Farmers’ perceptions and adaptation strategies to climate risks and their determinants: insights from a farming community of Aguie district in Niger Abdou Matsalabi Ado . Patrice Savadogo . A. K. M. Kanak Pervez . George Tond Mudimu Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract Globally climate risks are rising, and agriculture remains one of the most affected sectors. Niger is one of the most affected countries, where, there is little knowledge of farmers’ perceptions of climate risks and adaptation strategies. This research aimed to address these knowledge gaps. In total 160 farm households were randomly selected from two villages and respondents were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and a regression model were used for data analysis. Based on the survey results, the perceived risks include temperature increases, short rain season, recurrent droughts, stronger winds, increased pests, and diseases and reduced crop yields. Agronomic practices including crop association and diversification, changing planting dates, use of improved seed varieties, use of mineral fertilizers were implemented as adaptation strategies. Strategy adoption was significantly influenced by farming experience, education, farm and household size, soil fertility, livestock ratio. 80% of farmers adjusted their farming system, and the level of adaptation was significantly determined by soil fertility, climate change information, food production, and number of strategies adopted. This study highlights that policy- makers should incorporate communities’ knowledge of environmental change and locally adapted solutions to streamline their transition to sustainability. Keywords Climate change  Coping strategies  Drylands  Farm livelihood  Farmer-managed natural regeneration Introduction Climate change refers to short-, medium-, and long- term changes in weather patterns that are anticipated to occur or are already occurring, as a consequence of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (Parry et al. 2007). Like other parts of the world, Africa has begun to experience the impacts of human-induced climate change (Creech et al. 2014). Although observed changes in climate param- eters have not occurred uniformly across the continent, A. M. Ado (&)  P. Savadogo World Agroforestry (ICRAF), West and Central Africa Regional Office - Sahel Node, BP E5118, Bamako, Mali e-mail: abdoulado@gmail.com P. Savadogo e-mail: p.savadogo@cgiar.org A. K. M. K. Pervez Departement of Agronomy and Agricultural Extension, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi 6205, Bangladesh e-mail: pervezakm@gmail.com G. T. Mudimu College of Humanities and Development Studies, China Agricultural University, 17 Qing hua East Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China e-mail: gtmudimu@gmail.com 123 GeoJournal https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-019-10011-7