Climate-related information sources and the adaptation decisions of women crop farmers in the Guinea Savannah Zone of Ghana

Smallholder farmers’ perception of climate change and adoption of climate smart agriculture practices in Masaba South Sub-county, Kisii, Kenya

This article presents an overview of smallholder farmers' perceptions of climate variability and change in synchrony with historical climate trends in Machakos County, Kenya. Farmers' perceptions were obtained using focus group discussions and household interviews. Monthly rainfall and temperature (minimum and maximum) data for the period of 1983-2014 were obtained and used in the analysis. The interview data were analyzed using descriptive statistics while data from the focus group discussions were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The Mann-Kendall test and linear regression analysis were used to detect statistically significant climate trends. Meteorological data provided some evidence to support farmers' perceptions of changes in rainfall and temperature. The Mann-Kendall test revealed statistically significant rainfall and temperature trends. The linear regression analysis showed increasing trends for both rainfall and temperature. Most farmers (77.7%) perceived decreasing amounts of seasonal rainfall contrary to analyzed seasonal rainfall trends, which showed an increase in seasonal rainfall. The experienced changes and variations in rainfall and temperature expose the farming systems to climate change risks. To support smallholder farmers in managing the increasing climate change risks, there is a need to enhance their adaptive capacity through effective adaptation planning and implementation.

Impacts of climate variability and climate change are on the rise in China posing great threat to agriculture and rural livelihoods. Consequently, China is undertaking research to find solutions of confronting climate change and variability. However, most studies of climate change and variability in China largely fail to address farmers' perceptions of climate variability and adaptation. Yet, without an understanding of farmers' perceptions, strategies are unlikely to be effective. We conducted questionnaire surveys of farmers in two farming regions, Yifeng, Jiangsu and Qinxi, Anhui achieving 280 and 293 responses, respectively. Additionally, we used climatological data to corroborate the farmers' perceptions of climate variability. We found that farmers' were aware of climate variability such that were consistent with climate records. However, perceived impacts of climate variability differed between the two regions and were influenced by farmers' characteristics. In addition, the vast majorities of farmers were yet to make adjustments in their farming practices as a result of numerous challenges. These challenges included socioeconomic and socio-cultural barriers. Results of logit modeling showed that farmers are more likely to adapt to climate variability if contact with extension services, frequency of seeking information, household heads' education, and climate variability perceptions are improved. These results suggest the need for policy makers to understand farmers' perceptions of climate variability and change in order to formulate policies that foster adaptation, and ultimately protect China's agricultural assets.

This paper explores how cultural values and beliefs influence farmers' perceptions of climate variability and change (CVC). Using Doggoh and Tie in North-west Ghana, the study reveals four narratives linked to cultural values and beliefs explaining climate changes: a decline in ritual sacrifices, young people having sex outside homes, traders holding on to rains for business, and indiscriminate murder without necessary sacrifices. The study suggests that more qualitative studies on the role of cultural worldviews in shaping farmers' interpretations of climate changes are needed, as different cultural contexts may have different worldviews about climate change causes. This will contribute to our holistic understanding of the subject matter of the causes of CVC.

Factors that influence pastoralists’ estimation of onset and cessation of rains in Rwenzori region in Western Uganda

Perceptions of climate variability and change in coastal Kenya: The case of mangrove-dependent communities in the Lower Tana Delta

Understanding of local people’s perception on environmental conditions is crucial to design and implement appropriate adaptation strategies to climate change and variability. This study looked at communities’ perception of climate change impacts, barriers and effective adaptation strategies towards climate change in selected districts of western Oromia. This study examines smallholder farmers’ perceptions of climate variability, climate change and its impacts on crop production, and adaptation strategies adopted over the past three 30 years. Survey data were collected from 204 respondents using both qualitative and quantitative approaches through purposive sampling techniques. Descriptive statistics such as percentage and frequency were used for data analysis. The results of the study showed that the respondents were perceived, the occurrence of climate change in terms of increase in temperatures, decrease in rainfall and change in timing of rain, change in the onset of rains, erratic rainfall pattern. The study also indicated that due to climate change induced factors the agricultural productivity was reduced from time to time. The results show that about 80%) of farmers who participated had observed recent changes in climate. Perceptions of local communities on climate change and variability are consistent with the analyzed historical climate data. The analyzed climate data show fluctuations in onset date, cessation date and length of growing season (LGS) and change in climate. Farmers perceived weather related problems such as low rain, drought, flood, heat, cold, strong wind that led increased farming problems such as soil erosion, loss of soil fertility; reduction in crop yields and high rate of disease occurrence. The impacts of climate change on crop production were revealed by changes in start of farming season; including: rainfall coming early or late, decrease in rainfall, increase in temperature and increase in farming problems, in particular, increase in soil erosion, loss of soil fertility and reduction in crop yields. The results showed that farmers perceived climate change in terms of changes in rainfall and temperature, increase in drought condition, crop pests and diseases. Those changes had significant impact on farmers’ households whose income depends on rain fed farming. The findings revealed that the impacts of climate in rural areas include reduced in crop yield (49%); increase in pest and disease (34%) and soil erosion (98%). Respondents perceived the main cause of climate change was human action through; intensified agriculture, deforestation, increased use of fossil fuel and use of chemical fertilizer on farms. Therefore, to adapt to the changing in climate, farming community practiced some adaptation measure. The adaptation measures identified were soil and water conservation, crop rotation, change crop varieties, change planting dates, late planting, diversification of crop types and varieties, drought resistant varieties, building water harvesting schemes and use of irrigation. Widely used adaptation measures are soil and water conservation, crop rotation, changing planting dates and change crop varieties in the study area. Besides, the finding identified some serious barriers of adaptation measure to climate change including lack of information, shortage of labor, lack of capital, black of access to water and poor potential for irrigation. Therefore, there is a need to focus community dimensions such as perceptions of smallholder farmers. The study recommends enhanced knowledge of climate change and climate smart agriculture practices for their improved adoption.

The current adoption intensity of Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies (CSATs) among smallholder farmers is below the desired level despite the increasing climate change challenges. This study analysed the perceptions of smallholder coffee farmers towards climate variability and how these influence the adoption intensity of CSATs. A survey was conducted with 226 randomly selected coffee farming households in Luweero district, Uganda. Multivariate regression, Multivariate probit and Poisson regression were used to assess the determinants of farmers’ perceptions of climate variability, the determinants of adoption among the different CSATs and the influence of farmers’ perceptions of climate variability on the adoption intensity of CSATs, respectively. The findings show that smallholder farmers are aware of climate variability, as their perceptions about the increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall align with the available meteorological data. Additionally, farmers’ perceptions of changes in rainfall and temperature, credit access, interaction with an extension worker and access to climate information positively influence their adoption intensity of CSATs. The study recommends that efforts to enhance the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers should consider enhancing farmers’ climate variability awareness through the provision of climate information, enhancing farmers’ access to credit facilities, and strengthening extension service delivery to support farmers in implementing multiple healthy and environmentally friendly CSATs.

Climate variability and change is now a global phenomenon with growth, poverty, food security, and stability implications. The farmers’ Knowledge and awareness about climatic variability and change are important for income diversification planning. The main objective of this study was to assess the determinants of farmers’ perception of climate variability and change and its effect on income diversification. A multi-stage sampling procedure used to select the sample respondents and the total sample size of the study was 253 households. Descriptive statistics, logit, and probit regression model were used as data analysis techniques. The descriptive statistics analysis results indicated that about 58.10% of farmers believe that temperature in the district had become warmer and also over 70% of respondents were recognized that rainfall volume, pattern, and distribution has changed and 56% of respondents believed heat intensity is increasing. The logit analyses proved that training participation of the household head, gender, age of household head, level of formal education, local institutional fairness, distance to the nearest market, accesses to extension services, local agroecology and existence of legal obstacle from government were found to have significant influence on the probability of farmers to perceive climate variability change. And the probit analyses identified that perception of farmers on climate variability and change was found to have a positive significant influence on the probability of diversifying their income. It is recommended that local institutions should work with accountably and responsibly and the government should review and improve his rules and regulations which are not comfortable for farmers’ livelihood activity. Keywords: Climate Change and Variability, farmersˈ perception non-farm income diversification DOI: 10.7176/JESD/12-11-04 Publication date: June 30 th 2021

This thesis investigates smallholder farmers’ cropping decisions under climate variability and change using the villages of Doggoh and Tie of North Ghana as a case study. With rainfall projected to decrease and temperatures expected to rise, it is essential to understand the impacts of farmers’ cropping decisions under climate variability and change on the availability and utilisation of culturally preferred foods. To that end, this study had three objectives: (i) to examine farmers’ perception of climate variability and change and see how farmer perceptions match and mismatch analysis of meteorological data; understand how farmer’ perception of CVC are socially differentiated; and understand how cultural values shape farmers’ perception of CVC, (ii) to characterise farmers’ responses to CVC and understand why farmers are adapting or not adapting to CVC via crop selection, and (iii) to understand the social uses of food and the impact of farmers’ adaptation to CVC on the availability and utilisation of culturally preferred foods. The study draws on the Theory of Drought Perception, the Theory of Planned Behaviour, and the Social Identity Theory as theoretical lenses to guide the presentation of results. Situating the fieldwork in North-west Ghana, the data collection for this study lasted for ten months (spanning from January to October 2016). To that end, mixed methods involving key informant interviews, semi-structured questionnaire, focus group discussions, and household case studies were used for the data collection. This involved 150 households for the semi-structured questionnaire (75 for each research village) and 34 household case studies (19 in the village of Doggoh and 15 in the village of Tie). The results revealed that farmers’ perceptions are not supported by the climatic data. Farmers observed a shift in the onset and cessation of rainfall from March to June and from November to October respectively. Farmers’ identified cultural factors as essential in explaining changes in their local climate. Having perceived changes in vii their local climate farmers have adapted by cultivating crops and crop varieties that are better suited to the prevailing changing climate. The only exception is that a few male-headed households continue to cultivate traditional varieties of groundnuts for cultural reasons even though such varieties produce less yield. Farmers reported changing diet patterns of culturally preferred foods as a result of the non-availability and less availability of culturally preferred food crops due to responses to climate variability and change. This study highlights the critical need for policymakers to be sensitive to the cultural foods of local people in the design of adaptation measures.

Farmers’ perceptions of climate variability and adaptation strategies in the rural areas of Dire Dawa administration, eastern Ethiopia

This paper investigates farmer perceptions of climate variability and change in rural North-west Ghana and compares with analyses of daily rainfall data (from 1960–2016) and monthly minimum and maximum temperature (1988–2014). Specifically, this study attempts to understand the following: (i) what does climatic data say about the nature of the past and current climate of North-west Ghana? (ii) what are farmer’s perceptions of climate variability and change? and (iii) how do analyses from climatic data match or and mismatch farmers’ perception of the climate? Statistical analyses and modelling of rainfall and temperature were performed, and the results compared with data collected through semi-structured questionnaire and qualitative interviews. The results from the farmer perceptions and analysis of climatic data largely disagreed. The only exception being agreement on increasing temperature. Specifically, farmers observed a shift in the start and end of the rainy season from March to June, and November to October respectively. However, the results from the climatic analyses showed variability in the start, end, and the length of the rainy season from 1960–2016. Even though farmers perceived changes in climate and climatic analysis showed variability, it is worth recognising that the two are problematic for farmers’ decision making. Therefore, to increase farmers′ resilience to climate variability and change, this paper suggests the following: (i) climate-smart agricultural practices such as high yielding and improved varieties of seeds must be made available to farmers at affordable prices- however, this paper argues that, the cultural aspects of the uses of crops must be considered in the provision of crops that are suitable to the prevailing climatic conditions, and (ii) the capacity of agricultural extension workers should be enhanced on climate variability and change, for example equipping them on analysis, interpretation, and application of climatic events so they can engage with farmers in a participatory pathway to deal with climate variability and change impacts.

BackgroundBangladesh has been identified as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world concerning the adverse effects of climate change (CC). However, little is known about the perception of CC from the community, which is important for developing adaptation strategies.MethodsThe study was a cross-sectional survey of respondents from two villages--one from the northern part and the other from the southern part of Bangladesh. A total of 450 households were selected randomly through multistage sampling completed a semi-structure questionnaire. This was supplemented with 12 focus group discussions (FGDs) and 15 key informant interviews (KIIs).ResultsOver 95 percent of the respondents reported that the heat during the summers had increased and 80.2 percent reported that rainfall had decreased, compared to their previous experiences. Approximately 65 percent reported that winters were warmer than in previous years but they still experienced very erratic and severe cold during the winter for about 5-7 days, which restricted their activities with very destructive effect on agricultural production, everyday life and the health of people. FGDs and KIIs also reported that overall winters were warmer. Eighty point two percent, 72.5 percent and 54.7 percent survey respondents perceived that the frequency of water, heat and cold related diseases/health problems, respectively, had increased compared to five to ten years ago. FGDs and KIIs respondents were also reported the same.ConclusionsRespondents had clear perceptions about changes in heat, cold and rainfall that had occurred over the last five to ten years. Local perceptions of climate variability (CV) included increased heat, overall warmer winters, reduced rainfall and fewer floods. The effects of CV were mostly negative in terms of means of living, human health, agriculture and overall livelihoods. Most local perceptions on CV are consistent with the evidence regarding the vulnerability of Bangladesh to CC. Such findings can be used to formulate appropriate sector programs and interventions. The systematic collection of such information will allow scientists, researchers and policy makers to design and implement appropriate adaptation strategies for CC in countries that are especially vulnerable.

Gendered perceptions and adaptation practices of smallholder cocoa farmers to climate variability in the Central Region of Ghana

Climate change and its associated variability pose significant threats to food systems in the Far North Region, where over 70% of the population relies on agriculture, which is heavily impacted by erratic rainfall, floods, and droughts. This study evaluates household food security experiences in the region, focusing on the effects of these extreme climatic events. Using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), we evaluated households’ perceptions of climate variability. Employing quantitative methods, a random sample of 664 households across 18 localities was conducted, assessing food security levels from food secure to extremely food insecure. Data collection included household surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and supplementary secondary data from government sources. Our findings reveal that 36.1% of households worried about food availability 61 or more times, categorizing them as experiencing Extremely Severe Food Insecurity. Additionally, 73.8% reported eating less than sufficient amounts due to erratic rainfall. Flooding exacerbated food insecurity, with 55.4% of households expressing severe concerns about food utilization and 68.8% reporting insufficient dietary intake. Drought conditions further intensified these issues, with 43.1% of households worrying about food sufficiency 61 or more times. Statistical analyses highlight significant correlations and differences across food security dimensions. One-way ANOVA indicated substantial effects of climate variability, with households experiencing food insecurity showing significantly higher worries about food availability (mean score = 0.047, F-value = 78.63) with a strong positive relationship (r = 0.963) between food availability and accessibility, utilization, and stability. Regarding flooding, households reported increased worries across all dimensions of food security, with food availability being the primary concern (mean score = 0.120, F-value = 64.94). Similarly, droughts affected households' food insecurity experiences, with mean scores of 0.22 for food availability, 0.28 for stability, and an F-value of 64.94 for food availability. Overall, the results demonstrate that climate variability severely impacts food insecurity in the Far North Region, with food availability as the primary concern. Localities such as Blangoua and Bogo exhibited the highest proportions of respondents, indicating they "always" ate less than sufficient amounts due to food scarcity (87.0% and 74.2%, respectively). In terms of meal consumption, 49.1% of respondents reported "often" cutting meal sizes or skipping meals, particularly in Blangoua (39.1%) and Bogo (73.7%). Alarmingly, 98.8% of respondents reported having to eat undesirable food, with Bogo (89.5%) and Kai-Kai (83.3%) facing the most acute challenges. The frequency of going without food for an entire day was severe, with 45.3% of respondents stating this occurred "often." Localities like Blangoua, Kousseri, and Makari reported the highest rates of "always" going without food, ranging from 76.6% to 87.0%, indicating Extremely Severe Food Insecurity. In contrast, areas like Kaele and Moulvodaye reported relatively lower rates of food scarcity. This study underscores the urgent need for targeted interventions to address the multifaceted challenges of food insecurity exacerbated by climate variability in the region.