Farmers' Perceptions Of Climate Change And Their Adaptation Strategies:a Case Study In China

The changing climate is a global phenomenon and a challenge for both current and future generations,which scientists around the world overwhelmingly attribute to human activities that release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.Climate-related hazards will affect people's lives directly through impacts on livelihoods,reductions in crop yields,or destruction of homes and indirectly through,for example,increased food prices and food insecurity.Impacts of climate change are predicted to be particularly severe in developing countries,especially in Africa and Asia,where communities are highly dependent on the direct use of local natural resources.Chinese agriculture has frequently suffered from climatic variations and changes through droughts,floods and other climate related hazards such as landslides and typhoons.The consequences have been devastating,both economically and socially.Thus,climate variability is of great importance in China because;firstly,more than half of the Chinese populace live in the rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihood,a sector predicted to experience severe impacts of climate change.Secondly,23%of Chinese agricultural land is under rice production,a staple food of about 50%of the world's population.Disturbingly,studies of farmers' knowledge about climate variability and adaptation under uncertainty remain limited as majority address impacts and predict future climate scenarios and others are centered on government' efforts to mitigate climate change.A study was conducted in three major agricultural regions of China;Henan,Anhui and Jiangsu to examine what the farming communities know about climate change and how they reduce climate change vulnerabilities.These regions form the backbone of the livelihoods of the rural population with majority of the farmers owning small parcels of land owing to continued subdivisions.The farmers' practice multiple cropping;done mainly through changing single harvest rice/wheat to double harvest rice/wheat,winter crops and various kinds of relay cropping.Horticultural crops are also grown.This study was conducted using semi-structured questionnaires containing short statements put on a five point Likert scale and closed and open-ended questions.The questionnaire was pre-tested in a different site to facilitate restructuring of questions before the actual survey.Interviewees were selected through random sampling.Before the commencement of interviews,respondents were explained the purpose of study and asked if they were willing to participate in the research.After giving consent,all interviews and discussions were recorded by five enumerators.In addition,focused group discussions were conducted to give more insight to issues that were not well captured in the questionnaires.For this,a checklist was used to moderate the discussions.The data were coded and edited to remove missing values and outliers and then analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Science(SPSS)version 16.0.Data were tested for their reliability(using a 'reliability analysis';Alpha = 0.77).Descriptive analysis was used to summarize data.T-tests,correlations and chi square test were used for statistical analysis.The results presented a clear scenario of land fragmentation;the vast majority of farmers owned less than 11 Chinese Mu(0.7 hectares).Farmers' have denounced some traditional agricultural practices such a returning crop straws to the soil as they considered it labor intensive and economically unsustainable.Furthermore,nearly all farmers' relied on intensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to increase yield at the detriment of environment.The farmers are generally aware of direct and observable causes of climate change and the main impacts of climate change on agriculture.They associate climate change with;decrease and variability in rainfall,increase in temperatures,dwindling and deteriorating water resources and disappearance and emergence of new plant species over the past 20 years.However,the farmers lack clear understanding of the interconnections between the natural environment and farm management activities that result in climate change.Results showed that knowledge and attitudes towards climate change are influenced by personal and social characteristics,notably gender,age and education.The farmers who are older and more educated,show better understanding of climate change and recognize that climate change mitigation requires a participatory approach.However,a worrisome tendency by the farmers' to distance themselves from taking responsibility to mitigate climate change impacts and belief that government policies' capacity to address climate change is not adequate was also established.As regards gender,women are more perceptive of climate change than men.Farmers mainly depend on personal experience,fellow farmers and public media for information.This observation reveals an information gap between the sources and the farmers,who are the recipients.Consequently,farmers lack detailed awareness of the linkages between agriculture and climate change and are not able to adopt innovations and actions that can reduce social vulnerability and mitigate climate change.For instance,though biochar innovation is an option to mitigate climate change while conferring other environmental benefits,results revealed that most of the farmers were not aware of the innovation.However,the biochar adopters reported that the innovation was timely because it addresses crop straw management problem and confers other benefits.The study established that the most common adaptation practices are changing the planting dates,crop varieties,crop varieties and improved water harvesting and storage.The most important factors in adapting to climate change were:household head's education;contact with extension services;change of attitudes in gathering information and change of climate change perceptions.Results showed that climate change adaptation is hampered by lack of reliable and timely information,credit and incentives.Consistent and reliable information helps to empower farmers to be conscious that agriculture contributes to climate change and also has potential to mitigate climate change.Furthermore,the farmers are likely to support policies that are aimed at mitigating climate change.The vast majorities were yet to make adjustments in their farming practices as a result of numerous socioeconomic and socio-cultural challenges.Lack of credit may impede adaptation because it may require capital especially for acquiring new innovations and establishment of infrastructure like irrigation.Social cultural factors may also hinder adaptation because farmers are cautious of adjusting their agricultural practice for fear of being seen to be non compliant with the cultural norms.These results show that farmers are more likely to adapt to climate variability if contact with extension services and authoritative sources of information are improved.These results strongly suggest need for policy makers to understand what farmers perceive about climate change in order to formulate policies that foster adaptation.In addition,farmers' should be given incentives and financial assistance for adaptation.Finally,more studies on the human factors(psychological,behavioral and socio-cultural)influencing climate variability adaptations should be done to ensure effective climate variability and change policies.