Rainfall Variability and Adaptation of Tomatoes Farmers in Santa: Northwest Region of Cameroon
AbstractThe Santa agrarian basin being one of the main market gardening basins in Cameroon and one of the producers of tomatoes in the country is vulnerable to the impact of rainfall variability. The spatiotemporal variability of rainfall through the annual, monthly, and daily fluctuations has greatly affected the market gardening sector in general and tomatoes production in particular. Thus, given rise to the research topic “Rainfall variability and adaptation of tomatoes farmers in Santa North west region of Cameroon,” its principal objective is to contribute to better understanding of the recent changes occurring in tomatoes production and productivity in Santa. To attain this objective, a principal hypothesis was formulated that rainfall variability instead of unnatural conditions or human constraints justifies changes observed in tomatoes production in Santa and resulting adaptation strategies developed by peasants and stakeholders.Our study came out with several findings, among which includes rainfall events in Santa fluctuate in time and in space with reduction in the number of rainy day and increase in the intensity of rainfall events causing soil erosion, infertility, and frequent crop diseases, insects, and pests. Extreme events such as drought and flooding have equally become frequent in the area especially during the different cycles of tomatoes production disrupting the agricultural calendar and causing crop failure and decrease in yields with Pearson’s correlation of 0.017. This positive value shows that there is a relationship between annual rainfall and tomatoes output in Santa. Tomatoes farmers in Santa are struggling to adapt locally to this situations, but their efforts are still limited especially due to their low level of education and poverty. Finally, it was seen that the output of tomatoes over the years in Santa has a strong correlation with rainfall. Based on the findings of this study, the government is called upon to assist farmers in their adaptation options.