Observed climate trends, perceived impacts and community adaptation practices in Côte d’Ivoire

Kouassi Jean-Luc (), Wandan Narcisse and Mbow Cheikh
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Kouassi Jean-Luc: Laboratoire Science, Société et Environnement, UMRI Sciences Agronomiques et Génie Rural, Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny, BP 1093 Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire
Wandan Narcisse: Laboratoire Science, Société et Environnement, UMRI Sciences Agronomiques et Génie Rural, Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny, BP 1093 Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire
Mbow Cheikh: Centre de Suivi Ecologique, BP 15532 Dakar-Fann, Dakar, Sénégal

Environmental & Socio-economic Studies, 2022, vol. 10, issue 3, 43-58

Abstract: Climate change is a serious threat to local communities in West Africa. This study evaluated climatic trends and the perceptions of farmers to climate change in central Côte d’Ivoire. We surveyed 259 households across three agro-ecological zones. The knowledge of farmers about climate change was compared to observed trends of various climatic parameters from meteorological records (1973-2016). Results from trend analysis and descriptive analysis showed that the minimum, maximum and mean temperatures and rainfall showed a significant upward trend in all ecoregions. The average temperature and amount of rainfall increased by 3.2% (0.89°C) and 166.58% (645.5 mm) respectively over the 44 years. Local farmers perceived an increasing trend in temperature (all respondents) and a decreasing trend in rainfall (91.51%). Most of the respondents identified deforestation (76.83%), natural climate variation (50.97%) and wildfires (31.27%) as the main causes of these climatic disturbances, which induced plant dieback (92.66%), poor crop growth (59.46%) and crop loss (20.46%). The impacts on people and their assets encompassed a decrease in household income (63.71%), demolition of roofs (44..4%) and walls (43.91%) of houses, the scarcity of water points (39.38%) and the emergence of new diseases (30.89%). These climatic disturbances resulted in specific endogenous on-farm and off-farm strategies to adapt to the impacts of observed changes on their livelihoods.

Keywords: climate change; local perception; coping strategies; rural livelihoods; smallholder agriculture; N’Zi River Watershed (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:enviro:v:10:y:2022:i:3:p:43-58:n:3

DOI: 10.2478/environ-2022-0016

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