Research
Effets Des Strategies D’adaptation Ex Ante Et Bien Etre Des Menages Agricoles
Farm households in the Far North region of Cameroon face different types of risk. Climate r isks are those that are the least controlled. They have negative effects on the well-being of farm households. Unable to prevent the occurrence of bad weather, farm households are sometimes forced to adapt. To do this, they develop and implement different adaptation strategies before the occurrence of the feared risk (ex ante adaptation strategies). The objective of this article is to analyze the effects of ex ante adaptation strategies on the well-being of farm households from survey data. We find mixed results. The use of agr icultural technology significantly increases the income of farm households. In addition, adaptation strategies such as migration, risk shar ing via oneself or v ia social networks, and food self-sufficiency also contribute to increasing the income of farm households. On the other hand and against all expectations, ex ante adaptation strategies such as diversification and specialization contribute to reducing the income of agricultural households. However, the results show that household size negatively affects income while the number of individuals over the age of 15 affects it positively. Given that diversification and specialization strategies have significant negative effects on the well-being of these households, it seems imperative that the government work to strengthen their adaptive capacities.
