Exploring the link between climate change perceptions and adaptation strategies among smallholder farmers in Chimanimani district of Zimbabwe

Climate change is a global challenge. Even though climate change affects all countries, less-developed countries and poor peasant farmers are especially at risk and have difficulty adapting. Less-developed nations are home to an estimated 500 million small-scale farms, who provide sustenance for approximately two billion people. In addition, it is estimated that these small farms produce nearly 80 per cent of the food consumed in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Existing literature finds Africa is particularly susceptible to the effects of climate fluctuation and change, including rising sea levels, melting glaciers, threatened water supplies, leading to decreased agricultural output, increasing food insecurity, diminished biodiversity, intensifying erosion, drought, and flood. In Africa, smallholder farmers depend on agriculture, which relies on timely rainfall, and thus they increasingly experience the consequences of climate change. This chapter reviews the literature on smallholder farmers in Africa and climate change, focusing on their perceptions of climate change and their adaptation techniques. We also explore how various factors affect smallholder farmers’ perceptions of climate change and their adaptation strategies. Finally, we discuss the need to improve awareness and adaptation capacity. Although farmers in various African countries perceive climate change differently, the literature review reveals that they have some views in common. Most farmers observe changes in temperature and rainfall patterns in their area. They also report experiencing increasing floods and droughts and decreasing crop production. Diversification of crops, changing crops, planting drought-resistant crops, incorporating livestock into crop production, shifting the time of agricultural operations, homestead gardening, increasing irrigation, engaging in mixed farming, and migration are common adaptation strategies reported in African countries. We found various household-related factors (gender, age, education, marital status, family size, etc.), farm-related factors (farming experience, size of the farm, etc.), institutional factors (access to information, extension contact, etc.), as well as other factors (participation in a social group, training, etc.) are affecting local level adaptation strategies among farmers. We contend that farmers are the “front-liners” in adapting to climate change, and government agencies and other national and international organizations should continue their efforts to support them. Moreover, to contribute to the progress of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, farmers’ insights and experiences should be integrated in the dominant policies and plans, including coordination of education about climate change and adaptation strategies. Furthermore, we also advocate for emphasizing improving environmental awareness through environmental education particularly in this region to achieve effective adaptation.

Ethiopian Smallholder farmers is highly vulnerable to climate variability and change due to its great reliance on climate sensetive economy .Different empirical evidence's has put forward about climate change perception and adaptation practices.However, the findings of major studies are highly aggregated and are of little help in addressing local peculiarities of perception and adaptation strategies .While, others were vague to understandand and finally difficult to implement at farm level. Hence ,this paper reviews the empirical literature on smallholder farmers’ perceptions and adaptation strategies of climate change in Ethiopia with specific objectives of; to review the Smallholder framers’ perception to climate change, to identify climate change adaptation strategies used by Smallholder farmers’ and to review factors that determine smallholder farmers choice of climate change adaptation strategies in Ethiopia.This paper was prepared through wide spread review of empirical evidence's. The review found that the majority of farmers in Ethiopia are aware of climate change in average change in temperatures and rainfall pattern with passion of weather extremes such as droughts ,floods,pest and disease manifestation. To deal with up the unfavorable sound effects of climate change, farmers have adopted strategies like crop diversification, using improved varieties, changing planting and harvesting dates, irrigation, planting tree crops, water and soil conservation techniques,switching to non-farm income activities, marketing during forage shock, using drought tolerant breed andfodder preservation.But , preference of adaptation strategies differs from place to place, farms to farms, and households capacity. At household level, most of the empirical evidence revealed Agro-ecological setting, sex, education level, landholding, farm income, non-farm income, livestock ownership, access to credit, extension visit, farmer-to-farmer extension, access to climate information and average distance from home to the farm have significant influence on the choice of climate adaptation strategies.The review result depicted that there is much dearth of empirical evidences regarding livestock sectors so far as much of the research is focused on crop sector's.Therefore, it has been suggested to further investigate deep rooted emperical evidence's on adaptation strategies of livestock sectors and available indigenous knowledge especially in pastoral areas.Further more, there is a need to explore impacts of climate change and single adaptation strategies on livelihood of smallholder's farmers at each farm level autonomously. Keywords: adaptation strategies; climate change; Ethiopia, perceptions; Smallholder farmer's DOI: 10.7176/IAGS/82-03 Publication date: May 31 st 2020

Impact of climate adaptation strategies on the net farm revenue of underutilised indigenous vegetables’ (UIVs) production in Southwest Nigeria

Purpose Smallholder farmers have always been profoundly the first to be impacted by climate change, and therefore, farmers understanding of climate change and accessibility to alternative adaptation strategies are crucial for reducing the effect of climate change. The purpose of this study is to assess the perception of farmers to climate change, adaptation strategies and determinants of adaptation choice in central Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach The study used data from randomly selected 240 farm households. Descriptive statistics were used to describe farmers’ perceptions of climate change and adaptation strategies. Also, a multivariate probit model was used to identify the major factors affecting farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies to climate change in central Ethiopia. Findings Smallholder farmers perceive climate change in the past two decades in response; the majority (91.47%) of farmers used adaptation options. Improved crop varieties and input intensity, crop diversification, planting date adjustment, soil and water conservation activities and changing of the crop type were used as adaptation options in the study area. A few of these strategies were significantly confirmed a complementary and supplementary relationship. The study identified sex, family size, agroecology, climate information, crop-fail history and formal extension service as significant determinants for farmers’ adaptation choices as these variables significantly affected more than two farmers’ adaptation strategies simultaneously. Research limitations/implications Farmers’ choice of adaptation was highly constrained by institutional factors and all these identified factors can be possibly addressed through a better institutional service provision system. It is, therefore, recommended that local administrators should explore the institutional service provision system for a better farm-level adaptation while considering demographic characteristics as well. Originality/value This study identified factors affecting farmers’ several adaptation strategies at a time and provides information for the policymaker to make cost-effective interventions for better farm-level adaptation practices.

The impact of climate change, especially on agricultural sector, calls for a global and more localized strategies such as cultivation of underutilized indigenous vegetables (UIVs) which adapt better to local climate change. This chapter, therefore, examines the perception of UIVs farmers to climate change, their experiences of UIVs’ responses to climate change, adaptation strategies employed, and the determinants of the decision to adopt them in Southwest Nigeria. The study uses quantitative and qualitative primary household data from 191 UIVs farmers, 8 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), and secondary climate data from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency. Descriptive and econometric analyses are employed in the data analyses. The results show that farmers’ perceptions of climate change are high temperature and a high variability in rainfall pattern that has affected the yield, increased insects, pests, and diseases infestations, and reduced soil fertility. The results further show that the responses of UIVs to these resultant effects differ as such, and adaptation strategies farmers adopt are UIVs-specific. The adaptation strategies mostly employed by the UIVs farmers are cultivating UIVs along the river bank and the least is agroforestry and perennial plantation. The determinants of the decision to adopt adaptation strategies include UIVs revenue, age, years of experience, access to climate information, climate change awareness, agro ecological zone, and access to credit. Thus, promotion of UIVs business is advocated and provision of information on climate change essential and will encourage farmers to adopt appropriate climate change adaptation strategies to boost UIVs business.

The impact of climate change, especially on agricultural sector, calls for a global and more localized strategies such as cultivation of underutilized indigenous vegetables (UIVs) which adapt better to local climate change. This chapter, therefore, examines the perception of UIVs farmers to climate change, their experiences of UIVs’ responses to climate change, adaptation strategies employed, and the determinants of the decision to adopt them in Southwest Nigeria. The study uses quantitative and qualitative primary household data from 191 UIVs farmers, 8 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), and secondary climate data from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency. Descriptive and econometric analyses are employed in the data analyses. The results show that farmers’ perceptions of climate change are high temperature and a high variability in rainfall pattern that has affected the yield, increased insects, pests, and diseases infestations, and reduced soil fertility. The results further show that the responses of UIVs to these resultant effects differ as such, and adaptation strategies farmers adopt are UIVs-specific. The adaptation strategies mostly employed by the UIVs farmers are cultivating UIVs along the river bank and the least is agroforestry and perennial plantation. The determinants of the decision to adopt adaptation strategies include UIVs revenue, age, years of experience, access to climate information, climate change awareness, agro ecological zone, and access to credit. Thus, promotion of UIVs business is advocated and provision of information on climate change essential and will encourage farmers to adopt appropriate climate change adaptation strategies to boost UIVs business.

This study examined farmers' perceptions of climate change and adaptation strategies in Kuje Area Council, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 75 respondents from a list of 122 registered smallholder farmers across five wards: Kiyi, Shaji, Rubochi, Chukuku, and Jeli. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and interview schedule, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and a 4-point Likert scale. The findings showed that 66.7% of the farmers were male, and 40% had attained tertiary education, indicating potential for adopting innovative climate practices. However, financial constraints and inadequate extension services were identified as major barriers. Additionally, 73% of the farmers were aware of climate change, with 63% observing climatic changes over time. Soil erosion (53.3%), deforestation (46.7%), and water scarcity for irrigation (46.7%) emerged as significant challenges.The most frequently practiced climate adaptation strategies are conservation tillage (92.3%), crop diversification (80%), and early maturing crops (60%). Conversely, strategies such as irrigation (29.3%) and genetically modified crops (25.3%) are less commonly practiced. Limited access to information (42.67%) and difficulty in changing traditional farming practices (21.33%) further constrained adaptation efforts. The study concluded that farmers in the area face significant climate change challenges, including resource limitations, environmental degradation, and inadequate support for adaptation strategies. These challenges have a profound impact on agricultural productivity in the study area. Therefore, the study recommended strengthening extension services, improving access to credit, promoting conservation agriculture, and establishing reliable climate information systems to enhance farmers' resilience and productivity in the study region.

Understanding farmers’ perceptions about climate change and adaptation strategies can help support their efforts and develop interventions more suited to the local context. This is particularly important for farmers who exploit fragile ecosystems such as marshlands.Using semi-structured questionnaires and interviews conducted with smallholder farmers in the marshlands of Kabare, this study compares the perception of men and women relating to climate change and uses the chi-square test and logistic regression to examine gendered differences in response to climate change and the determinants of farmers’ choice of sustainable practices. Meteorological data trends for three decades were also compared.Results showed that both men (77 %) and women (73 %) experienced climate change and this was illustrated by changes in temperature and rainfall patterns. Farmers’ climate change perceptions are consistent with the local historical climate data showing a slightly increasing trend of temperature and a decrease in rainfall for the last decade, particularly between 2013 and 2019. Although significant differences were observed between gender and sources of climate information (p < 0.05), 50 % of women farmers favored indigenous knowledge of climate, while 61 % of men farmers stated that experience exchange among fellow farmers helped to read and predict climate trends. The common impacts reported by farmers included the proliferation of pests (90 %), a decrease in soil fertility (75 %), and floods, resulting in crop failure. Farmers used various adaptation strategies in response to the perceived impacts. However, the choice of sustainable practices such as crop diversification, drainage, growing low-maintenance crops, and use of mulch and manure were associated with farmers ‘experience, exchanging information among fellow farmers, livestock ownership, and the perception of climatic threats to crops. The information provided in this paper is valuable for the farmers' resilience-building program.

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.

Rain-fed agriculture is the main source of livelihood for most of Burundi’s population, especially in the northeastern part of the country. This research is aimed at examining how smallholder farmers in the Northeastern region of Burundi perceive climate change and variability and at identifying the methods that are used to adapt, based on data from 200 small farmers and on actual weather data recorded between 1986 and 2017. We find that the majority of farmers (54%) perceive significant increases in temperature and unpredictability of rainfall duration and intensity and are making adjustments to adapt their agriculture in response to changes in climate. Over 80% of farmers have implemented at least one adaptation strategy among the nine evaluated. Changing crop varieties, changing fertilizers, and planting shade trees are the main adaptation strategies that were being implemented by farmers across the study area. The results of a binary regression model showed that the agricultural education and experience of farmers, as well as farm and family size, livestock ownership, climate information access, credit access, and farm income, strongly influence smallholder farmers’ decisions to adapt to climate change. The main obstacles are the lack of information on climate and adaptation strategies, and poverty, which makes it difficult to cope with the increased costs of farming. Understanding farmers’ perceptions of climate change and variability on a local level would provide information on how to develop adaptation strategies. The present study suggests the need for strengthening farmers’ capacities and improving the policy framework for adaptation to climate change in order to improve farmers’ livelihoods. Implications for policymakers will, therefore, include making flexible credit facilities, and investing in training extension agents on both climate change outreach and coping strategies.

Climate change is already exerting its impact on smallholder farmers, necessitating their acknowledgment of these changes and investment in adaptation strategies. The perception of climate change among farmers plays a crucial role in determining their willingness to adapt. This study focuses on the perceptions of paddy farmers regarding climate change and their responses to its impacts. Specifically, the study aims to answer the following questions: How do paddy farmers perceive climate change? How do paddy farmers respond to the impacts of climate change? The study was conducted in Wete District, North Pemba Region on Pemba Island. A cross-sectional research design was used, employing multistage cluster sampling along with purposive and simple random techniques. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected, with questionnaire surveys used for quantitative data and key informant interviews for qualitative data. Also, the study used climate data from Tanzania Meteorological Authority, temperature and rainfall data over the past 31 years (1992-2023). Quantitative data were analysed using the statistical package for social sciences software, while qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. The study findings reveal that paddy farmers in the study area perceive an increase in temperature, changes in rainfall patterns, an increase in dry spells, and a rise in sea level. The study also identifies various strategies used by paddy farmers to cope with the impacts of climate change, including the construction of embankments, the use of pesticides, irrigation, and skipping meals. However, the construction of ridges to prevent seawater intrusion into paddy farms was found to be less effective. Therefore, the study recommends that the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar should consider building a sea wall to help paddy farmers build resilience against the current and future impacts of climate change. Paddy farmers in Pemba Island are also advised to adopt transformative adaptation strategies that are more sustainable and capable of withstanding the projected harsh climate changes in the future. (“To what extent do demographic characteristics influence the adoption of adaptation strategies in response to climate change impacts?”) this sentence has been removed from abstract section. Also the word “ridges” has been replaced with the word “embankments” in abstract section.

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

Several studies have indicated the importance of understanding farmers’ perceptions of risks associated with climate change, the adaptation strategies they employ and factors that affect adaptive capacity. This study aimed to understand smallholder farmers’ perceptions of climate change, adaptation strategies and adaptive capacity in the semiarid Matungulu Sub-County, Eastern Kenya. A participatory approach, using three climate roundtables, was conducted to enhance community participation and understanding of climate change issues. The study showed that farmers’ perceptions concerning climate change are influenced by past experiences of weather extremes that have affected production levels and farm incomes. The farmers have made strategic responses to manage risks posed by climate change. However, they face several challenges in adaptation such as inadequate technical knowledge, low financial resources and inadequate land size. Further, the study showed that climate roundtables is a successful participatory approach that can give effective insights for smallholder farmers to understand agricultural vulnerability, climate change and their adaptation strategies.

Climate risk poses significant challenges to agriculture in The Gambia, especially for smallholder farmers reliant on rain-fed farming. Adaptation efforts will be ineffective unless farmers' perspectives of climate change are understood. The objectives are to examine smallholder farmers’ perceptions of climate risk, identify their adaptation strategies, and examine the factors that influence the adoption of these adaptation strategies at farm and off-level. Data were collected from 420 smallholder farmers across three regions of rural Gambia using a survey and multistage sampling technique. Binary logistic and multivariate probit models were used to analyse the determinants of farmers' decision to adopt adaptation strategies. The empirical result of the binary logistic model indicates that land tenure, access to government support, access to markets, witness to extreme weather events, and climate change perception influenced farmers' choice to adopt adaptation measures. The findings further indicate that female farmers are less likely to adopt adaptation measures. However, the multivariate probit model revealed that age, education, access to extension services, membership of farm groups, and perceived climate change are the main determinants of on-farm adaptation strategies. Off-farm strategies such as petty business are mainly influenced by being female, middle age, and primary education. The results suggest that gender-disaggregated support and targeted policies are necessary to encourage the adoption of adaptation strategies among female farmers. It is recommended that the government enhance access to credit, provide tailored support for women farmers, and improve extension services to foster effective adaptation in rural Gambia.

Farmers' perceptions of climate change and adaptation strategies in South Africa's Western Cape