This study examined the impact of climate change on pastoral livestock in Boulgou Province located in the sub-humid zone of Burkina Faso. We analysed the annual rainfall and temperature data from 1980 to 2012 using both Mann-Kendall's statistical test to show the long-term annual trends and Standardised Anomaly Index (SAI) to evaluate inter-annual rainfall fluctuations. We also conducted household interviews with 248 respondents to analyse agro-pastoralists' perceptions of climate change and variability, its impacts on livestock production and their acceptance of adaptation measures. A binary regression model was employed to identify the most important factors affecting agro-pastoralists' decisions to adopt specific adaptation measures. Within the period of study, the annual rainfall showed an upward trend, with high inter-annual variability and 818.9 mm of mean annual rainfall. Additionally, the annual minimum and maximum temperatures showed a statistically significant upward trend, with a rate of change of 0.20°C and 0.27°C per decade. The results of the household interviews indicated that most of the respondents (73.4 %) observed temperature changes compared with rainfall amount (1.2 %). To adapt to these changes, they have already adopted some adaptation measures that include the use of crop residue and herd destocking. Other less popular but innovative adaptation measures such as haymaking and use of concentrate livestock feeds could be promoted effectively under a comprehensive climate change adaptation action plan within a reviewed National Policy for Sustainable Livestock Development. This case study is one of the platforms through which poor agro-pastoralists' perception and recommendations can be accommodated in this proposed multi-stakeholder policy review.

Urban centres in Sub-Saharan Africa have been undergoing unprecedented urbanization in the past decades at annual rates of almost 4%; with attendant impacts on the cities’ thermal conditions. This study aimed at characterizing the noon-time maximum temperature of two selected cities each in the Sudan and Tropical Rainforest zones of Nigeria. The study utilized daily ERA Interim (European Reanalysis) grid-based 2 meter above ground daily noontime maximum temperature (°C) data of the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) from 1990 to 2019. R Statistical package version 3.6.1 was employed to detect the trend and seasonality in the maximum noon-time temperature of the four cities using non-parametric Mann-Kendall trend and seasonal trend tests. The statistical properties of the data were first analyzed by graphical examination of the data, using time plots, and boxplots. Also, the normality test of Shapiro-Wilk (S-W test) was applied. Pettitt test was then employed to test for single change-point detection in the temperature series. The study revealed higher mean temperature values of 27.49°C and 25.56°C respectively for Birnin Kebbi and Kano both in the Sudan, and lower temperature values of 24.08°C and 23.17°C respectively for Ibadan and Owerri located in the Tropical rainforest. The Tau statistics for Kano, Ibadan and Owerri are 0.07084, 0.09848 and 0.09113 and the corresponding p-values are 0.0447, 0.0053 and 0.0098 which are less than 0.05 alpha value; indicating significant trends for the three cities. The results also show significant seasonal increase at 0.05 significant levels in the maximum noon-time temperature series for all the locations. The study recommends urban landscape planning and design for optimization of outdoor thermal comfort and creation of heathier urban environments for the city dwellers.

This study aimed to examine the effects of climate variability on annual crop yield at smallholder farmers’ level in the Guinea Savanna Region of Nigeria, using Niger State as a case study.  Climate data (rainfall and maximum temperature) for a period of 38 years (1971-2008) was acquired from National Cereals Research Institute, Bida and Nigeria Meteorological Agency, while crop yield data was acquired from Niger State Agricultural Mechanization Development Authority (NAMDA). Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) were undertaken in 18 communities in six local government areas in Niger State spread across the three agricultural zones in the State to validate the impact of climate change and variability. The climate data was analyzed with the aid of charts. Results showed a generally rising trend in both temperature and rainfall across the State. It shows that rainfall is not only more variable, but its onset and cessation patterns have shifted and its occurrence very inconsistent. Linear relationships between climatic variables and the major crops showed moderate to strong positive and negative relationships. However, when crop yields were regressed with the climate variables, only maize (.032), bambara groundnut (.029) and groundnut (.007) were very significant at .05 confidence level (95%). The policy implication of this finding is the need to provide the farmers with local climate information and the need for vigorous pursuance of the development of high yield crop varieties better suited to changing climate conditions in the Guinea Savanna ecological zone by research institutes and other relevant agencies.