Agriculture and Climate Change in Cameroon: An Assessment of Impacts and Adaptation Options

This study aims to assess the economic impact of climate change on crop farming activities in the Sudano-Sahelian Area of Cameroon. The study uses the Ricardian model and is based on farm data generated from a survey carried out in the framework of the ESA (Water-Soil-Tree) project between 2008 and 2009 on producers in 10 villages of the Lake Lagdo watershed. The results from this analysis indicate that an annual increase in temperature will have a negative impact on irrigated and dry land farms in the area. However, the marginal impact of increasing precipitation will increase crop revenue for dry land farms. The findings generally provide an idea about increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation that are detrimental to agricultural productivity. The above analyses show the magnitude and direction of the economic impact of climate change on agriculture. These findings also suggest that Cameroon should begin to plan for climate contingencies.