ABSTRACT
The climate changes are a world challenge to which the whole
humanity makes face. The peasants, outside the numerous problems to which they
are already confronted, must face this new phenomenon henceforth. The
adaptation appears currently as one of the best alternatives.
The present study treats the perceptions, the local knowledges
and the strategies of adaptation developed by the producers of the villages of
Sissèkpa in the township of Adjohoun and Zounta in the township of
Dangbo in answer to the lived climate changes. Four hypothesis acted as leading
thread to this study : (i) the climate changes in the soil are perceived by the
producers, (ii) the reasons assigned to the climate changes are bound more to
the norms and local beliefs, (iii) the climate change consequences vary
according to the units of landscape of the soil and the seasons of culture and,
(iv) the strategies developed facing the climate changes differ according to
the categories of producers.
The methodology used is a combination of quantitative and
qualitative research approaches. The data collected have been seized with
Access to constitute a data base. Differents tools of data treatment have been
used. It is about on the one hand, of the descriptive and analytic statistics
achieved with the help of Excel and SPSS and on the other hand, of the
statistical tests done with SAS. Various results have been got following the
investigations of the present survey.
Indeed, the producers of the two villages perceive the climate
changes manifestations. During the fifteen (15) last years, these recorded deep
distresses having milked to the climatic factors of their middle. The rainfall
change affect the two rainy seasons of the locality and appears by: the belated
starting of rainy season with pockets of drought under progress, the shortening
of their length, the reduction of the numbers of rainy days, the abundant rain
concentration on short lengths with less strong rains during the small season,
violent rain occurrence toward the end of the big season (May and June) as well
as the sensitive reduction of the height rainfall. For the temperature and
wind, the producers perceive that it is more and more hot, with a more numerous
demonstrations of violents winds during the beginning and the end of the big
rainy season. Other modifications as the delay of the yearly rise of river
level (July and August instead of June) and the reduction of the size of it
extent is perceived like indicators of the climate changes lived in their soil.
The origins assigned to these changes
by the producers are more bound to the local settings of
reference. Thus, the norms and local beliefs occupy a choice place in the
reasons evoked by the producers.
The climatic change consequences are felt on the physical
environment, on the life setting of the producers, their economic activities,
as well as on their health and habitats. On the physical environment, the
consequences of the phenomenon of excess of rains on short lengths result in
the cases of parcels culture erosion on the units of landscape of top and
middle of slope. On the unit of landscape of slope bottom they cause the
precocious flooding of the parcels of cultures. Concerning the delays or
ruptures of rains, they provoke the dessication of the soils of the parcels
situated in top and middle of slope. Regarding the cultures practiced by the
producers, the decrease of output constitutes the main consequence caused by
the climate changes. These decreases of outputs vary according to the different
units of landscape and per season of culture.
To face the felt effects, the producers developed various
strategies of adaptation. It is about of: the adoption/abandonment of
varieties/cultures, the displacement of culture, the ploughing to dry, the
intensification of the use of manure, the modification of some rotations of
culture, the cultivated surfaces modification, the cultivation of several units
of landscape, the vaccination of the raising animals, the diversification of
the sources of incomes and management of water. The assets in various funds
translated by the structure of every exploitation determine the setting up of
these differents strategies of adaptation. The analysis of the adaptation
strategies developed by the producers watch that they take account in a report
of interrelation, of their perceptions, rest on the structure of their
exploitation through the level of access to resources of each of them and have
for source the local and exogenous knowledge.
Key words: Climate changes,
perceptions, local knowledge, strategies of adaptation, systems of production,
low valley of the Ouémé
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