Perception of climate change impacts on agricultural production decisions: insights from the Banikoara commune of Benin

Abstract

This article analyzes producers’ perception of the impacts of climate change on agricultural production decisions. The data used are collected through a survey of 406 cotton producers in the Banikoara commune of Benin, and a Multinomial Logit model is used to analyze the determinants of this perception. More than half of the producers (50.25%) have a wrong perception of the impacts of climate change on the agricultural production decisions. The findings reveal that this perception is significantly explained by the number of male kids, the level of education, the changes in output prices, the State’s support when risks occur, and the sources/origins of agricultural risks. The welfare of producers will be improved if agricultural policies are diversified and include weather-based crop insurance (individual as well as collective).