rather than climate factors as the main reasons for change. It is concluded that the communities studied have a high awareness of climate issues, but climatic narratives are likely to influence responses when questions mention climate. Change in land use and livelihood strategies is driven by adaptation to a range of factors of which climate appears not to be the most important. Implications for policy-making on agricultural and economic development will be to focus on providing flexible options rather than specific solutions to uncertain climate.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adger WN (1999) Social vulnerability to climate change and extremes in coastal Vietnam. World Development 27:249–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adger N, Agrawala S, Mirza MMQ, Conde C, O'Brien K, Pulhin J, Pulwarty R, Smit B, Takahashi T (2007) Assessment of adaptation practices, options, constraints and capacity. In: Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof JP, van der Linden PJ, Hanson CE (eds) Climate Change 2007: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 717–743

  • Ajibade LT, Shokemi OO (2003) Indigenous approach to weather forecasting in ASA L.G.A., Kwara State, Nigeria. Indilinga-African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems 2:37–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Bharwani S, Bithell M, Downing TE, New M, Washington R, Ziervogel G (2005) Multi-agent modelling of climate outlooks and food security on a community garden scheme in Limpopo, South Africa. Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences 360:2183–2194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butt TA, Mccarl BA, Angerer J, Dyke PT, Stuth JW (2005) The economic and food security implications of climate change in Mali. Climatic Change 68:355–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen, JH, Hewitson B, Busuioc A, Chen A, Gao X, Held I, Jones R, Kolli RK, Kwon W-T, Laprise R, Magaña Rueda V, Mearns L, Menéndez CG, Räisänen J, Rinke A, Sarr A, Whetton P (2007) Regional climate projections. In: Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL (eds) Climate Change 2007: the physical science basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 847–940

  • Davies S (1996) Adaptable livelihoods. Coping with food insecurity in the Malian Sahel. St. Martin’s Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Eakin H (2000) Smallholder maize production and climatic risk: a case study from Mexico. Climatic Change 45:19–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eakin H, Tucker CM, Castellanos E (2005) Market shocks and climate variability: the coffee crisis in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Mountain Research and Development 25:304–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eakin H, Tucker C, Castellanos E (2006) Responding to the coffee crisis: a pilot study of farmers’ adaptations in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. Geographical Journal 172:156–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elmqvist B, Olsson L (2006) Livelihood diversification: continuity and change in the Sahel. GeoJournal 67:167–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gouvernement du Burkina Faso (2007) Programme d’Action National d’Adaptation à la Variabilité et aux Changements Climatiques du Burkina Faso. Ministère de l’Environnement et du Cadre de Vie, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

  • Haarsmaa RJ, Selten FM, Weber SL, Kliphuis M (2005) Sahel rainfall variability and response to greenhouse warming. Geophysical Research Letters 32:1–4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haile M (2005) Weather patterns, food security and humanitarian response in sub-Saharan Africa. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 360:2169–2182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halsnæs K, Verhagen J (2007) Development based climate change adaptation and mitigation—conceptual issues and lessons learned in studies in developing countries. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 12:665–684

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Held IM, Delworth TL, Lu J, Findell KL, Knutson TR (2005) Inaugural Article: Simulation of Sahel drought in the 20th and 21st centuries. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102:17891–17896

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huq S, Reid H, Konate M, Rahman A, Sokona Y, Crick F (2004) Mainstreaming adaptation to climate change in Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Climate Policy 4:25–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurukulasuriya P, Mendelsohn R, Hassan R, Benhin J, Deressa T, Diop M, Eid HM, Fosu KY, Gbetibouo G, Jain S, Mahamadou A, Mano R, Kabubo-Mariara J, El Marsafawy S, Molua E, Ouda S, Ouedraogo M, Sene I, Maddison D, Seo SN, Dinar A (2006) Will African agriculture survive climate change? World Bank Economic Review 20:367–388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lacy S, Cleveland D, Soleri D (2006) Farmer choice of sorghum varieties in Southern Mali. Human Ecology 34:331–353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MEPN (2006) Plan d’Action National pour l’Adaptation aux Changements Climatiques. Minstrère de l’Environnement et de la Protection de la Nature, Dakar

  • Mortimore M (2006) What are the issues? Have the issues change? In: Møllegaard M (ed) Natural resource management in Sahel—lessons learnt. Proceedings of the 17th Danish Sahel Workshop. ReNED, Copenhagen, pp 10–18

  • Mortimore MJ, Adams WM (2001) Farmer adaptation, change and ‘crisis’ in the Sahel. Global Environmental Change-Human and Policy Dimensions 11:49–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Mortimore M, Ba M, Mahamane A, Rostom RS, Serra del Pozo P, Turner B (2005) Changing systems and changing landscapes: measuring and interpreting land use transformations in African drylands. Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography 105:101–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Nyong A, Adesina F, Osman Elasha B (2007) The value of indigenous knowledge in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in the African Sahel. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 12:787–797

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Odada EO, Scholes RJ, Noone K, Mbow C, Ochola WO (2008) A strategy for Global Environmental Change Research in Africa. Science Plan and Implementation Strategy. IGBP Secretariat, Stockholm

  • Reenberg A (1994) Land-use dynamics in the Sahelian zone in eastern Niger—monitoring change in cultivation strategies in drought prone areas. Journal of Arid Environments 27:179–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reenberg A (2001) Agricultural land use pattern dynamics in the Sudan-Sahel-towards an event-driven framework. Land Use Policy 18:309–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reenberg A, Nielsen TL, Rasmussen K (1998) Field expansion and reallocation in the Sahel—land use pattern dynamics in a fluctuating biophysical and socio-economic environment. Global Environmental Change 8:309–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • République du Mali (2007) Programme d’Action National d’Adaptation aux Changements Climatiques. Ministère de l’Equipement et des Transports, Bamako, Mali

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds JF, Smith DMS, Lambin EF, Turner BLII, Mortimore M, Batterbury SPJ, Downing TE, Dowlatabadi H, Fernandez RJ, Herrick JE, Huber-Sannwald E, Jiang H, Leemans R, Lynam T, Maestre FT, Ayarza M, Walker B (2007) Global desertification: building a science for dryland development. Science 316:847–851

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roncoli C, Ingram K, Kirshen P (2001) The costs and risks of coping with drought: livelihood impacts and farmers’ responses in Burkina Faso. Climate Research 19:119–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sivakumar MVK, Das HP, Brunini O (2005) Impacts of present and future climate variability and change on agriculture and forestry in the arid and semi-arid tropics. Climatic Change 70:31–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smit B, Wandel J (2006) Adaptation, adaptive capacity and vulnerability. Global Environmental Change 16:282–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snrech S (1995) Preparing for the future: a vision of West Africa in the year 2020. Summary Report of the West Africa Long Term Perspective Study. OECD—Club du Sahel and CILSS, Paris

  • Thomas D, Twyman C, Osbahr H, Hewitson B (2007) Adaptation to climate change and variability: farmer responses to intra-seasonal precipitation trends in South Africa. Climatic Change 83:301–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tschakert P (2007) Views from the vulnerable: understanding climatic and other stressors in the Sahel. Global Environmental Change 17:381–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verchot L, van Noordwijk M, Kandji S, Tomich T, Ong C, Albrecht A, Mackensen J, Bantilan C, Anupama K, Palm C (2007) Climate change: linking adaptation and mitigation through agroforestry. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 12:901–918

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vincent K (2007) Uncertainty in adaptive capacity and the importance of scale. Global Environmental Change 17:12–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wardell DA, Reenberg A, Tøttrup C (2003) Historical footprints in contemporary land use systems: forest cover changes in savannah woodlands in the Sudano-Sahelian zone. Global Environmental Change-Human and Policy Dimensions 13:235–254

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziervogel G, Bharwani S, Downing TE (2006) Adapting to climate variability: pumpkins, people and policy. Natural Resources Forum 30:294–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was part of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) project. Based on a French initiative, AMMA was built by an international scientific group and is currently funded by a large number of agencies, especially from France, United Kingdom, United States, and Africa. It has been the beneficiary of a major financial contribution from the European Community’s Sixth Framework Research Program. Detailed information on scientific coordination and funding is available on the AMMA International web site: http://www.amma-international.org. The authors are grateful for the support of the provincial authorities in Kaffrine and the hospitality and support of the communities involved.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Ole Mertz & Anette Reenberg

  2. Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, Dakar, Senegal

    Cheikh Mbow & Awa Diouf

Authors
  1. Ole Mertz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cheikh Mbow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anette Reenberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Awa Diouf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ole Mertz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mertz, O., Mbow, C., Reenberg, A. et al. Farmers’ Perceptions of Climate Change and Agricultural Adaptation Strategies in Rural Sahel. Environmental Management 43, 804–816 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9197-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9197-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation