Determinants of smallholder farmers’ perceptions of impact of climate change on beef production in Malawi

Abstract

Climate change is projected to intensify and smallholder farmers will be the most affected because they entirely rely on climate-sensitive livelihoods and have low adaptive capacity. Appropriate coping strategies for smallholder farmers depend on an accurate description of the effects of agro-ecological and farmers’ socio-economic factors on climate change. A total of 182 structured questionnaires were administered to determine socio-economic factors affecting smallholder farmers’ perceptions of impacts of climate change on beef production in Malawi. Male heads had a higher perception of having increased cattle feed intake and decreased mortality than female heads suggesting that the former had better control and access to animal feed and health resources. Young farmers had a greater perception of experiencing decreases in cattle water supply than adults implying that they lacked experience required to cope with water scarcity. More educated household heads had a higher perception of experiencing decreased tick loads and increased cattle sales than less educated household heads as they are posited to have increased knowledge of parasite control and understanding of market dynamics and expected to make better marketing decisions. High-income farmers had a lower perception of having decreased rangeland biomass and growth rates than low-income farmers indicating that they had capital to acquire resources required to improve rangeland and cattle production. Gender, age, education and income level were the major socio-economic factors that influenced farmers’ perceptions of impact of climate change on beef production. This highlights the importance of incorporating socio-economic factors when devising climate change adaptation and vulnerability reduction strategies for smallholder beef producers.