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Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change and Impacts on Household Income and Food Security: Evidence from Sahelian Region of Niger

Author

Listed:
  • Seydou Zakari

    (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Bamako, Mali)

  • Germaine Ibro

    (Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN), Niamey BP 429, Niger)

  • Bokar Moussa

    (Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN), Zinder BP 612, Niger)

  • Tahirou Abdoulaye

    (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Bamako, Mali)

Abstract

Sahelian countries, particularly Niger, are more vulnerable to climate change due to the high dependence of most of their populations on rain-fed agriculture and limited capacities to respond to climate variability and change. This paper examines the factors influencing climate change adaptation strategies and the impacts on household income and food security in rural Niger. For this purpose, we collected data from 1783 valid rural households in four main agricultural regions of Niger. The results showed that crop diversification (72.74%), income diversification (67.97%) and changing planting times (55%) are the main adaptation strategies adopted by households. The majority of respondents had noticed changes in rain patterns (93.21%), in the amount of rain (91.25%) and in the intensity of rain (81.82%) during the last five years. We categorized these adaptation strategies into six major groups namely climate-resilient crop varieties, improved agronomic practices, irrigation and water conservation practices, crop diversification, income diversification, and agroforestry. We ran logit regression to identify the determinants of each individual group. The results show mixed effects of independent variables on these categories of adaptation strategies. Using matching techniques, we found adaptation strategies have positive and significant impact on both household income and food security. The farmers who adopt climate change adaptation strategies are more likely to increase household income by 7721.526 FCFA compared to those households with zero adaptation strategies. Similarly, the adapters have 7% to 9% more chance to be food secure compared to those who did not adopt strategies. These results suggest that strengthening the awareness of the effects of climate change on farmers and the choice of appropriate adaptation strategies are necessary to enhance household resilience. Strengthening institutional factors such as access to credit and market, extension services, and using drought-resilient crop varieties would surely improve agricultural production.

Suggested Citation

  • Seydou Zakari & Germaine Ibro & Bokar Moussa & Tahirou Abdoulaye, 2022. "Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change and Impacts on Household Income and Food Security: Evidence from Sahelian Region of Niger," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:5:p:2847-:d:761511
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    2. Marina Kovaleva & Walter Leal Filho & Christian Borgemeister & Jokastah Wanzuu Kalungu, 2022. "Understanding Needs and Potentials for Gender-Balanced Empowerment and Leadership in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-27, August.
    3. Sunita Rani Das & Farjana Eyasmin & Bikash Chandra Ghosh, 2023. "Economic assessment of rice farmers’ climate change adaptation options and their sustainability: a case of Pabna district, Bangladesh," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 1-19, April.
    4. Bello, Lateef Olalekan & Awotide, Bola Amoke & Sakurai, Takeshi, 2024. "Climate change adaptation and smallholder farmers welfare: Empirical evidence from the Sahelian Region of West Africa," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    5. Girma Gezimu Gebre & Yuichiro Amekawa & Aneteneh Ashebir, 2023. "Can farmers’ climate change adaptation strategies ensure their food security? Evidence from Ethiopia," Agrekon, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(2), pages 178-193, April.
    6. Girma Gezimu Gebre & Yuichiro Amekawa & Asmiro Abeje Fikadu & Dil Bahadur Rahut, 2023. "Do climate change adaptation strategies improve farmers’ food security in Tanzania?," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(3), pages 629-647, June.

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