Farm income, gender differentials and climate risk in Cameroon: typology of male and female adaptation options across agroecologies |
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Authors: | Ernest L Molua |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, Southwest Region, Cameroon |
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Abstract: | This paper explores the response to risk of smallholder agricultural producers in the face of variable and changing climate
in Cameroon. The low rainfall distribution in some regions of the country and the high inter-seasonal variability of rainfall
makes crop production, on which the livelihood of rural inhabitants is based, a risky enterprise. Women farmers in Cameroon
are an important group for whom risk aversion influences production outcomes and welfare. This study identifies and analyses
the effect of climate risks on the productive activities and the management options of male and female farmers. Women-owned
farms, on average, record profits of US620 per hectare to about US 620 per hectare to about US 935 for crop enterprises across the different agroecological
zones. Comparatively static results indicate that increases in climate variability and the uncertainty of climate conditions
have an explicit impact on farm profit. The impacts of increased uncertainty in climate and risk aversion are ambiguous depending
on the agroecology. Ex-ante and ex-post risk management options reveal that female-owned farms in the northern Sahel savannah
zone rely on more sophisticated strategies to reduce the impact of shocks. While adapting to uncertain climate positively
influences profit levels, risk measured as the variance of rainfall or temperature per unit variation in profit is significant.
This analysis stresses the increased importance of climate risk management as a prelude to the panoply of adaptation choice
in response to expected climatic change. |
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