Assessment of agricultural drought during crop-growing season in the Sudano–Sahelian region of Cameroon

Abstract

Drought is a recurrent phenomenon in the Sudano–Sahelian region of Cameroon. However, it has received very little attention, especially, on its impacts on the growing season of crops. To fill this gap, this study assessed the drought hazard using standardized precipitation index at a 3-month scale, and phenology of the main crops in 19 rainfall stations in the Sudano–Sahelian region of Cameroon for the period 1980–2012. The trend of drought was studied using the Mann-Kendall technique. The agricultural drought hazard was quantified based on its frequency and intensity. Results show that there is a significant trend toward a more humid crop-growing period in the northern and southeastern parts of the study area, but significant dry trends during the maize and peanut growing periods in the southwestern part of the study area. Drought occurrence rates are 7.09, 4.22, and 3.17% for the moderate, severe, and extreme, respectively. Areas featuring high and very high agricultural drought hazards are distributed in the far north, central, and the southeastern parts of the study domain. Furthermore, the Sahelian and Sudanian climatic conditions were found to be very high agricultural drought hazard zones, especially, where the maize and peanut grain crops are concerned. However, significant dry trends and very high agricultural drought hazard zones during the maize and peanut growing periods are catastrophic for agriculture and, therefore, food security.