Private farmland autonomous adaptation to climate variability and change in Cameroon

Abstract

ABSTRACT Rural communities areinherently vulnerable to global warming-induced climate change. This article examines farmland management choices and evaluates the income strategies made in climate change scenarios to ensure resilience. A Heckman probit model and a Ricardian revenue function are applied to information generated from 215 farms sampled in western and northern Cameroon. Economic factors, as well as geographic factors, are shown to influence the likelihood of perceiving and adapting to climate change. Climate influences revenue both in linear and quadratic forms, with temperature and rainfall significant in key farming seasons. The marginal impacts of climate are positive, whilst revenues decrease with summer temperature. Farm revenue is shown to be elastic for spring temperature but inelastic for summer temperature. A warming of 1.5°C leads to declines in revenue of about 4.3% without adaptation. When warming is increased to 2.5°C losses are shown to increase by 7.3%. These losses are lower when adaptation is considered.