Publicaciones

Climate information is recognized as a powerful tool to reduce the effect of climate
risk and uncertainty on crop production and increase the resilience and the adaptive capacity of
farmers in semi-arid zones. This paper estimates farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for climate
information within cowpea and sesame value chains in Northern Burkina Faso. The study used the
contingent valuation method for a monetary valuation of farmers’ preferences for climate information.
Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 170 farmers. The study found that
63% of respondents were willing to pay for climate information services (CIS) such as seasonal
climate forecast (SCF), decadal climate information (10-DCI), daily climate information (1-DCI) and
agro-advisories. The predicted value for the WTP was XOF 3496 for SCF, XOF 1066 for 10-DCI, XOF
1985 for 1-DCI and XOF 1628 for agro-advisories. The study also showed that several socioeconomic
and motivation factors have greater influence on farmers’ WTP for CIS. These included the gender, age,
education of the farm head and the awareness of farm head to climate information. The outcomes of
this paper should support policy makers to better design an efficient mechanism for the dissemination
of climate information to improve the adaptive capacity of farmers to climate risks in Burkina Faso.