Abstract:
Semi-Arid Regions (SARs) of West Africa are considered climate change “hotspots” where strong
ecological, economic and social impacts converge to make socio-ecological systems particularly
vulnerable. While both climatic and non-climatic drivers interact across scales to influence
vulnerability, traditionally, this inter-connectedness has received little attention in vulnerability
assessments in the region. This study adopted the vulnerability patterns framework, operationalized
using the Multidimensional Livelihood Vulnerability approach to include both climatic and non climatic stressors to analyze differential household vulnerability in SARs of Mali. Findings showed that
while drought was the most mentioned climate-related stressor, households were also exposed to a
diversity of environmental and socio-economic stressors, including food scarcity, livestock disease,
labour unavailability, crop damage, and erratic rainfall patterns. The typology revealed three
vulnerability archetypes differentiated by adaptive capacity and sensitivity. Availability of productive
household members, household resource endowments, livelihood diversification and social networks
were the main discriminant factors of household adaptive capacity, while challenges relating to food
and water security make households more sensitive to stressors. The analysis highlighted the
heterogeneity in household vulnerability patterns within and across communities. Failing to account
for this heterogeneity in adaptation planning might result in a mismatch between adaptation needs
and interventions, and potentially in maladaptation.
