Vulnerability to changing climate: Locating smallholder farmers coping strategies in drought-prone districts of Cambodia and Nigeria

Abstract

We investigate how smallholder farmers in drought-prone Koas Krala district, Battambang Province, Cambodia and Nguru district, Yobe State, Nigeria cope with climate stress resulting from the impacts of climate variability and extremes due to drought. Information was collected for this study through a survey of 70 and 116 farm households, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews in the respective districts in Cambodia and Nigeria. The study highlights the constraints faced by the selected communities in responding to climate change. The study reveals that households where an individual can take on one specialized activity, such as employment or handicrafts, in the context of overall diversification of household income, were often less vulnerable than households where each individual is engaged in many activities at low intensity. In practical terms, our results suggest that many households have limited access to their favored coping practices due to a lack of skills, capital and/or labor. This lack of access is compounded by gender differences in roles, responsibilities and capabilities that have led to exclusion of women from carrying out these activities with sufficient intensity. Based on this analysis, policy recommendations have been suggested.