Climate variability and change in Southern Mali: learning from farmer perceptions and on-farm trials

Agricultural production in the Sudano–Sahelian zone of west Africa is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate variability and climate change. The present study aimed to understand farmers’ perceptions of climate variability and change and to evaluate adaptation options together with farmers, inc...

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Autores principales: Traoré, B., Wijk, Mark T. van, Descheemaeker, Katrien K., Corbeels, Marc, Rufino, Mariana C., Giller, Kenneth E.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Cambridge University Press 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/93483
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author Traoré, B.
Wijk, Mark T. van
Descheemaeker, Katrien K.
Corbeels, Marc
Rufino, Mariana C.
Giller, Kenneth E.
author_browse Corbeels, Marc
Descheemaeker, Katrien K.
Giller, Kenneth E.
Rufino, Mariana C.
Traoré, B.
Wijk, Mark T. van
author_facet Traoré, B.
Wijk, Mark T. van
Descheemaeker, Katrien K.
Corbeels, Marc
Rufino, Mariana C.
Giller, Kenneth E.
author_sort Traoré, B.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Agricultural production in the Sudano–Sahelian zone of west Africa is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate variability and climate change. The present study aimed to understand farmers’ perceptions of climate variability and change and to evaluate adaptation options together with farmers, including tactical management of planting date in combination with the use of mineral fertilizer. Farmers perceived an increase in annual rainfall variability, an increase in the occurrence of dry spells during the rainy season, and an increase in temperature. Overall, this is in line with the observed meteorological data. Drought tolerant, short maturing crop varieties and appropriate planting dates were the commonly preferred adaptation strategies to deal with climate variability. On-farm trials confirmed that planting delays significantly reduce crop yields. The use of mineral fertilizer is often promoted, but risky for smallholders: although larger fertilizer applications increased the yield of maize (Zea mays) and millet (Pennisetum glaucum) significantly, a gross margin analysis indicated that it did not lead to more profit for all farmers. We conclude that integrating management of nutrients and planting time with improved farmer access to timely weather information, especially on the onset of the rains, is critical to enhancing adaptive capacity to increased climate variability and change.
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publishDate 2015
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spelling CGSpace934832025-06-17T08:23:24Z Climate variability and change in Southern Mali: learning from farmer perceptions and on-farm trials Traoré, B. Wijk, Mark T. van Descheemaeker, Katrien K. Corbeels, Marc Rufino, Mariana C. Giller, Kenneth E. agriculture climate change farmers crop yield Agricultural production in the Sudano–Sahelian zone of west Africa is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate variability and climate change. The present study aimed to understand farmers’ perceptions of climate variability and change and to evaluate adaptation options together with farmers, including tactical management of planting date in combination with the use of mineral fertilizer. Farmers perceived an increase in annual rainfall variability, an increase in the occurrence of dry spells during the rainy season, and an increase in temperature. Overall, this is in line with the observed meteorological data. Drought tolerant, short maturing crop varieties and appropriate planting dates were the commonly preferred adaptation strategies to deal with climate variability. On-farm trials confirmed that planting delays significantly reduce crop yields. The use of mineral fertilizer is often promoted, but risky for smallholders: although larger fertilizer applications increased the yield of maize (Zea mays) and millet (Pennisetum glaucum) significantly, a gross margin analysis indicated that it did not lead to more profit for all farmers. We conclude that integrating management of nutrients and planting time with improved farmer access to timely weather information, especially on the onset of the rains, is critical to enhancing adaptive capacity to increased climate variability and change. 2015-10 2018-07-03T10:55:50Z 2018-07-03T10:55:50Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/93483 en Limited Access Cambridge University Press Traore, B., van Wijk, M.T., Descheemaeker, K., Corbeels, M., Rufino, M.C., Giller, K.E.. 2015. Climate variability and change in Southern Mali : learning from farmer perceptions and on-farm trials. Experimental Agriculture, 51 (4) : 615-634. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0014479714000507
spellingShingle agriculture
climate change
farmers
crop yield
Traoré, B.
Wijk, Mark T. van
Descheemaeker, Katrien K.
Corbeels, Marc
Rufino, Mariana C.
Giller, Kenneth E.
Climate variability and change in Southern Mali: learning from farmer perceptions and on-farm trials
title Climate variability and change in Southern Mali: learning from farmer perceptions and on-farm trials
title_full Climate variability and change in Southern Mali: learning from farmer perceptions and on-farm trials
title_fullStr Climate variability and change in Southern Mali: learning from farmer perceptions and on-farm trials
title_full_unstemmed Climate variability and change in Southern Mali: learning from farmer perceptions and on-farm trials
title_short Climate variability and change in Southern Mali: learning from farmer perceptions and on-farm trials
title_sort climate variability and change in southern mali learning from farmer perceptions and on farm trials
topic agriculture
climate change
farmers
crop yield
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/93483
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