Perceptions of Climate Change and Adaptation Strategies to Extreme Heat: A Qualitative Study in Burkina Faso (Data)

Understanding how climate change is experienced in low-resource settings is essential for designing effective, context-specific adaptation strategies, yet evidence from rural West Africa remains limited. We conducted eight focus group discussions with 40 participants across four communities in Nouna, Burkina Faso, and analysed the data using a thematic analysis. Participants attributed climate change to environmental degradation, human behaviour, and divine influence, and described extreme heat as the most immediate and pervasive challenge. Heat exposure affected physical, mental, and social wellbeing, disrupting sleep, work productivity, household dynamics, and caregiving. Although all participants described behavioural adaptations—such as shifting work schedules, modifying household routines, and altering housing practices—women spoke of high exposure and burden due to gendered responsibilities involving caregiving, fire-based cooking, water collection, and indoor labour in poorly ventilated spaces. Our findings highlight the need for gender-responsive, community-driven adaptation strategies, including targeted communication, skills training, and locally appropriate heat-mitigation measures to reduce the growing heat burden in rural Burkina Faso.了解资源匮乏地区民众对气候变化的感知体验，对于制定切实有效、贴合当地实际的气候适应策略至关重要，但目前西非农村地区的相关研究证据仍较为匮乏。本研究在布基纳法索努纳市的四个社区开展了八场焦点小组访谈，共招募40名参与者，并采用主题分析法对采集的数据进行分析。参与者将气候变化归因于环境退化、人类行为以及神意影响，并将极端高温视为最紧迫且影响最广泛的挑战。高温暴露对参与者的生理、心理及社会福祉均造成负面影响，扰乱了睡眠、工作效率、家庭互动与照护活动。尽管所有参与者均提及采取了各类行为适应措施，例如调整工作时长、改变家庭日常安排以及调整居住方式，但女性群体表示，由于需承担照护、明火烹饪、取水以及在通风不良的室内开展劳作等性别分工职责，她们面临的高温暴露与负担更为沉重。本研究结果表明，布基纳法索农村地区的高温负担日益加重，亟需制定兼顾性别需求、以社区为主导的适应策略，包括针对性宣传、技能培训以及贴合当地实际的高温缓解措施。