Abstract:
“Climate dereglement and cotton production in Kandi district in Northern Benin” Cotton
production is one of theagricultural sub-sectors potentially affected by the variability of climate
patterns in West Africa. This study analyzes the incidences of climate variability on cotton
cultivation in the district of Kandi. This analysis is based on climate data (rainfalland
temperature) for the period 1971-2015 and statistics of area and yield of cotton production on the
period 1995-2010. The pluviometric anomalies vary between -2.21 to + 2.64 and the
temperatures from - 1.59 to 2.20.
The various treatments of quantitative data were reinforced by socio-anthropological qualitative
data from fieldwork. The results reveal unimodal rainfall with a rainy season (May to October)
and a dry season (November to April). The annual change in rainfall over the period 1971-2015
shows an upward trend marked by 48% of deficit, 3% of average and 49% of surplus years. The
problem in the district of Kandi is related to changes in precipitation. In addition, the average
temperature has increased by 1.9 ° C. All these parameters affect cotton production and
performance. The traditional agricultural calendar is subject to disruption according to climatic
variations. In response, farmers are developing several coping strategies to cope with the impacts
to which they are subject. These results may be useful in the context of accompanying policies
that could help improve the well-being of common farming. |
