The Economic Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture in Cameroon

This study examines the impact of
climate change on crop farming in Cameroon. The
country's economy is predominantly agrarian and
agriculture and the exploitation of natural resources remain
the driving force for the country's economic
development. Fluctuations in national income are due not
merely to the decline in world demand for Cameroon's
traditional agricultural exports or to mistakes in economic
policy making, but also to the vagaries of the weather.
Based on a farm-level survey of more than 800 farms, the
study employs a Ricardian cross-sectional approach to
measure the relationship between climate and the net revenue
from crops. Net revenue is regressed on climate, water flow,
soil, and economic variables. Further, uniform scenarios
assume that only one aspect of climate changes and the
change is uniform across the whole country. The analysis
finds that net revenues fall as precipitation decreases or
temperatures increase across all the surveyed farms. The
study reaffirms that agriculture in Cameroon is often
limited by seasonality and the availability of moisture.
Although other physical factors, such as soil and relief,
have an important influence on agriculture, climate remains
the dominant influence on the variety of crops cultivated
and the types of agriculture practiced.