Human Vulnerability to Climate Variability in the Sahel: Farmers’ Adaptation Strategies in Northern Burkina Faso

In this study, the authors investigate farmers’ vulnerability to climate variability and evaluate local adoption of technology and farmers’ perceptions of adaptation strategies to rainfall variability and policies. A survey was conducted in a community in northern Burkina Faso following the crop failure of 2004. In 2006, following a better harvest, another survey was conducted to compare farmers’ actions and reactions during two contrasted rainy seasons. The results confirm that farmers from this community have substantially changed their practices during the last few decades. They have adopted a wide range of techniques that are intended to simultaneously increase crop yield and reduce yield variability. Micro water harvesting (Zaï) techniques have been widely adopted (41%), and a majority of fields have been improved with stone lines (60%). Hay (48%) and sorghum residues are increasingly stored to feed animals during the dry season, making bull and sheep fattening now a common practice. Dry season vegetable production also involves a majority of the population (60%). According to farmers, most of the new techniques have been adopted because of growing land scarcity and new market opportunities, rather than because of climate variability. Population pressure has reached a critical threshold, while land scarcity, declining soil fertility and reduced animal mobility have pushed farmers to intensify agricultural production. These techniques reduce farmers’ dependency on rainfall but are still insufficient to reduce poverty and vulnerability. Thirty-nine percent of the population remains vulnerable after a good rainy season. Despite farmers’ desire to remain in their own communities, migrations are likely to remain a major source of regular income and form of recourse in the event of droughts.     

Stakeholders’ Perceptions of GM Technology in West Africa: Assessing the Responses of Policymakers and Scientists in Ghana and Nigeria

The perception of two key stakeholders such as policymakers and scientists on genetic modification (GM) technology was examined in Ghana and Nigeria using semi-structured interviews. A total sample of 20 policymakers (16 at ministries and 4 at parliament/cabinet) and 58 scientists (43 at research institutes and 15 at universities) participated at the interviews. This study revealed respondents perspectives on potential benefits and risks of GM technology, status and development of biosafety regulatory frameworks, role of science and technology innovation in agricultural development, intellectual property right and related issues. The study also shed some light on a possible influence of the European Union and United States in the development and potential adoption of GM technology. More importantly, the article suggests that most respondents including policymakers believe that GM technology has great potential to solve part of agricultural problems in both countries. But, lack of appropriate regulatory framework, lack of trained personnel, weak institutions and poor equipped laboratory among others represent a significant challenge in introducing GM technology in this part of Africa.     

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

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.     

Herders’ Perceptions of and Responses to Climate Change in Northern Pakistan

Migratory pastoralism is an adaptation to a harsh and unstable environment, and pastoral herders have traditionally adapted to environmental and climatic change by building on their in-depth knowledge of this environment. In the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, and particularly in the arid and semiarid areas of northern Pakistan, pastoralism, the main livelihood, is vulnerable to climate change. Little detailed information is available about climate trends and impacts in remote mountain regions; herders’ perceptions of climate change can provide the information needed by policy makers to address problems and make decisions on adaptive strategies in high pastoral areas. A survey was conducted in Gilgit–Baltistan province of Pakistan to assess herders’ perceptions of, and adaptation strategies to climate change. Herders’ perceptions were gathered in individual interviews and focus group discussions. The herders perceived a change in climate over the past 10–15 years with longer and more intense droughts in summer, more frequent and heavier snowfall in winter, and prolonged summers and relatively shorter winters. These perceptions were validated by published scientific evidence. The herders considered that the change in climate had directly impacted pastures and then livestock by changing vegetation composition and reducing forage yield. They had adopted some adaptive strategies in response to the change such as altering the migration pattern and diversifying livelihoods. The findings show that the herder communities have practical lessons and indigenous knowledge related to rangeland management and adaptation to climate change that should be shared with the scientific community and integrated into development planning.     

Smallholder farmers’ coping and adaptation strategies to climate change and variability in the central highlands of Ethiopia

This study describes the different coping and adaptation strategies used by smallholder farmers to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change and variability in the central highlands of Ethiopia. A distinction was made between coping and adaptation strategies, respectively, as short-term and longer term measures. The study surveyed 200 farm households in three districts, and three focus group discussions and three key informant interviews were conducted in each district. All the surveyed farmers perceived at least one aspect of change in the local climate. Their perception of an increasing trend of temperature was supported by meteorological records, while their perception of declining annual rainfall was not supported by actual records in two of the three districts, where positive trends in rainfall were observed. Farmers identified changes in rainfall and drought as their major climate change-related risks. In response, farmers used different strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change and variability. The most widely used coping strategy was selling livestock (85% of the respondents), followed by changing consumption pattern (76% of the respondents). Changing crop planting dates was the most preferred adaptation option (89% of the respondents), while irrigation as an adaptation strategy was used only by 10% of the surveyed farmers. Shortage of water for irrigation (83% of the respondents) and shortage of money to buy necessary inputs (77% of the respondents) were the major barriers to effective adaptation frequently cited in the study area. We conclude that adaptation policy should build on existing coping and adaptation strategies and focus on addressing barriers to the adoption of coping and adaptation measures at different scales.     

Consumer Choice and Farmers’ Markets

The increasing popularity of local food consumption can be attributed to the heightened awareness of food safety concerns, carbon emissions produced from food transportation, and an understanding of how large corporations’ obtain their food supplies. Although there is increasing discussion on both the local and organic food movement independently, there is not a wide availability of literature examining the motivations and perceptions of consumers with regard to farmers’ markets. Issues such as perceptions about what type of food consumers are purchasing at markets, nor the main motivations for frequenting such establishments are discussed. Therefore the purpose of this study was to determine consumer motivations, benefits, and perceptions of farmers’ markets. Using the case study location of Toronto, Canada, this study surveyed 300 participants during the fall of 2011. Findings indicated that the main purpose for visiting famers’ markets is not solely to fulfill grocery needs. Quality of products offered and the ability to support the local community were the primary motivators to visit the markets.     

Farmers’ markets – linking food consumption and the ecology of food production?

Urban and industrialised societies usually involve little connection between consumers and the resource base upon which the production of goods depends. Changing this situation could potentially enhance social and ecological sustainability. This study explored ecological aspects of the educational role of local food supply, with the aim of identifying signs of enhanced consumer understanding or awareness of the ecology of food production resulting from producer–consumer interaction. A series of qualitative interviews were carried out with customers at a farmers’ market in Stockholm. The results showed that the interviewees were mainly concerned with quality, price and taste, and not production conditions. In addition, a number of interviewees experienced a sense of trust when shopping at the market. We found few examples of contributions to ecological knowledge among customers at the market, but there were some examples of learning opportunities. The local food supplied by the market reminded customers of the seasonality of production. Stallholders also provided information on how to store, prepare and cook vegetables, which may encourage a change in diet that is preferable from an environmental standpoint.     

Farmers’ Perceptions of Land Degradation and Their Investments in Land Management: A Case Study in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

To combat land degradation in the Central Rift Valley (CRV) of Ethiopia, farmers are of crucial importance. If farmers perceive land degradation as a problem, the chance that they invest in land management measures will be enhanced. This study presents farmers’ perceptions of land degradation and their investments in land management, and to what extent the latter are influenced by these perceptions. Water erosion and fertility depletion are taken as main indicators of land degradation, and the results show that farmers perceive an increase in both indicators over the last decade. They are aware of it and consider it as a problem. Nevertheless, farmers’ investments to control water erosion and soil fertility depletion are very limited in the CRV. Results also show that farmers’ awareness of both water erosion and soil fertility decline as a problem is not significantly associated with their investments in land management. Hence, even farmers who perceive land degradation on their fields and are concerned about its increase over the last decade do not significantly invest more in water erosion and soil fertility control measures than farmers who do not perceive these phenomena. Further research is needed to assess which other factors might influence farmers’ investments in land management, especially factors related to socioeconomic characteristics of farm households and plot characteristics which were not addressed by this study.     

Farmers’ Perceived Risks of Climate Change and Influencing Factors: A Study in the Mekong Delta,Vietnam

Many countries are confronting climate change that threatens agricultural production and farmers’ lives. Farmers’ perceived risks of climate change and factors influencing those perceived risks are critical to their adaptive behavior and well-planned adaptation strategies. However, there is limited understanding of these issues. In this paper, we attempt to quantitatively measure farmers’ perceived risks of climate change and explore the influences of risk experience, information, belief in climate change, and trust in public adaptation to those perceived risks. Data are from structured interviews with 598 farmers in the Mekong Delta. The study shows that perceived risks to production, physical health, and income dimensions receive greater priority while farmers pay less attention to risks to happiness and social relationships. Experiences of the events that can be attributed to climate change increase farmers’ perceived risks. Information variables can increase or decrease perceived risks, depending on the sources of information. Farmers who believe that climate change is actually happening and influencing their family’s lives, perceive higher risks in most dimensions. Farmers who think that climate change is not their concern but the government’s, perceive lower risks to physical health, finance, and production. As to trust in public adaptation, farmers who believe that public adaptive measures are well co-ordinated, perceive lower risks to production and psychology. Interestingly, those who believe that the disaster warning system is working well, perceive higher risks to finance, production, and social relationships. Further attention is suggested for the quality, timing, and channels of information about climate change and adaptation.     

Citizens’ perceptions of trust relationships in the environmental management process in North Lebanon

This research investigates how trust plays a role in environmental management in North Lebanon, which has suffered repeated episodes of armed conflict in recent times. Previous studies have shown that environmental problems have increased and that the government has been unable to address these, even during periods of relative peace. We examined trust as a factor that contributes to, or hampers, environmental management. Our analysis drew on a survey in 2011 involving 499 citizens. The results demonstrated that, according to citizens, the lack of trust between citizens, and between citizens and the public sector, is a key factor obstructing effective environmental management. The results indicate the level of correlation between how trusting people are; how citizens participate; and how people perceive government legitimacy.     

Effects of observability and complexity on farmers’ adoption of environmental practices

The ability of both regulators and farmers themselves to monitor the impact of environmental practices may be an issue with nonpoint source pollution. Effects that can be perceived via direct sensory evidence provide information at low cost. Results from a survey of livestock farmers suggest that a practice that has more obvious effects on water quality, manure application setbacks, is more likely to be adopted than a more complicated one with less visible effects, manure testing. Farmers’ perceptions of the profitability of the two practices were similar. The importance of observability and complexity has implications for educational programs.     

Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Farmers’ Perceptions of Land Degradation and Stonewall Terraces in Central Palestine

Land degradation by soil erosion is a socioeconomic and environmental problem facing many developing countries. Application of stonewall terraces for soil moisture conservation is vital to reducing the environmental impacts of this phenomenon. To this end, a field plot experiment was conducted in the study area along with the use of a closed-ended questionnaire. The object of the experiment was to study the socioeconomic impacts of soil erosion on local farmers and their adoption of the stonewall terrace technique. The study showed a higher net profit in areas that had implemented terrace conservation practices than in areas that had not (i.e., 3.5 to 6 times higher net profit). Correlation analysis indicated that the farmers’ perceptions, land ownership, and geomorphology were significantly related to the farmers’ incentives and willingness to adopt terraces as soil conservation measures (P < 0.05), although the correlations were negative. Smallholder farmers (52% of the interviewed farmers) were involved in the sale of the agricultural land for urban uses, largely because of the high price and immediate returns offered. However, the associated land use changes warrant greater involvement of both the private and public sectors. This cooperation may be accomplished through the introduction of a long-term agricultural loan system and the development of proper legislation accompanied by a comprehensive and durable infrastructure and service system with the goal of reducing the negative impact of land use changes and encouraging sustainable use of resources.     

An Estimation of the Effects of China’s Priority Forestry Programs on Farmers’ Income

In the late 1990s, the Chinese government initiated some new programs and consolidated other existing ones of ecological restoration and resource development in its forest sector, and renamed them as “Priority Forestry Programs,” or PFPs. They include the Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP), the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP), the Desertification Combating Program around Beijing and Tianjin (DCBT), the Shelterbelt Development Program (SBDP), and the Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserve Development Program (WCNR). In addition to improving the environmental and resource conditions, a frequently reiterated goal of these PFPs is to increase rural households’ income, therefore discussing why looking at rural household income impacts might be an important part of forest program evaluation. Thus, an interesting and important question is: How has implementing the PFPs affected the farmers’ income and poverty status? This article addresses this question using a fixed-effects model and a panel dataset that covers 1968 households in four provinces for ten consecutive years (1995–2004). The empirical evidence indicates that their effects are mixed. The SLCP, the SBDP, and the NFPP have made positive impact and, by far, the SLCP has the largest effect. But the WCNR and the DCBT still have not had a pronounced overall effect due to their short time span of execution, even though they may have exerted certain influence at the margin. Notably, the impact of the WCNR, if any, is negative.     

An Empirical Analysis of the Effects of China’s Land Conversion Program on Farmers’ Income Growth and Labor Transfer

In this article, we hypothesize that in addition to participation status and household characteristics, the impact of China’s Sloping Land Conversion Program on income growth and labor transfer is determined by local economic conditions, program range, and political leadership, and the degree of impact on income may vary among different economic sectors. To test these propositions, we have compiled a panel data set of 600 households in three counties in the Loess Plateau region, with observations for times both prior to and after the program’s inception (1999 and 2006), for both aggregate and categorical incomes, and for both participating and non-participating households. Using a difference in differences model and repeated cross-sectional data, we find that participation status, local economic conditions, program extent, and political leadership indeed have significant impacts on household income and off-farm employment. Moreover, the effects of participation on crop production income, animal husbandry income, and off-farm income vary substantially. These results carry major policy implications in terms of how to improve the effectiveness and impact of ecological restoration efforts in and outside of China.     

Criminalization of “galamsey” and livelihoods in Ghana: Limits and consequences

The fact that the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector in Ghana is driven largely by poverty means that the sector is a major source of livelihood for people in mining communities across the country. However, given the various social and environmental problems associated with the ASM sector, there is now an emerging consensus that the formalization of the sector would not only allow for these associated problems to be addressed but also ensures that the sector contributes to sustainable development and safeguard the livelihood of local communities. While a large body of extant literature has examined the challenges and opportunities facing the process of formalization, the question of the criminalization of the sector and its consequences for local livelihood has received only limited attention. Drawing from primary data collected during fieldwork in Ghana, this study examined the livelihood implications of the ban on galamsey in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality in South-Western Ghana from the perspectives of local communities and other key stakeholders. The study reveals that the ban on galamsey has imposed significant socio-economic hardships on the people and appears to be entrenching poverty rather than sustainable development. The study considers the theoretical and practical implications of the findings for sustainable livelihood enhancement in developing countries.     

Heterogeneous preferences for recreation-oriented management in commercial forests: the role of citizens’ socioeconomic characteristics and recreational profiles

The management of forests for multiple benefits, such as recreational services alongside timber production, can greatly benefit from the knowledge of public preferences for management-related forest attributes. This paper investigates citizens’ recreational use and preferences for recreation-oriented management in the case of state-owned commercial forests in Finland using data from a choice experiment study. We focus on attributes related to the typical management practices applied to enhance recreation: scenic buffer zones along waters, game bird habitats, and the quality of scenery along hiking trails. Recreational use and its frequency were found to be related to citizens’ background and specific outdoor activities. The scenic buffer zones were the most important attribute to the citizens. While the recreation-enhancing practices were generally valued, respondent segments with distinct preferences were found. Preference heterogeneity was related to citizens’ socioeconomic characteristics and recreational profiles.     

Goals and remedial strategies for water quality and wildlife management in a coastal lagoon--a case-study of Ringkøbing Fjord, Denmark

The aim of this work is (1) to discuss approaches and tools to set management goals using operational indicators for coastal management (i.e., indicators that are easy to measure, understand and predict) and validated predictive models and (2) to discuss remedial strategies for sustainable coastal management regarding water quality and the abundance of fish, waterfowl and large aquatic plants. These approaches are exemplified using data from Ringkøbing Fjord, Denmark, which has undergone two major regime shifts during the last decades. This work discusses the changes taken place during the period from 1980 to 2004 (when there are good empirical data). For Ringkøbing Fjord, which is a very shallow, well-oxygenated lagoon dominated by resuspension processes, we have targeted on the following operational indicators, which are meant to reflect seasonal median values for the entire defined coastal area (the ecosystem scale) and not conditions at individual sites or data from shorter time periods: Secchi depth (as a standard measure of water clarity) and chlorophyll-a concentrations (as a key measure of algal biomass). The operational indicators are regulated by a set of standard abiotic factors, such as salinity, suspended particulate matter (SPM), nutrient concentrations (N and P), coastal morphometry and water exchange. Such relationships are quantified using well-tested, general quantitative models, which illustrate how these indicators are interrelated and how they reflect fundamental aspects of coastal ecosystems. We demonstrate that the regime shift in the lagoon can be modelled and quantitatively explained and is related to changes in salinity and nutrient inflow. A very important threshold is linked to increased salinities in the lagoon. For example, when the mean annual salinity is higher than about 9.5‰, large numbers of saltwater species of clams can survive and influence the structure and function of the ecosystem in profound ways. The model also illustrates the dynamic response to changes in nutrient loading. We have presented several management strategies with the goal of keeping the Secchi depth at 2 m, which would stimulate the growth of higher aquatic plants, which are fundamental for fish production and bird abundance in the lagoon. Given the fact that the Secchi depth depends on many variable factors (temperature, TP-inflow from land, salinity, changes in biomasses of macrophytes and clams, which are accounted for in these simulations), our results indicate that in practice it will likely be very difficult to reach that goal. However, it would be realistic to maintain a Secchi depth of 1.5 m if the variability in salinity is minimized and the mean salinity is kept at about 10.2‰.