Climate changes and farmers’ endogenous adaptation strategies: Socio economic analysis of the dynamic use of agricultural lands in central region of Benin

Abstract

There is an increasing consensus that in the next decades climate changes will generate yield decrease in low income countries. So will it be in Benin. It has been claimed that climate changes impact studies often assume
certain adaptations and little explicit examination of how, when, why, and under what conditions they occur. This research aims at analysing the endogenous strategies developed by farmers in agricultural land and crop management. With random stratified sampling, 70 farmers of two villages were selected according to their level of vulnerability. Actors based mapping and R-coefficients of Ruthenberg were used to analyse the evolution of existing farming systems. This paper shows that poor farmers of the central region of Benin are developing many endogenous coping strategies: adopting new crops and cultivating more waterlogged ecologies. Though, adaptation options are determined by vulnerability level of farmers. Management and valorisation skills of farmers in low land are to be enhanced for a sustainable agriculture in the future.