Consideration of Socioeconomic Constraints to Finance Households’ Adaptation to Climate Change in the Least Developed Countries: The Case of Benin

Abstract:

In the Least Developed Countries (LDC), there is an urgent need to finance households' adaptation to climate change, and several socioeconomic constraints may compromise their resilience to climate risks. Based on data from Benin, a Logit model was used to demonstrate that, apart from climate shocks, households are also affected by declining prices of agricultural products and rising prices of foodstuffs and inputs. The influence of these shocks is independent of the areas of residence. In addition to these variables of interest, the article also highlights the significative influence of other variables. In order to avoid these main constraints from changing the business climate to become disincentivised for household adaptation, their management should be integrated into climate change adaptation planning. Adaptation should be considered within broader development processes, including non-structural policy and institutional frameworks, rather than as an isolated policy that is supported by climate variables alone. This will allow for a better use of the insufficient public funding dedicated to adaptation to climate change.