As part of the participatory assessment on the climate change impacts and adaptive capacity of different rural communities from Niger, members of 188 households from nine villages (Baramaka, Fachi, Falki, Gassafa, Gourjia, Koré Haoussa, Maggia Dogaraoua, Sabara, Soumarana) were interviewed. Information were collected from farmers, through a survey-based evaluation, to assess their level of resilience to the effects of climate change and the associated risks and vulnerabilities.

The preliminary results highlight that climatic changes have harmed smallholder farmers’ activities in the past decade, affecting their livelihoods. Indeed, 70% of them have observed changes in rainfall, including delayed start of the rainy season and increased rainfall variability, impacting small-scale producers when deciding on their cropping and harvesting calendar. Locust outbreak is also recognized as one of the main consequences of climate change, damaging crops.

Furthermore, access to weather forecasts is crucial to enhance producer’s capacity to timely respond to disturbances and changes in climate. It appears that agro-pastoralist and farmer field schools play a central role in providing this kind of information to farmers, especially in those areas where traditional information systems, like radio and extension officers, are limited.

Smallholder farmers in Niger commonly use several sustainable practices to prevent and reverse land degradation and soil infertility, while increasing land productivity at the same time. Most of these practices also allow for water retention in the soil, such as the incorporation of manure to the soil, crop rotation and intercropping. On the opposite, less than half of the farmers interviewed use water conservation practices, like water retention ditches and watering crops at strategic times of the day, in the early morning or late at night.

Although 64% of respondents have an irrigation system in place, only 55% of them have an equipped infrastructure to provide their crops with a steady water supply.

Farmers’ climate resilience seems quite high in Niger, as they stated they possess a certain capacity and knowledge to cope with unexpected shocks and climate variability. Nevertheless, there is still a need to further strengthen their ability to adapt to climate change, for example, in the adoption of practices to preserve the quantity and quality of water to supply farmers’ household and agricultural activities.

Access to and use of fertilizers is considered the main priority of smallholders to ensure food security and income. Access to water is also considered of paramount importance, as the water sources are often neither enough nor adequate. Irrigation systems and infrastructures also appear as main concerns for farmers in order to ensure enough revenues to their households.

Final results of the vulnerability assessment will be soon available on the website.