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CLIMATE CHANGE, LIVELIHOOD, AND HOUSEHOLD VULNERABILITY IN EASTERN NIGER By SARAH LINDLEY MCKUNE A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2012 1 © 2012 Sarah Lindley McKune 2 To my colleagues, team, and friends in Tanout 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I offer my sincere thanks to my doctoral committee co-chairs, Drs. Brian Mayer and Sandra Russo, and members, Drs. Leonardo Villalon and Alyson Young. Without you, this research would not have happened in this form. I am additionally grateful to Dr. Sandra Russo who roped me into this PhD while I was floundering in an attempt to live happily in Gainesville and work in US public health happily. Her support, guidance and friendship have served me immeasurably. With Dr. Mark Brown and the Adaptive Management of Water, Wetlands, and Watershed (AMW3) IGERT team, she helped me find a home, both professionally and personally. I thank the National Science Foundation and the entire AMW3 IGERT team for that opportunity and for their financial support of my doctoral program. The Center for African Studies and the Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship program, funded through the US Department of Education, provided financial support of my doctoral program and allowed me to study Arabic for two years, a lifelong goal fulfilled. I would like to thank the Livestock and Climate Change Collaborative Research Support Program (LCC CRSP) for providing funding for my fieldwork in Niger, and for the encouragement and guidance of Drs. Julie Silva and Leo Villalon concerning how to conduct research in a volatile pocket of the African Sahel while raising two small children. My heartfelt thanks must be expressed to my friends and research assistants, Drs. Sambo Bodé and Malam Souley Bassirou, who enabled data collection when and where it might not otherwise have been possible. I learned immensely from them both, and I hope this document is a reflection of that. 4 I will be ever grateful to my husband, J., and my kids, Matilda (2.5 years) and James (10 months). J.’s support throughout my doctoral program and encouragement at the end were instrumental to its completion. And though only concepts in my mind at the time, Matilda and James were the reason I embarked on this journey; and they are certainly my motivation to complete it. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 9 LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ 11 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 12 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 1 OPENING REMARKS............................................................................................. 16 National Context ..................................................................................................... 16 Introduction to Niger ......................................................................................... 16 Economics ........................................................................................................ 17 Environment ..................................................................................................... 20 Population and Health ...................................................................................... 23 People .............................................................................................................. 24 Ethnicity, Livelihood, and Water ....................................................................... 27 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 29 Research Design .................................................................................................... 31 Research Area and Sample ............................................................................. 31 Data Collection ................................................................................................. 33 Data Analysis ................................................................................................... 36 2 PASTORALISTS UNDER PRESSURE - DOUBLE EXPOSURE TO ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN NIGER ................................... 37 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 37 Background: Pastoralists in the Contemporary Economy ....................................... 39 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 43 The Case of Niger ................................................................................................... 45 Feedback Double Exposure: Uranium Markets ................................................ 48 Context Double Exposure: Land Use Change, Markets, and Household Demographics ............................................................................................... 52 Concluding Remarks............................................................................................... 59 3 PERCEIVED RISK OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ADAPTATION AND LIVELIHOOD VULNERABILITY IN EASTERN NIGER ................................................................. 62 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 62 Background ............................................................................................................. 65 6 Climate Change in Niger .................................................................................. 65 Pastoralism as a Sustainable Livelihood .......................................................... 66 Pastoralism and Vulnerability/Resilience .......................................................... 67 Research Methods .................................................................................................. 69 Key Variables .......................................................................................................... 71 Livelihood ......................................................................................................... 72 Perceived Risk of Climate Change ................................................................... 73 Vulnerability/Resilience .................................................................................... 74 Food Security ................................................................................................... 74 Adaptations/Coping Mechanisms ..................................................................... 75 Wealth .............................................................................................................. 76 Ethnicity ............................................................................................................ 77 Findings .................................................................................................................. 77 Perceptions of Climate Change and Livelihood ................................................ 77 Perceptions of Climate Change, Coping Strategies, and Adaptations .............. 79 Coping Strategies, Adaptations, and Household Vulnerability/Resilience ........ 84 Discussion .............................................................................................................. 89 4 UNDERNUTRITION AND FOOD SECURITY IN NIGER – A STUDY OF AGROPASTORAL COMMUNITIES FOLLOWING THE 2005 AND 2010 FOOD CRISES .................................................................................................................. 95 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 95 Background ............................................................................................................. 96 Niger and Nutrition ........................................................................................... 96 Causes of Malnutrition ...................................................................................... 97 2005 Crisis ..................................................................................................... 102 2010 Crisis ..................................................................................................... 104 Methods ................................................................................................................ 105 Findings ................................................................................................................ 110 Distribution of Undernutrition 2005 and 2010 ................................................. 110 Case study: Dareram ............................................................................... 116 Case study: Kékeni .................................................................................. 119 Food Security and Undernutrition ................................................................... 122 Wealth ...................................................................................................... 127 Food security,