Local perceptions and regional climate trends on the Central Plateau of Burkina Faso

dc.contributor.author	West, CT	en
dc.contributor.author	Roncoli, C	en
dc.contributor.author	Ouattara, F	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-06-06T06:48:09Z
dc.date.available	2014-06-06T06:48:09Z
dc.date.issued	2008	en
dc.identifier.issn	10853278	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ldr.842	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://62.217.125.90/xmlui/handle/123456789/3986
dc.subject	Adaptive strategies	en
dc.subject	Burkina Faso	en
dc.subject	Climate change	en
dc.subject	Drought	en
dc.subject	Livelihood vulnerability	en
dc.subject	Local knowledge	en
dc.subject	Rainfed farming	en
dc.subject.other	Agriculture	en
dc.subject.other	Climate change	en
dc.subject.other	Drought	en
dc.subject.other	Forestry	en
dc.subject.other	Agricultural systems	en
dc.subject.other	Burkina Faso	en
dc.subject.other	Case studies	en
dc.subject.other	Environmental changes	en
dc.subject.other	Ethnographic interviews	en
dc.subject.other	Focus groups	en
dc.subject.other	Ground truthing	en
dc.subject.other	Institutional support	en
dc.subject.other	Long term trends	en
dc.subject.other	Meteorological stations	en
dc.subject.other	Rainfall trends	en
dc.subject.other	Rainy seasons	en
dc.subject.other	Regional climate	en
dc.subject.other	Rural communities	en
dc.subject.other	Scientific researches	en
dc.subject.other	Seasonal rainfall	en
dc.subject.other	Precipitation (meteorology)	en
dc.subject.other	adaptive management	en
dc.subject.other	climate change	en
dc.subject.other	drought	en
dc.subject.other	farmers attitude	en
dc.subject.other	perception	en
dc.subject.other	rainfed agriculture	en
dc.subject.other	regional climate	en
dc.subject.other	traditional knowledge	en
dc.subject.other	vulnerability	en
dc.subject.other	Africa	en
dc.subject.other	Burkina Faso	en
dc.subject.other	East Africa	en
dc.subject.other	Eritrea	en
dc.subject.other	Sahel [Eritrea]	en
dc.subject.other	Sub-Saharan Africa	en
dc.subject.other	West Africa	en
dc.title	Local perceptions and regional climate trends on the Central Plateau of Burkina Faso	en
heal.type	journalArticle	en
heal.identifier.primary	10.1002/ldr.842	en
heal.publicationDate	2008	en
heal.abstract	Due to devastating droughts in the 1970s and 1980s, climatic and environmental change in the West African Sahel has attracted a great deal of scientific research. While many of these studies documented a long-term trend of declining rainfall, analyses conducted in the last few years suggest that a 'recovery' is underway. Drawing on ethnographic interviews, focus groups, and participant observation in two Provinces of the Central Plateau of Burkina Faso, we elicited local perspectives on these rainfall trends from the people who are most directly affected, namely local farmers. Fieldwork revealed that farmers in the research sites perceive that both overall seasonal rainfall and the number of 'big rains' during the rainy season have decreased over the last 30 years. We then tested these perceptions against rainfall records from nearby meteorological stations and found them to be corroborated. This paper illustrates how farmers of the Central Plateau now view drought as 'normal', having incorporated drought-mitigation adaptations into their agricultural systems. Our case study highlights the need for ground truthing scientific analyses and assessing livelihood implications at the local level. It also advocates for sustained institutional support for rural communities, to increase their ability to adapt to climate change. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.	en
heal.journalName	Land Degradation and Development	en
dc.identifier.issue	3	en
dc.identifier.volume	19	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1002/ldr.842	en
dc.identifier.spage	289	en
dc.identifier.epage	304	en