Vulnerability and adaptation of African rural populations to hydro-climate change: experience from fishing communities in the Inner Niger Delta (Mali)

cg.contribution.worldfishauthorAndrew, N.L.
cg.contributor.affiliationUMI Résiliences
cg.contributor.affiliationIER (Institut d'Economie Rurale)
cg.contributor.affiliationWorldFish
cg.contributor.affiliationUMR G-Eau IRD
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Sussex
cg.coverage.countryMali
cg.description.themeFisheriesen_US
cg.identifier.ISIindexedISI indexed
cg.identifier.statusLimited access
cg.identifier.urlhttp://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10584-012-0492-7
cg.identifier.worldfish3161
cg.subject.agrovocadaptation
cg.subject.agrovocclimate change
cg.subject.agrovocfisheries
cg.subject.agrovocfloodplains
cg.subject.impactAreaClimate adaptation and mitigationen_US
cg.subject.worldfishpolicy
cg.subject.worldfishvulnerability
cg.subject.worldfishflood plains
dc.creatorMorand, P.
dc.creatorKodio, A.
dc.creatorAndrew, N.L.
dc.creatorSinaba, F.
dc.creatorLemoalle, J.
dc.creatorBene, C.
dc.date.accessioned2018-09-26T16:39:43Z
dc.date.available2018-09-26T16:39:43Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.description.abstractIn this paper we examine ways Sahelian floodplain fishers have adapted to the strong environmental variations that have affected the region in the last two decades. We analyse their vulnerability and adaptive capacity in the face of expected changes in rainfall combined with the predicted effects of dam construction. Data from the Inner Niger Delta in Mali were used to show that fishers were highly sensitive to past and recent variations in the hydro-climatic conditions. Moreover, it appears their traditional livelihood strategies, although diversified, sophisticated and well suited to historical conditions, offer a limited set of options to adapt to increased environmental constraints. For fish-dependent households that have adopted a mixed set of activities through farming, the high seasonality and constraints characterizing both their main activities (fishing and farming) does not allow switching between activities. For those households that undertake seasonal fishing migrations, there is little opportunity to modify migration routes or find new settlements sites inside the delta because of the high population density in this area. In sum, although the adoption of diversified and spatially discrete patterns in livelihood activities is often presented as a strategy to reduce vulnerability, such a strategy does not appear sufficient to allow fishers of the delta to successfully face the increasing constraints associated with the changes in hydro-climatic conditions. In such a context, fishing communities will be driven towards more drastic strategies of adaptation and/or coping such as switching to new activities based on agricultural innovations or emigration from the delta. Both strategies present many hazards, particularly in the absence of supportive public policy.
dc.description.versionPeer Review
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.identifierhttp://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10584-012-0492-7
dc.identifier.citationClimatic Change 115(3-4): 463-483
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-012-0492-7en_US
dc.identifier.issn0165-0009
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12348/916
dc.languageen
dc.publisherSpringer Netherlands
dc.sourceClimatic Change
dc.titleVulnerability and adaptation of African rural populations to hydro-climate change: experience from fishing communities in the Inner Niger Delta (Mali)
dc.typeJournal Article
dcterms.bibliographicCitationMorand, P. et al. (2012). Vulnerability and adaptation of African rural populations to hydro-climate change: experience from fishing communities in the Inner Niger Delta (Mali). Climatic Change 115(3-4): 463-483
worldfish.location.areaAfrica

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