Differential household vulnerability to climatic and non-climatic stressors in semi-arid areas of Mali, West Africa

Segnon, A C and Totin, E and Zougmoré, R B and Lokossou, J C and Thompson-Hall, M and Ofori, B O and Achigan-Dako, E G and Gordon, C (2020) Differential household vulnerability to climatic and non-climatic stressors in semi-arid areas of Mali, West Africa. Climate and Development (TSI). pp. 1-16. ISSN 1756-5529

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Abstract

Semi-Arid Regions (SARs) of West Africa are considered climate change “hotspots” where strong ecological, economic and social impacts converge to make socio-ecological systems particularly vulnerable. While both climatic and non-climatic drivers interact across scales to influence vulnerability, traditionally, this inter-connectedness has received little attention in vulnerability assessments in the region. This study adopted the vulnerability patterns framework, operationalized using the Multidimensional Livelihood Vulnerability approach to include both climatic and nonclimatic stressors to analyze differential household vulnerability in SARs of Mali. Findings showed that while drought was the most mentioned climate-related stressor, households were also exposed to a diversity of environmental and socio-economic stressors, including food scarcity, livestock disease, labour unavailability, crop damage, and erratic rainfall patterns. The typology revealed three vulnerability archetypes differentiated by adaptive capacity and sensitivity. Availability of productive household members, household resource endowments, livelihood diversification and social networks were the main discriminant factors of household adaptive capacity, while challenges relating to food and water security make households more sensitive to stressors. The analysis highlighted the heterogeneity in household vulnerability patterns within and across communities. Failing to account for this heterogeneity in adaptation planning might result in a mismatch between adaptation needs and interventions, and potentially in maladaptation.

Item Type: Article
Divisions: Research Program : West & Central Africa
CRP: CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)
Uncontrolled Keywords: Vulnerability patterns, Archetype analysis, Vulnerability assessment, Multiple stressors, Heterogeneity, Adaptive Capacity, Semi-arid regions
Subjects: Others > Semi-Arid Tropics
Others > Climate Change
Others > Mali
Depositing User: Mr Arun S
Date Deposited: 11 Mar 2021 03:38
Last Modified: 11 Mar 2021 03:38
URI: http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/11733
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2020.1855097
Projects: UNSPECIFIED
Funders: UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement: This research was carried out as part of the Adaptation at Scale in Semi- Arid Regions (ASSAR) project. ASSAR is one of four research programs funded under the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA), with financial support from the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada. The views expressed in this work are those of the creators and do not necessarily represent those of DFID, IDRC or its Board of Governors. This work got additional support through the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is carried out with support from the CGIAR Fund Donors and through several bilateral funding agreements (the CGIAR Fund Council, Australia-ACIAR, European Union, International Fund for Agricultural Development-IFAD, Ireland, New Zealand, Netherlands, Switzerland, USAID, UK, and Thailand).
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