Understanding farmers’ perceptions and adaptation to climate change: the case of Rio das Contas basin, Brazil

Abstract

The vulnerability of the agriculture sector to climate change in developing countries and it’s risks to Brazilian Northeast farmers are very discussed issues on environmental agenda. In this sense, this paper put forward an understanding of the factors that drive individuals to adopt adaptive strategies to cope changing environments as a fundamental issue for the direction and effective formulation of well-targeted public policies. Mediation models were estimated considering two distinct specifications, based in two different groups of variables: (1) adoption of adaptive practices by farmers based only on the impact of climate perception, mediated by belief in the occurrence of climate change; (2) the socioeconomic conditions of the farmers and their properties were additionally included. The main results demonstrated that the Rio das Contas basin farmers’ perceptions about the negative effects of climate change, despite being the main driver, will only affect adaptation behavior when the farmers have believe in the occurrence of climate change. Socioeconomic conditions are overshadowed in predictive power of adaptation by belief on climate change. This outcome may be directly related to the farmers’ cultural aspects, nevertheless, the importance of technical assistance or rural extension services should be also emphasized as an impressive part of farmers is no longer adapted due to lack of knowledge of suitable techniques.