Abstract:
Drought is a noteworthy cause of low agricultural profitability and of crop production
vulnerability, yet in numerous countries of Africa little to no consideration has been paid to readiness
for drought calamity, particularly to spatial evaluation and indicators of drought occurrence. In this
study, biophysical and socio-economic data, farmers’ community surveys and secondary data from
remote sensing on soil characteristics and water demand were used to evaluate the predictors of
drought in inland valley rice-based production systems and the factors affecting farmers’ mitigation
measures. The study intervened in three West African countries located in the Sudan-Sahel zone,
viz. Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria. Significant drying trends occurred at latitudes below 11◦300
whilst significant wetting trends were discerned at latitude above 11◦300
. Droughts were more
frequent and had their longest duration in the states of Niger and Kaduna located in Nigeria and
in western Burkina Faso during the period 1995–2014. Among 21 candidate predictors, average
annual standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index and duration of groundwater availability
were the most important predictors of drought occurrence in inland valleys rice based-production
systems. Land ownership and gender affected the commitment of rice farmers to use any mitigation
measure against drought. Drought studies in inland valleys should include climatic water balance
and groundwater data. Securing property rights and focusing on women’s association would improve
farmers’ resilience and advance drought mitigation measures.
