Climate Change Policies in 16 West African Countries: A Systematic Review of Adaptation with a Focus on Agriculture, Food Security, and Nutrition

Abstract

Climate change strongly impacts the agricultural sector in West Africa, threatening food security and nutrition, particularly for populations with the least adaptive capacity. Little is known about national climate change policies in the region. This systematic review identifies and analyses climate change policy documents in all 16 West African countries: (1) What are the existing climate change adaptation policies publicly available? (2) Which topics are addressed? (3) How are agriculture and food security framed and addressed? Following PRISMA guidelines, PubMed and Google scholar as key databases were searched with an extensive grey literature search. Keywords for searches were combinations of “Africa”, “Climate Change”, and “National Policy/Plan/Strategy/Guideline”. Fifteen countries have at least one national policy document on climate change in the frame of our study. Nineteen policy documents covered seven key sectors (energy, agriculture, water resources, health, forestry, infrastructure, and education), and eight thematic areas (community resilience, disaster risk management, institutional development, industry development, research and development, policy making, economic investment, and partnerships/collaboration). At the intersection of these sectors/areas, effects of changing climate on countries/populations were evaluated and described. Climate change adaptation strategies emerged including development of local risk/disaster plans, micro-financing and insurance schemes (public or private), green energy, and development of community groups/farmers organizations. No clear trend emerged when analysing the adaptation options, however, climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector was almost always included. Analysing agriculture, nutrition, and food security, seven agricultural challenges were identified: The small scale of West African farming, information gaps, missing infrastructure, poor financing, weak farmer/community organizations, a shifting agricultural calendar, and deteriorating environmental ecology. They reflect barriers to adaptation especially for small-scale subsistence farmers with increased climate change vulnerabilities. The study has shown that most West African countries have climate change policies. Nevertheless, key questions remain unanswered, and demand for further research, e.g., on evaluating the implementation in the respective countries, persists.

The relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation: could West African countries benefit from EKC hypothesis?

“…Although GDP in West Africa is at its early stages of growth, West African countries have introduced several policies in line with global efforts in achieving environmental sustainability and carbon neutrality. Sorgho et al ( 2020 ), for example, discovered that 15 countries have at least one national policy document on climate change and that 19 policy documents cover seven key sectors (health, agriculture, infrastructure, water resources, forestry, energy, and education) and eight thematic areas (research and development, community resilience, industry development, disaster risk management, institutional development, policymaking, and education). At this point, integrating environmental awareness in economic expansion and demand for a quality and sustainable environment increases (Beckerman 1992 ; Komen et al 1997 ; Liang and Yang 2019 ; Li et al 2022 ) is a major concern to LMICs in West Africa.…”

Climate Change, Health Risks, and Vulnerabilities in Burkina Faso: A Qualitative Study on the Perceptions of National Policymakers

“…SDPs shared farmers’ concerns about agricultural production and food security and, like them, perceived agriculture, food, and health adaptation as key to continued subsistence in Burkina Faso [ 15 ]. To help the population overcome adaptation barriers, adaptation planning, policy, and implementation must be incorporated in the country’s sustainable and long-term development planning [ 15 , 34 , 87 ]. The necessity of combining CC adaptation and development work, echoed by SDPs in this study, is especially important in West Africa where governmental and non-governmental institutions are weakened by restrictive budgets, despite possibilities from streams such as The Global Environment Facility and The Green Climate Fund [ 88 , 89 ].…”

“…To face these effects, stakeholders, decisionmakers and policymakers (SDPs) must strengthen adaptation by planning, implementing, and monitoring CC&H policies [ 34 ]. Therefore, the CC perception and political will of those making decisions are key factors in the development and implementation of CC policies [ 35 , 36 ].…”

A review of electricity consumer behavioural change under sustainable energy management scheme

“…From a policy-making viewpoint, the primary obstacle to achieving the intended behaviour is often transmitting the necessary information to the target. Thus, knowledge-based interventions may be given using knowledge-based energy policy instruments that allow or encourage users to change their behaviour voluntarily at the lowest economic and environmental costs potential [46].…”