Abstract
To improve their ability to plan for and respond to potential negative impacts of climate shocks, such as droughts and dry spells, in the Sahelian agricultural production systems, many farmers have adopted diversified coping and adaptation strategies to secure their livelihoods. However, the scientific understanding of the key factors that determine the decisions that these pastoralist and agro-pastoralist households make, as well as the relation between existing human, social, natural, physical and financial assets and the adoption of adaptation practices at the household level has remained insufficient. Therefore, multivariate probit estimates were used to identify the key drivers of multiple adoption of climate-smart agro-pastoral adaptation practices in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Burkina Faso. The results indicated that respondent households adopted a combination of adaptation practices rather than a single practice. Most of these practices aimed at enhancing household food security and livelihoods. Regarding the variables that are related to the adoption of these adaptation practices overall, a few assets were found to contribute significantly to the decision to adopt the assessed adaption practices. These include the possession of household and farm assets and equipment, membership in associations and assistance from government, farming experience of the household head, access to credit, as well as ownership and size of farmland. In addition, access to climate and agronomic information, as well as a household’s location within a specifically dedicated pastoral zone, enhanced uptake of various adaptation practices in this study. Access to these assets and features hence plays a critical role in pastoralists’ and agro-pastoralists’ adaptive capacity. This study provides insights for policy makers in view of climate change adaptation and wider sustainable development planning in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Africa.
Highlights
In Burkina Faso, as in many sub-Saharan countries, agricultural production, including livestock production, is the main source of income for rural households
Adoption of agro-pastoralism itself can be described as adaptation strategy
This study investigated the factors that affect pastoralist and agro-pastoralist households’ decisions on the adoption of multiple adaptation practices in crop and livestock production systems in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Burkina Faso
Summary
In Burkina Faso, as in many sub-Saharan countries, agricultural production, including livestock production, is the main source of income for rural households. Water availability is increasingly sporadic, leading to Burkina Faso experiencing either drought or quasi-drought conditions for the majority of the year These episodes of drought threaten agricultural production and subsistence livelihoods and strongly impact the country’s population. Households have developed adaptation strategies in order to mitigate the potential and actual impact of climate shocks, and/or cope with their adverse effects. Some of these household adaptation strategies were inventoried, documented and classified as ‘best climate adaptation strategies in the Sahel and Burkina Faso’ [2,3]. This latter component is based on households’ access to or ownership of assets that include human, social, financial, natural and physical capitals, as outlined in the sustainable livelihoods framework (SLF) [9]
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