Investigating Smallholder Farmers’ Practical Experiences, Perceptions and Response to Climate Change: An Empirical Analysis in Cameroon

Abstract

Climate change is constraining rural wellbeing, agriculture and food security. This necessitates adaptive strategies to overcome negative effects especially at the level of low-income tropical farming households. Using survey data from 322 farming households in the Western Highland and the Bimodal Rainfall Humid Forest agro-ecological zones in Cameroon, this study evaluates the socio-economic and institutional factors associated with farmers’ perception and adaptive response to climate variability and change. We employed a logistic regression model to estimate the drivers of farmers’ perception. Our results show that farmers’ experience and land status (ownership) are positively associated with farmers’ ability to perceive climate change in Western highlands Agro Ecological Zone. Access to credit, membership in a farmers’ organisation and gender are significant in the Rainforest Agro Ecological Zone. Our findings show that different socio-economic and institutional factors drive perception and these factors differ between zones. The findings have important implications for short-term adoption of coping strategies and medium-term adaptation planning. We suggest that farmers’ capacity is improved through the creation of farmer field school to vulgarise climate smart farming techniques and supplemented with timely technical support from the governmental extension services.