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Confronted with climate change, farmers are increasingly resorting to sustainable agricultural practices like agroforestry as an adaptation measure to the adverse effects of climate change. In this perspective, this study assessed different agroforestry systems and the components there in, as well as the factors affecting farmers’ choice of agroforestry systems as adaptation measures to climate change in Cameroon. Mainly primary data were collected through household and field surveys. The factors affecting smallholder farmers’ choice of agroforestry systems faced with climate change were analysed using the multinomial logistic regression model. Findings revealed that the agroforestry systems practiced by farmers as adaptation measures to climate change were agrosilvicultural system (43.71%), silvipastoral agroforestry system (11.43%) and agrosilvipastoral system (24.28%). Three main components, namely crops, trees/shrubs and livestock, were integrated in these agroforestry systems by small-scale farmers to enhance adaptation when confronted with climate change adversities. The multinomial logistic regression model revealed the existence of a cause–effect relationship (p

Faced with the adverse effects of climate variability and change (CVC), agro-ecological farming practices like agroforestry are crucial especially for smallholder farmers who are extremely vulnerable. It was within this context that this study appraised smallholder farmers’ agroforestry practices faced with climate change adversities. Biophysical and socio-economic data were collected from ten villages in Cameroon. Findings showed that climate parameters have experienced significant fluctuations in the past five decades. Smallholder farmers practice several agroforestry practices and integrate a plethora of tree/shrub species on agroforestry plots in order to adapt to climate change. Six main types of agroforestry trees/shrub species (trees/shrubs used for fuelwood, fruits, building materials, fodder, soil improvement, medicines) were integrated by smallholder farmers within agroforestry plots. T test and Chi-square test statistics indicated a strong non-causal relationship between explanatory variables (institutional and socio-economic attributes) and smallholder farmers’ agroforestry practicing decision faced with CVC. Logistic regression showed that a strong positive causal relationship exists between four explanatory variables (age of household head, access to information, access to credit and degree of vulnerability) and smallholder farmers’ agroforestry practicing decision faced with CVC. The study therefore recommends that institutional and socio-economic factors (credit facilities and reliable information) fostering smallholder farmers’ practice of agroforestry faced with CVC should be provided by governmental and non-governmental agencies in order to enhance the odds of smallholder farmers practicing agroforestry faced with the adverse effects of CVC.

Farmer–grazier conflicts are a major cause of the stagnated development experienced in rural, peri-urban, and suburban areas across Africa and the developing world, as these conflicts often lead to the loss of crops, livestock, and even human lives, precipitating untold misery and excruciating poverty. In Cameroon where this study was undertaken, the situation is simply pathetic as farmer–grazier conflicts occur regularly, especially during the dry season when herders move livestock (especially cattle, sheep and horses) from hills to the valleys (transhumance), in search of pasture, destroying farmers’ crops in the process. It is within this framework that this study sought to look at the contribution of agroforestry practices to farmer–grazier conflict mitigation. Data collection methods for the study were household surveys, key informant interviews and direct observations. Data analysis was done through descriptive and inferential statistics, using two main statistical analyses software: Microsoft Excel 2007 and SPSS 20. Findings revealed that the main cause of farmer–grazier conflicts was limited arable and grazing land (100%), with the main consequences being loss of human lives and crops/livestock (100%). The main agroforestry practices of farmers were home gardens with animals (52%), trees on croplands (60%) and live fences/hedges (52%) while graziers’ agroforestry practices were home gardens with animals (73%), trees on grazing lands (60%) and live fences/hedges (53%). Agroforestry was found to provide many socio-economic and ecosystem benefits to both farmers and graziers like food, fuelwood, fodder, building materials and shade which make farmers and graziers less interdependent. Correlation analysis revealed a strong inverse relationship between the practice of agroforestry and farmer–grazier conflicts (p

Climate change is a major challenge for the agricultural sector worldwide. Smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change owing to their high dependence on agriculture for livelihood sustenance. Building smallholder farmers’ livelihood resilience to the adverse effects of environmental change is critical to addressing their vulnerabilities. This paper comparatively assessed livelihood resilience of smallholder farmers in Isiolo County, Kenya and Northwestern Cameroon in the face of environmental changes. The results are based on household surveys of 339 farmers in Kenya and 350 farmers in Cameroon. Findings showed that using the same measures of livelihood resilience, farmers’ resilience were significantly different in the Kenyan and Cameroonian study areas (p