Climate Change and Farm Household Income in Northern Cameroon: A Ricardian Analysis

Abstract

Using a Ricardo model, this study aims to assess the impact of climate change on agricultural incomes in northern Cameroon. The data used comes from a survey of 450 farming households in 23 villages. The results indicate that a 1-mm increase in rainfall leads to an increase of 12.68 dollars in farm income per hectare in summer, 0.92 dollars in winter, 9.59 dollars in spring and 13.30 dollars in autumn. On the other hand, a 1 °C increase in temperature leads to a decrease in net farm income per hectare of 3.54 dollars in summer, 1.26 dollars in winter, 3.40 dollars in spring and 6.11 dollars in autumn. In addition, the hypothesis of a non-linear relation has been validated. An increase in autumn temperatures benefits net farm income up to a maximum point, after which very high temperatures begin to be harmful to crop growth and productivity and consequently reduce farm income. Concerning precipitations, autumn and summer rainfall significantly positively affect net farm income up to a certain maximum point, after which the excess becomes harmful to crops. Furthermore, the study found that farm income is more sensitive to precipitation than to temperature. The policy implications of these findings are equally discussed.