An assessment of adaptation options enhancing smallholder farmers resilience to climate variability and change: Case of Mbengwi Central Sub-Division, North-West Region of Cameroon

Abstract

Farmers’ implementation of suitable adaptation measures in the face of climate variability and change (CVC) depends first and foremost on their ability to perceive CVC. This paper analyzes the adaptation measures implemented by smallholder farmers (SHFs) in Mbengwi Central Sub-Division, North-West Region of Cameroon in the face of CVC as well as the determinants of smallholder farmers’ choice of adaptation measures. Climate data collected from meteorological stations in the study area and farmers’ perceptions obtained through household surveys were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency tables, bar charts, histograms and percentage indices) and inferential statistics (Coefficient of Variation and the Multinomial Logistic (MNL) regression model). Farmers’ perceptions of CVC were then compared with actual short and long term meteorological data for the study area. Analysis was done on SPSS 17.0, Microsoft Excel 2007, and STATA 7.0. The results revealed that a majority of the respondents perceived an increase in temperature (79.2%) and a drop in the quantity of rainfall (59.2%) which corroborated almost perfectly with the analyzed meteorological data for the study area. From the twelve adaptation measures identified by SHFs, home gardens emerged as the most prevalent adaptation measure in the study area. Following the categorization of the multifarious adaptation measures implemented by SHFs, agroforestry practices emerged as the most prevalent adaptation measure. Results of the MNL regression model revealed that the main determinants of farmers’ choice of adaptation measures in the study area were age of household head, number of farms possessed, farm size, and access to weather information (p<0.05). Key words: Climate variability and change, smallholder farmers, adaptation measures, agroforestry practices, Mbengwi Central Sub-division, Cameroon.