Cameroon’s adaptation to climate change and sorghum productivity

Abstract

Cameroon’s semi-arid zone (northern and far northern regions) is an important part of the local ecosystem that is vulnerable to climate change. This vulnerability raises concerns about rural households’ well-being. Adapting to this vulnerability could mitigate some of the negative effects, agricultural shocks, and catastrophic risks associated with agricultural ecosystem destruction. Thus, the goal of this paper is to assess the impact of climate change adaptation strategies on rural households’ sorghum productivity in Cameroon’s semi-arid zone. On 721 households’ secondary data, we used the endogenous switching regression model and the matching method. The results show that adopting adaptation strategies increases sorghum productivity in adapted households by approximately 21,99% more than in non-adapted households. In the absence of coping strategies, these households will lose 11,22% of their sorghum productivity. The importance of these findings adds to the debate about the need to implement climate change adaptation programmes and policies that address the concerns of all households.