Climate change vulnerabilities and adaptation strategies in rural communities: an intersectional approach in the Baham sub-division of Cameroon

Studies examining intersectionality in Africa in the context of climate change remain underexplored. The study uses life history interviews to investigate how the social differences (gender, marital status and number of years lived in the village) of rural farmers influence their observation of climatic changes, vulnerability to climate change and ability to adapt to climate change. Findings demonstrate that vulnerability and ability to cope to climate change varies due to social differences in some cases. Factors such as access to land and land tenure security affects married women more than single or widowed farmers, and food insecurity increases the vulnerability of widowed farmers more than other farmers. The farmers have adopted strategies such as belong to common initiative groups (CIGs) to access financial capital, livelihood diversification, and adopting new agriculture practices as coping strategies, which vary mainly due to gender. The findings suggest that designing policies sensitive to social differences in rural farmers and institutionalizing social identities such in climate change adaptation and mitigation frameworks are vital. Policy interventions must reflect how different social identities of rural farmers intersect to increase or decrease their vulnerability to climate change and their ability to cope in the wake of accelerating climate change.