Influence of Climate Risk related Hazard on Pastoral Resources and Response Strategies in the South-West of Mali, West Africa

Abstract

Pastoral resources play an important role in the livestock production and reproduction system in the south-west of Mali. These pastoral resources are very sensitive to climatic hazards which are negatively affecting their availability in quantity and quality. This research aims to analyze the influence of climate hazards on pastoral resources and response strategies to strengthen agro-pastoral communities' resilience. To achieve this, meteorological data trends from 1950 to 2022, satellite images, and phyto-ecological data were analyzed. The socio-demographic data were collected through a semi-structured survey administered to 404 head households, from focus groups through discussion with local stakeholders by using a climatic risks matrix. The results obtained indicate a concordance between agropastoralists' perception of climate change and meteorological observations concerning the decrease of rainfall (-213 mm; agree (63.3 %)), the increase of maximum and minimum temperature (+1.33 °C, +1.24 °C; agree (93.1 %)), and the increase of wind speed (+0.59 m/s; agree (97 %)) over the past 70 years. The main climatic risk-related hazards are frequency of drought (RS=21.15) and increasing temperature (RS=17.60). Agro-pastoralists perceived depletion of pastoral resources due to these climatic hazards increasing their vulnerability. Thus, adopted strategies were collected including collection and storage of crop residues (49.5 %), regular drinking of animals (39.6 %), and changing of animals rhythms of driving (35.9 %). Agro-pastoralist communities adapt more easily to erratic rainfall and frequency of violent winds (mark 5) than the frequency of drought (mark 3) and increasing temperatures (mark 2). The influence of climatic risk-related hazards constitutes a real threat to agro-pastoral systems in the district of Bougouni. This research permitted the enhancement of agropastoralist adaptive capacity to climate hazards in the study area.