Tendances climatiques, perceptions des gestionnaires des parcs à karité sur la productivité du karité (Vitellaria paradoxa) au Bénin.

The objective of the present study was to analyze the perceptions of shea park managers of the effects of climate change on the productivity of shea trees along the climatic gradient in Benin. Methodology and Results: 420 shea-park managers in the municipalities of Bohicon (located in the south), Savè (located in the centre), Parakou, Bembèrèkè and Kandi (located in the north) were subjected to a semistructured questionnaire. Socio-demographic characteristics of the people surveyed, trends in the climatic factors, criteria used to appreciate effect variability of climate parameters on shea trees’ productivity and the adaptation strategies developed were data collected. These data were analyzed using principal component analysis and correspondence factorial analysis. Then, an ordinal polychotomic logistic regression was used to assess the determinants of the adoption of the adaptation strategies to climate change by shea park managers. The results showed that temperature (38.65% of the respondent), rainfall (50.27% of the respondent) and wind (2.43% of the respondent) are climatic factors affecting negatively trees’ productivity. Intercropping of shea tree with annual crops and regular maintenance of the trees were the main adaptation strategies to climate change developed by 98.33% and 48.55% of the respondents respectively. The agroecological zone, gender of the shea park managers, membership of farmer organization and density of shea trees significantly influenced (p < 0.05) the choice of the adaptation strategies developed. Conclusion and Application of Results: The variation in climatic factors caused, according to the people surveyed, abortion of flowers and consequently a decrease in the trees’ nut yield. The choice of an adaptation strategies by shea trees park managers to climate change depends on the agroecological zone, gender of the managers, membership of farmers’ organization and density of shea trees. We suggested an analysis of the effectiveness of these adaptation strategies in order to develop crop management technology that guarantee the sustainability of this agroforestry system.