Perception of climate change and adaptations of cocoa producers in the Divo production area

Climate change is one of the major constraints that disrupts the technical route of cocoa production. To ensure the longevity of cocoa orchards in Côte d'Ivoire, the challenge for agronomists is to understand what perceptions producers have of this phenomenon and how are they adapting. To address these concerns, a study was initiated at Divo, a cocoa production area located in the south centre of Côte d'Ivoire and increasingly subject to climate change. The objective of this study was to determine through a survey, the perception of climate change of cocoa producers and the various adaptation measures developed by them in this region. The survey was preceded by the development of a questionnaire and the completion of a pre-survey to refine the survey sheet. It focused on three main areas of the Divo production area (Divo-Lakota; Divo-Hiré; Divo-Tiassalé), i.e. 27 villages and 252 producers.The results showed that 100% of the population surveyed is aware of the phenomenon of climate change. About 85% of growers observed climate change less than 5 years ago and 67.06% of them noticed the effects of climate change on their own. In addition, according to 51% of them, deforestation was named as the major cause of climate change, followed by intensive and shifting agriculture (29.71% of producers). The producers interviewed perceived the effect of climate change on the soil and on the cocoa trees through high mortalities among young cocoa trees, a drop in production and strong insect pest attacks on adult cocoa trees. As adaptation strategies practiced, only 3% of producers said that climatic disturbances led to changes in their farming practices. . These are mainly the modification of the depth of the planting holes, attention is placed on the choice of soil type (sandy clay), the densification of banana trees, the use of cassava as a shade tree, the use of improved plant material and crop diversification. In terms of the socio-economic impact of climate change on households, 81.53% of producers say they currently invest more resources to establish and maintain their plantations through the purchase of more agricultural inputs compared to previous practices.

Keywords: climate change, cocoa, perception, adaptations