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A Study of Rural Senegalese Attitudes and Perceptions of Their Behavior to Changes in the Climate

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Abstract

Semi-structured focus group discussions were employed to capture rural Senegalese attitudes and perceptions of their behavior to changes in the climate and their land use and livelihood strategies. Seven focus groups stratified by gender, ethnicity (Wolof and Peulh) and dominant production system (cultivators and pastoralists) in five villages in semi-arid northern Senegal revealed seven main themes. Rural livelihoods remain predominantly based on rainfall dependant practices, and although cultivators and pastoralists had a clear appreciation of changes in natural resources compared to a perceived more favorable past, few adaptive coping strategies beyond established ones were advocated. The seven themes are discussed in detail and their implications for rural livelihoods under future long term climate predictions discussed with the implications of this study for the development of scenarios of future land cover land use.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by NASA grant NNX07A052H. We would like to thank Dr. Assize Touré and other colleagues at the Centre de Suivi Ecologique, for their institutional support and Dr. Kjeld Rasmussen, and the anonymous reviewers for their comments. We are grateful to the Senegalese village communities involved for their hospitality and contribution in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geographic Information Science Center of Excellence, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, 57007-3510, USA

    Amadou M. Dieye & D. P. Roy

Authors
  1. Amadou M. Dieye
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  2. D. P. Roy
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Correspondence to Amadou M. Dieye.

Appendix: Moderator Guide Open End Discussion Questions

Appendix: Moderator Guide Open End Discussion Questions

  1. 1.

    Opening question: First, I’d like you to introduce yourself to the group and briefly tell everyone who you are and what you do.

  2. 2.

    Introductory question: I’d like you to each discuss if you think the weather, has changed since you were a child and do you think it will change in the future?

  3. 3.

    Was there any unusual weather recently?

  4. 4.

    If there was any unusual weather recently do you think it was like the old days, like when you were a lot younger?

  5. 5.

    If there was any unusual weather recently did you benefit or suffer from it?

  6. 6.

    What I would like you to discuss now is the types of crops that you plant: Why do you plant those types of crops? Are there any other factors other than the land and the weather that affect what crops are planted?

  7. 7.

    How do you know when in the year to prepare the land and when to plant and harvest the crops?

  8. 8.

    What do you do if there is not enough rain? What do you do if there is too much rain?

  9. 9.

    If you look after livestock, what kinds and why those kinds of livestock?

  10. 10.

    When do you know when in the year to move the livestock and how do you know where to move them to?

  11. 11.

    For how long do you usually leave the village with your livestock and what routes do you take?

  12. 12.

    How else do you make a living other than crops and livestock and how much of your time is spent doing that?

  13. 13.

    I’d like to hear, what do you do when it’s a bad season for the crops and the livestock or if there are a succession of bad seasons?

  14. 14.

    What do you do when it’s a good season, do you change the way that you use the land ?

  15. 15.

    Ending question 1: Imagine you are talking to the number one decision maker in the government. What would you advise him or her to help you use the land better?

  16. 16.

    Ending question 2: Is there any information that you need?

  17. 17.

    Ending question 3: Have we missed anything?

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Dieye, A.M., Roy, D.P. A Study of Rural Senegalese Attitudes and Perceptions of Their Behavior to Changes in the Climate. Environmental Management 50, 929–941 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-012-9932-4

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