Adapting Harvests: A Comprehensive Study of Farmers’ Perceptions, Adaptation Strategies, and Climatic Trends in Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan

Abstract

Understanding farmers’ perceptions, attitudes, and adaptation strategies toward climate change is important for developing effective policies that support agricultural development and food security in rural communities. This study aimed to understand climatic trends over the past two decades (2003–2022), farmers’ perceptions, and adaptation strategies regarding climate change in Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan. The Mann–Kendall trend test identified a significant decrease in average minimum temperature (τ = −0.357, p < 0.05) and an increase in rainfall patterns (τ = 0.337, p < 0.05). A mixed-method approach is employed, utilizing a survey of 180 randomly selected farmers, focus group discussions, and climate data analysis. Ordinal and binary logistic regression models were used to analyze the influence of sociodemographic factors on farmers’ perceptions of climate change and their choice of adaptation strategies. The results indicate that farmers primarily rely on religious beliefs/prayers (65.6%) to cope with climate change, followed by seeking off-farm jobs (50%) and changing fertilizer use (42.2%). The result of the binary logistic regression indicates that among the different demographic characteristics, education, and land size significantly influence farmers’ decisions in taking adaptation measures against climate change. This study emphasizes the need for climate policies that integrate farmer knowledge with meteorological data and sociodemographic analysis to ensure a sustainable agricultural sector in Pakistan. Further research is necessary to explore more effective adaptation methods.