Perceptions and Adaptation to Climate Change: the Case of Peruvian Farmers

Abstract

Perceptions and Adaptation to Climate Change: the Case of Peruvian Farmers Pilar Useche, Boaz Anglade, Juliana Muriel Osorio, and Jennifer Twyman Abstract Rice cultivation in Peru exemplifies the complex nature of the interaction between changing climatic conditions and households’ decisions on how to cope with these changes in the face of multiple constraints. In this study, we examine how climatic conditions affect these decisions. We account for the fact that this relationship is mediated by the perceptions that individuals have about climatic conditions, which can be highly heterogeneous at the local level. We focus on small-scale household farmers in Peru who depend on rice production for their livelihoods. We first examine men’s and women’s perceptions of climatic changes and compare them to aggregate and weather station information regarding changes in climatic indicators. Second, we examine the various adaptation strategies used by rice farmers to cope with climate change. We estimate a multivariate probit regression model, in order to understand patterns of coping behavior and the factors associated with them. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jeds.v9n1a2