scispace - formally typeset
Open AccessPosted Content

The Impact of Climate Change on Agro-Ecological Based Livelihoods in Africa: A Review

TLDR
In this paper, the authors make a comparative analysis of the effects of climate change on agro-based livelihoods across the African continent, focusing on Eastern, Western, Southern Africa and the Sahel region.
Abstract
Several local studies have been carried out on the impact of climate change on livelihoods and development especially in developing countries. However, there is a general scarcity of literature that makes a comparative appraisal of the impacts of climate change on agro-ecological based livelihoods across the African continent. This paper seeks to address that gap by making a comparative analysis of the effects of climate change on agro-based livelihoods across the African continent, focusing on Eastern, Western, Southern Africa and the Sahel region. A cross continental perspective on this issue is important in informing current global climate change negotiations and response strategies both at global level and national levels. While some studies have been conducted at individual country levels about the projected and recorded impacts of climate change, there remains a dearth of literature that reviews and consolidates these findings to give an overall holistic picture about continental and sub-continental impacts in Africa especially as relating to local agro and ecological based livelihoods. This study finds out that the impact of climate change is invariably negative across the whole of Africa as it leads to failing agricultural yields and a reduction of bio-diversity. The paper recommends an intensification for the support of livelihood diversification strategies in rural development planning. It further recommends policy strategies that particularly targets the poor and vulnerable communities whose livelihoods hinge on agriculture and natural ecosystems as these will suffer the most from the impact of climate change.

read more

Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

Adaptation opportunities and maladaptive outcomes in climate vulnerability hotspots of northern Ghana

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the effects of climate change coping and adaptation responses in three case study villages across the Central Gonja district of northern Ghana and identified various adaptation measures including extensification and intensification of agriculture, temporary migration, planting of drought resistant varieties, irrigation, and livelihood diversification.
Journal ArticleDOI

Implications of climate variability and change on urban and human health: A review

TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the scientific evidence on the impact of climate change on urban and human health and suggested that increased temperature and radiation are one of the major cause of some heat-related diseases such as skin cancer, heat stroke, heart disease and diarrhea.
Journal ArticleDOI

The impact of climate change and energy resources on biodiversity loss: Evidence from a panel of selected Asian countries

TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between climate change, energy resources, growth specific factors and their resulting impact on biodiversity loss in a panel of 18 selected Asian countries during the period of 2000-2014.
Journal ArticleDOI

Climate variability/change and attitude to adaptation technologies: a pilot study among selected rural farmers’ communities in Nigeria

Abstract: Understanding climate variability and change is essential for designing adaptation policies and strategies to deal with the impacts of climate change on the agricultural sector. This Paper aims at assessing climate variability/change, the perception of rural farmers on climate change and preferred adaptation strategies among the farmers in some selected farming communities in Nigeria. The study thus used both meteorology data and social survey, to examine variability/change in climate and factors determining the adaptation techniques adopts by rural farmers. The results show a relatively uniform temperatures and some seasonal variations in recent years (diurnal range of temperature is about 10 °C) but the rainfall shows much more seasonal variations. The rainfall has relatively undeviating trend from 1981 to 1996 but the trend appears to be upwards from the year 1997 to 2010. About 72.8% participants responded in the affirmative that climate is changing but there appears to be a significant relationship between the length of farming experiences and farmers’ perceptions of climate change adaptation techniques. Water-related (about 53%) and nutrient related (about 52%) technologies appear to have a high preference among the farmers. The major driver that determines farmers’ preference for climate change adaptation techniques is their incomes and experiences.
References
More filters
Book

The Economics of Climate Change

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an appropriate way to examine the economics of climate change, given the unique scientific and economic challenges posed, and suggest implications for emissions targets, policy instruments, and global action.
BookDOI

Climate change 2007 : impacts, adaptation and vulnerability : Working Group II contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Tarekegn Abeku, +378 more
Journal ArticleDOI

Adaptation to climate change in the developing world

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the nature of risk and vulnerabil-ity in the context of climate change and review the evidence on present-day adaptation in developing countries and on coordinated international action on future adaptation, arguing that all societies are fundamentally adaptive and there are many situations in the past where societies have adapted to changes in climate and to similar risks.
Journal ArticleDOI

The impact of climate change on smallholder and subsistence agriculture.

TL;DR: Some recent work relevant to these farming systems is reviewed, a conceptual framework for understanding the diverse forms of impacts in an integrated manner is proposed, and future research needs are identified.
Journal ArticleDOI

Human Development Report 2007/2008 Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World, UNDP, New York

Nihar Ranjan Das
- 01 Mar 2009 - 
TL;DR: The concept of human development is a holistic development model which encompasses every aspect of developmental issues which includes economic growth, social investment, people empowerment provision of basic needs and social safety nets, political and cultural freedom and all other aspects of people's lives.
Related Papers (5)