Abstract
This work
focuses on the way climate change may lead to violent conflicts between
crop farmers and agro-pastoralists in Burkina Faso. It assesses farmer’s
perception of climate change and variability indicators, identifies and
analyses the causes of the violent conflicts between these groups; it
equally evaluates the impacts of these violent conflicts on the
communities’ welfare. For that, household interviews (100) and focus
group discussions were conducted. The findings showed that Farmers have a
good perception of climate change indicators, but their indigenous
knowledge about the season prediction has been challenged.
Climate
change and variability are impacting land degradation and livestock
health. Livestock diversification and mobility are agro-pastoralists’
adaptation measures whereas crop farmers are more and more interested in
livestock production. The frequency and severity of extreme climate
events are increasing farmers’ insecurity when it comes to using natural
resources.
The study finds that climate change is not a root
cause of these conflicts but a factor that exacerbates them. The root
causes of these conflicts are socio-economic, political, and land
degradation factors. The impacts of the violent conflicts are migration,
expulsion, injury and fatality of the population, and the destruction
of property which can be a vicious cycle.
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