Decisions to Adapt Family Farms to Climate Change in Cameroon

ABSTRACT The goal of this research is to identify the factors that explain family farm adaptation to climate change, as well as the complementarity between these various adaptation strategies. A multivariate probit model was used to analyse secondary data from 721 family farms. According to statistical analysis, 72% of farmers correctly perceive temperature increases over time and variations in rainfall as daily realities that must be incorporated into their farming practices. The most concerning phenomena are drought (52%), and flooding (34%). Econometric analysis reveals that the adaptation decision is explained by the farmer's experience, household size, farm size, religion, agroecological zone, producer cooperation, and credit facilities. Specifically, farm size had a positive and statistically significant effect on the likelihood of irrigating fields by 12.2% and using short‐duration seeds by 26.9%. Furthermore, there was a strong correlation between the different coping strategies, confirming the complementarity hypothesis. These findings imply that strengthening agricultural research and extension services, including farmer access to information, education, and training, is critical to the development of an effective climate change adaptation process.