Climate Change Adaptation: An Overview of Contextual Factors Constraining Adaptation Responses of Smallholder Agricultural Producers

Abstract

Climate change remains a vital concern, with its impact over time threatening many sectors, including agriculture. One of the central issues is the inconsistency in climate variables, with extreme climate events likely to have cataclysmic consequences that will affect agriculture and every other sector in the global economy. A broad range of empirical and non-empirical research has been conducted on the effects of climate change on global agricultural productivity, farmers’ adaptation actions, and factors influencing and constraining such adaptations. This paper reviews the implications of changing climate conditions for the agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers, the concept of adaptation, the nexus between perception and adaptation, and various theoretical underpinnings that may explain determinants and constraints to adaptation. The theories applied are protection motivation theory, (PMT), conservation of resources theory (COR), rational choice theory (RCT), the knowledge gap theory and the theory of perceived attributes. An attempt is made to understand the factors that constrain smallholders’ adaptation responses through a review of the scholarly literature on the topic. This is followed by suggestions, based on the literature, for mitigating the challenges and enhancing the adaptive capacities of smallholder producers.