Strategies of Communities Faced with Climate Change in the Sahelian Zone of Burkina Faso: The Case of the Namissiguima Municipality in the Province of Yat Enga (Northern Region)

Abstract

Climate change is a concern of our time, both at global level and at community level, where its impacts vary according to context. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the causes of this change are anthropogenic and require urgent action on the part of humanity in terms of mitigation but also in terms of adaptation to strengthen the resilience of populations. The municipality of Namissiguima (13° 36′ 00″ north and 2° 13′01″ west), in the province of Yat Enga in Burkina Faso, is no exception. Located in the Sahelian agro-climatic zone of Burkina Faso and receiving less than 600mm of water per year, it has a population of almost 59,000, 51.7% of whom are women and 48.3% men, whose main occupations are farming and livestock rearing (94.6%). Through a participatory analysis using the “Trousse a outils planification et suivi-evaluation des capacites d’adaptation au changement climatique (TOP-SECAC)”, this paper aims to analyze local communities’ perceptions of climate variability and change and their perceived causes, to assess the impacts of climate variability and climate change on communities’ livelihoods, and to discuss the adaptation strategies used by local people to mitigate these impacts.