Climate Change Perceptions and Adaptations among Smallholder Farmers in the Mountains of Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Rodriguez Kakule Amani, Bernard Riera, Gerard Imani, Rodrigue Batumike, Noelia Zafra-Calvo and Aida Cuni-Sanchez
Additional contact information
Rodriguez Kakule Amani: Department of Integrated Management of Tropical Forests and Lands, Ecole Régionale Post-Universitaire d’Aménagement et Gestion Intégrés des Forêts et Territoires Tropicaux (ERAIFT), Kinshasa P.O. Box 15373, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Bernard Riera: Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN), Laboratoire d’Ecologie Générale, UMR 7179 Mecadev, 4 av du petit Château, 91800 Brunoy, France
Gerard Imani: Department of Biology, Université Officielle de Bukavu, Bukavu P.O. Box 570, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Rodrigue Batumike: Department of Environmental Sciences, Université du Cinquantenaire Lwiro, Kabare, Bukavu P.O. Box 570, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Noelia Zafra-Calvo: Basque Centre for Climate Change bc3, Scientific Campus of the University of the Basque Country, 48940 Leioa, Spain
Aida Cuni-Sanchez: Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric), Faculty of Landscape and Society, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), P.O. Box 5003, N-1432 Ås, Norway

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: The warming rates in many mountain areas are higher than the global average, negatively impacting crop systems. Little is known about the climatic changes which are already being observed in eastern Democratic Republic (DR) of Congo, due to the lack of long-term meteorological data. Local perceptions could help us to understand not only the climatic changes and impacts but also which adaptation strategies are already being used by local smallholder farmers. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 300 smallholder Bafuliru ( n = 150) and Lega ( n = 150) farmers living in the Itombwe Mountains. The respondents reported climatic changes and impacts, with the Bafuliru—living on the eastern drier slopes—reporting more changes and impacts. While the Bafuliru were implementing several adaptation strategies (e.g., increased irrigation and use of inputs, more soil conservation, more income diversification), the Lega were implementing very few, due to soft limits (access to inputs, markets, and information) and culture (less interest in farming, less capacity to organize into groups). The results highlight important differences in sociocultural contexts, even for one ‘remote’ mountain, calling for a more collaborative approach to adaptation planning and action.

Keywords: adaptation strategies; ethnicity; farmers; Itombwe Mountains; local knowledge; perceptions; wealth group (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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