Climate change perceptions and adaptations of smallholder farmers in Eastern 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.     

小农发展气候智慧型农业的效率与成本改进:倡导农地流转还是发展社会服务?

气候智慧型农业是联合国粮农组织所提出的积极响应气候变化、有效保障作物生产安全的新型农业发展模式。碳减排是发展气候智慧型农业的核心要义,而中国大量且长期存在的小农是发展气候智慧型农业不可背离的重要主体。基于湖北省水稻主产区气候智慧型农业发展的调研,继而利用方向性距离函数对小农发展气候智慧型农业,即低碳生产效率与碳边际减排成本进行测算,并进一步考察小农通过土地流转或农业社会化服务衔接现代农业,对低碳生产效率和碳边际减排成本的影响。结果表明:(1)基于小农发展气候智慧型农业仍处于"低效率—高成本"阶段,水稻低碳生产效率仍存在平均56%的提升空间;碳边际减排成本均值为34.13元/kgCE;(2)土地转入虽未能提升水稻低碳生产效率,但却具有碳边际减排成本优势;(3)生产雇工和农机服务对水稻低碳生产效率和碳边际减排成本均具有显著的正向影响,可见通过农业社会化服务实现低碳生产效率的提升仍面临分工与交易费用的两难之困。基于上述结论,提出促进小农发展气候智慧型农业,实现低碳生产相关政策启示。     

Technical efficiency of Kenya’s smallholder food crop farmers: do environmental factors matter?

Smallholder agriculture dominates Kenya’s agricultural landscape, accounting for 75 % of total agricultural output and 70 % of the marketed agricultural produce. As a result, the Government of Kenya, with the support of development partners, has invested in production and dissemination of productivity-enhancing technologies such as high-yielding varieties and inorganic fertilizers targeting the smallholders. Adoption of these technologies has remarkably improved, especially in the maize sub-sector. However, productivity has been declining or, at best, stagnating. Productivity is attributable to not only technological improvements but also technical efficiency. Consequently, this study sought to determine the technical efficiency of the country’s smallholder food crop farmers and establish how it correlates with environmental factors. The study used a two-stage nonparametric approach on household panel data to estimate the efficiency levels of the smallholders and establish the sources of its variation across households. Controlling for endogeneity and incorporating geographic information system-derived measures of environmental factors in the analysis, the study finds that technical efficiency differentials are influenced by environmental factors, production risks and farmer characteristics. The policy implication is that the country has room to improve agricultural productivity by addressing environmental and farm-level constraints. Viable options include switching from rain-fed to irrigated agriculture, entrenching land tenure security, improving transport network among farm communities and setting up smallholder credit schemes.     

Adoption and adaptation of natural resource management innovations in smallholder agriculture: reflections on key lessons and best practices

Many smallholder farmers in vulnerable areas continue to face complex challenges in adoption and adaptation of resource management and conservation strategies. Although much has been learned from diverse experiences in sustainable resource management, there is still inadequate understanding of the market, policy and institutional failures that shape and structure farmer incentives and investment decisions. The policy and institutional failures exacerbate market failures, locking smallholder resource users into a low level equilibrium that perpetuates poverty and land degradation. Improved market access that raises the returns to land and labor is often the driving force for adoption of new practices in agriculture. Market linkages, access to credit and availability of pro-poor options for beneficial conservation are critical factors in stimulating livelihood and sustainability-enhancing investments. Future interventions need to promote joint innovations that ensure farmer experimentation and adaptation of new technologies and careful consideration of market, policy and institutional factors that stimulate widespread smallholder investments. Future projects should act as ‘toolboxes’, giving essential support to farmers to devise complementary solutions based on available options. Addressing the externalities and institutional failures that prevent private and joint investments for management of agricultural landscapes will require new kinds of institutional mechanisms for empowering communities through local collective action that would ensure broad participation and equitable distributions of the gains from joint conservation investments. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Adaptation in a multi-stressor environment: perceptions and responses to climatic and economic risks by coffee growers in Mesoamerica

While climate change adaptation policy has tended to focus on planned adaptation interventions, in many vulnerable communities, adaptation will consist of autonomous, “unplanned” actions by individuals who are responding to multiple simultaneous sources of change. Their actions are likely not only to affect their own future vulnerability, but, through changes in livelihoods and resource use, the vulnerability of their community and resource base. In this paper, we document the autonomous changes to livelihood strategies adopted by smallholder coffee farmers in four Mesoamerican countries (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica). Our aim is to gain insight into the process of autonomous adaptation by proxy: through an assessment of how farmers explain their choices in relation to distinct stressors; and an understanding of the set of choices available to farmers. We find that climatic stress is a feature in decision making, but not the dominant driver. Nevertheless, the farmers in our sample are evidently flexible, adaptive, and experimental in relation to changing circumstances. Whether their autonomous responses to diverse stressors will result in a reduction in risk over time may well depend on the extent to which policy, agricultural research, and rural investments build on the inherent logic of these strategies.     

蔬菜出口产地农户对食品安全规制的认知及其农药决策行为研究

食品安全与农药残留一直是备受关注的焦点问题。基于此,本文应用山东省蔬菜出口产地安丘市392个农户的调查数据,对农户食品安全规制的认知及其农药使用行为的影响因素进行了分析。研究结果表明,农户的学历层次、农产品国内销售和出口日本的比例、农户对国内外农产品市场的评价及是否接受农药残留检测显著影响其对食品安全规制的认知;而农户的平均生产支出、是否接受农药残留检测、检测标准的严格程度及是否作生产记录影响其农药使用行为。此外,本文发现该制度的实施导致一些农户产生逆向选择,且农户的农药使用因种植结构而不同。针对当前农业生产的特点和食品安全现状,为了促进当地农业生产方式的转变和保护生态环境,政府应加强对农业主体的培训和技术指导,引导当地农户加强与产业组织的联系,有效开展农药残留检测、优化种植结构,提高农产品的质量和国际竞争力。     

Comparative analysis on financial viability of cocoa agroforestry systems in Ghana

This study employs an ex-ante analytical approach to explore the financial viability of cocoa agroforestry systems in Ghana using cross-sectional data on smallholder cocoa farmers in the Western Region of Ghana. The empirical results generally show that cocoa agroforestry systems are profitable, but the medium shade tends to be more profitable. The no-shade cocoa agroforestry has the highest yield compared with other cocoa agroforestry systems. Sensitivity analysis revealed that increasing the market price by 12.2 % tends to increase the profitability of cocoa agroforestry systems. Also increasing fertilizer price does not lead to any significant change in the profitability. The study recommends the medium-shade cocoa agroforestry system as the most profitable agroforestry system for optimizing ecological and economic outcomes of smallholder cocoa farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Introducing urine-enriched biochar-based fertilizer for vegetable production: acceptability and results from rural Bangladesh

Improved agricultural practices that increase yields and preserve soils are critical to addressing food insecurity and undernutrition among smallholder farmer families. Urine-enriched biochar has been shown to be an accessible and effective fertilization option in various subtropical countries; however, it is new to Bangladesh. To better understand attitudes and experiences preparing and using urine-enriched biochar fertilizer, mixed-methods research was undertaken among smallholder farmers in northeastern Bangladesh in 2016/2017. In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 respondents who had compared the production of crops grown with biochar-based fertilizer to usual practice. In addition, in areas where trainings on biochar-based fertilization had been offered, 845 farmers were asked about their experience through a quantitative survey. Interview results indicated that cow urine-enriched biochar was favored over human urine because cow urine was perceived as clean and socially acceptable, whereas human urine was considered impure and disgusting. Respondents praised biochar-based fertilizer because it increased yields, cost little, was convenient to prepare with readily available natural materials, produced tastier crops, and allowed families to share their larger yields which in turn enhanced social and financial capital. Comparative field trials indicated a 60% yield benefit in both cabbage and kohlrabi crops. Challenges included uneven access to ingredients, with some respondents having difficulty procuring cow urine and biomass feedstock. The low social, health, and financial risk of adoption and the perceived benefits motivated farmers to produce and apply biochar-based fertilizer in their gardens, demonstrating strong potential for scale-up of this technology in Bangladesh.

     

Use patterns of natural resources supporting livelihoods of smallholder communities and implications for climate change adaptation in Zimbabwe

Declining crop and livestock production due to a degrading land resource base and changing climate among other biophysical and socio-economic constraints, is increasingly forcing rural households in Zimbabwe and other parts of Southern Africa to rely on common natural resource pools (CNRPs) to supplement their household food and income. Between 2011 and 2013, we combined farmer participatory research approaches, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) to (1) understand the contribution of CNRPs to household food and income in Dendenyore and Ushe smallholder communities in Hwedza District, eastern Zimbabwe and (2) assess changes of the CNRPs in both space and time, and their implications on climate change adaptation. Across study sites, wetlands and woodlands were ranked as the most important CNRPs. Extraction and use patterns of products from the different pools differed among households of different resource endowment. Resource-constrained households (RG3) sold an average of 183 kg household^?1 year^?1 of wild loquats fruits (Uapaca kirkiana), realising about US$48, while resource-endowed farmers (RG1) had no need to sale any. The RG3 households also realised approximately US$70 household^?1 year^?1 from sale of crafts made from water reeds (Phragmites mauritianus). Empirical data closely supported communities’ perceptions that CNRPs had declined significantly in recent years compared with two to three decades ago. More than 60 % of the respondents perceived that the availability of natural resources drawn from wetlands and woodlands, often used for food, energy and crafts, has decreased markedly since the 1980s. Classification of land cover in a GIS environment indicated that CNRPs declined between 1972 and 2011, supporting farmers’ perceptions. Overall, woodlands declined by 37 % in both communities, while the total area under wetlands decreased by 29 % in Ushe, a drier area and 49 % in Dendenyore, a relatively humid area. The over-reliance in CNRPs by rural communities could be attributed to continued decline in crop yields linked to increased within-season rainfall variability, and the absence of alternative food and income sources. This suggests limited options for rural communities to adapt to the changing food production systems in the wake of climate change and variability and other challenges such as declining soil fertility. There is therefore a need to design adaptive farm management options that enhance both crop and livestock production in a changing climate as well as identifying other livelihood alternatives outside agriculture to reduce pressure on CNRPs. In addition, promotion of alternative sources of energy such as solar power and biogas among rural communities could reduce the cutting of trees for firewood from woodlands.     

Smallholder farmers’ perceptions of and adaptations to climate change in the Nigerian savanna

The savanna region of Africa is a potential breadbasket of the continent but is severely affected by climate change. Understanding farmers’ perceptions of climate change and the types of adjustments they have made in their farming practices in response to these changes will offer some insights into necessary interventions to ensure a successful adaptation in the region. This paper explores how smallholder farmers in the Nigerian savanna perceive and adapt to climate change. It is based on a field survey carried out among 200 smallholder farm households selected from two agro-ecological zones. The results show that most of the farmers have noticed changes in climate and have consequently adjusted their farming practices to adapt. There are no large differences in the adaptation practices across the region, but farmers in Sudan savanna agro-ecological zone are more likely to adapt to changes in temperature than those in northern Guinea savanna. The main adaptation methods include varying planting dates, use of drought tolerant and early maturing varieties and tree planting. Some of the farmers are facing limitations in adapting because of lack of information on climate change and the suitable adaptation measures and lack of credit. The study then concludes that to ensure successful adaptation to climate change in the region, concerted efforts are needed to design and promote planned adaptation measures that fit into the local context and also to educate farmers on climate change and appropriate adaptation measures.     

Maize bushy stunt in native corn: implications for Mexican “subsistence farmers”

Native corn in Mexico can be affected by maize bushy stunt disease (MBS), which can negatively impact maize-farming operations. Maize bushy stunt symptoms in native corn were linked to the presence of phytoplasmas through molecular analysis of symptomatic native corn plants in Mexico. These findings motivated a socioeconomic characterization and identification of the management strategies developed by the “subsistence farmers” of those communities to answer the questions: What elements of farming affect the presence of MBS disease in “subsistence farmers” fields? What do “subsistence farmers” know about MBS disease and the pathogen associated with MBS disease? How best can MBS disease be managed in small farming communities in Mexico? Through face-to-face interviews with growers and the corresponding analyses of their responses, we identified a widespread lack of knowledge about MBS disease, its causal agent and its vector(s). This study highlighted factors useful to guide future management decisions and education programs, as well as further research to transmit information about MBS disease among “subsistence farmers” in rural communities in Mexico.     

参与农业技术培训能否促进农户实施绿色生产行为?——基于家庭禀赋视角的ESR模型分析

农业技术培训对农户实施绿色生产行为的影响是推进农村生态环境治理关注的重要问题.基于农户家庭禀赋影响其参与农业技术培训,进而导致其绿色生产行为实施差异的分析思路,利用内生转换回归(ESR)模型和来自湖北省的1063份农户微观调查数据,在构建反事实场景和考虑样本选择偏差的基础上,考察了参与和未参与农业技术培训两种情形下农户实施绿色生产行为的差异.结果表明:(1)参与农业技术培训农户的绿色生产行为实施程度显著高于未参与农业技术培训的农户,且平均处理效应表明,参与农业技术培训可使预期的农户绿色生产行为实施程度提高40.13％;(2)参与农业技术培训对不同类型绿色生产行为的处理效应由大到小依次为化肥减施、节水灌溉、农药减施、农膜回收和秸秆综合利用;(3)无论是否参与农业技术培训,家庭禀赋对农户实施绿色生产行为均有显著影响,但不同类型的家庭禀赋对参与和未参与农业技术培训农户的影响存在差异.此外,家庭禀赋也是影响农户参与农业技术培训的重要因素.政府应积极拓宽农业技术推广渠道,加快转变技术推广方式,兼顾"农业生产"和"生态环境保护"两者,进一步开展环境友好型农业技术培训.     

Perceptions of using low-quality irrigation water in vegetable production in Morogoro,Tanzania

This study was conducted to examine perceptions of the farmers and key informants on the use of low-quality irrigation water for vegetable production in urban and peri-urban areas in Morogoro, Tanzania. The methods used to collect data were farmer surveys (n = 60), focus group discussions (n = 4) and key informants interviews (n = 15). The results showed that the respondents had a positive perception on using low-quality irrigation water for vegetable production. The reported benefits include availability of water throughout the year, highest soil and crop nutrients in irrigation water, less costs of buying commercial fertilizers, vegetable production all year round, sustainable income generation from selling vegetables and also jobs creation in the community among farmers and vegetable sellers. Findings from Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis test score on farmers perception scales indicate an association between the source of low-quality water used and the respondents’ sex. Accordingly, female farmers had higher positive perception on the benefits of low-quality water compared to male farmers. Higher perception score was also observed among farmers who used polluted river water in irrigation vegetable production compared to farmers who used wastewater. Since low-quality irrigation water is a good strategy of coping with scarcity of freshwater for communities which have no alternative source of irrigation water, the study recommends multi-sectorial agencies across the country to be involved in formulating policies and creating health promotion awareness for safe use of low-quality water for benefit maximization and health risk reduction.     

Can coffee certification schemes increase incomes of smallholder farmers? Evidence from Jinotega,Nicaragua

This paper investigates the impact of Fairtrade and organic certification on household income of smallholder coffee farmers in the Jinotega Municipality of Nicaragua. Using a sample of 233 coffee farming households and employing endogenous switching regression model and propensity score matching method, the results found that Fairtrade and organic certification standards have different effects on the certified farmers; while Fairtrade farmers had experienced yield gains, organic farmers had the price advantage. However, the overall impact of these certification standards on the total household income is found to be statistically not significant. While some of the Fairtrade-certified cooperatives have used the social premium in creating community-level infrastructure, there is a need for more investment. The major constraint the organic-certified farmers face is lack of availability of adequate organic inputs such as manures and organic herbicides.     

Adaptation of Iranian farmers to climate variability and change

Climate change poses serious challenges for populations whose livelihoods depend principally on natural resources. Given the increases in extreme weather events projected to adversely affect the arid and semi-arid regions of Iran, adaptation of the agricultural sector is imperative. Few studies have addressed the farmers’ adaptation in Iran, and little is known about ongoing adaptation strategies in use. Adopting principal component analysis/fuzzy logic-based method, this paper considers the agricultural adaptation to climate variability. A survey of 255 farmers of Fars Province, selected through a multistage stratified random sampling method, revealed different levels of adaptation, specifically the low, moderate and high, which are principally distinguished by various degrees of sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The study also identified the main adaptation strategies used by farmers in response to climate-related shocks. Results indicated that although a large percentage of farmers make some adjustments to their farming practices, there are significant differences in choice of adaptation strategies by the adaptation categories. Some conclusions and recommendations are offered to increase the adaptive capacity of farmers and reduce negative impacts of climate variability and change.     

Integrated Aquaculture in Subsaharan Africa

An incremental, farmer participatory approach to the development of sustainable aquaculture in integrated farming systems has been tested in Malawi. Average fish production rose from 900 to approximately 1500 kg ha^-1 as farms achieved increasing levels of integration. Integrated farms produce almost six times the cash generated by the typical Malawian smallholder. The integrated pond-vegetable garden generates almost three times the annual net income from the staple maize crop and the homestead combined. The ecological footprint of integrated aquaculture is approximately 4 m² per kg of fish produced compared to 170 m² for more intensive systems. The incremental approach offers the possibility of fostering substantial improvement in rural livelihoods among African smallholding farmers.     

Farmer typology, future scenarios and the implications for ecosystem service provision: a case study from south-eastern Spain

Farming communities are increasingly expected to manage their agricultural activities in ways that ensure sustainable flows of a wide range of ecosystem services for society. The land use and management choices that farmers make are dependent upon their socio-economic characteristics and background, and in turn have important implications for the landscape and associated ecosystem services. Thus, a better understanding about the linkages between the characteristics of farmers, farm management and land use is important for managing multifunctional agro-ecosystems. In this paper, we first develop a typology of farmers for Torrealvilla catchment in Murcia, Spain, according to the characteristics of their households and farm management (e.g. the farmer’s age, household income, water access, land tenure and farm labour). This analysis distinguishes six types of farmers. Secondly, we analyse the link between farmer typology and the farmers’ responses to a number of scenarios. The scenarios describe different likely changes to agriculture in the catchment in terms of environmental constraints (irrigation water availability and rainfall pattern) and environmental policy regulation (water taxation and subsidies). This exercise enables us to explore the range of future land use changes that are likely to occur in the study area. The results indicate that: rain-fed agriculture is expected to experience gradual but extensive abandonment; vegetable/fruit farming and pig/animal rearing are likely to stagnate or even decline; and growing of grapes is likely to expand. Thirdly, we qualitatively evaluate how future land use changes are likely to affect key ecosystem services in the study area including future agricultural production and associated local income generation, erosion control, maintenance of the groundwater table and various cultural services associated with a heterogeneous agro-ecosystem. Particular changes such as expansion of grape production will increase food production and local income at the cost of further depletion of the aquifer and increased risk of salinisation. The outcomes of the study highlight that, to be effective, the design of agri-environmental schemes and other government interventions (e.g. specific compulsory regulations on farming practices and associated water use) should carefully take into account the characteristics of the farmers within the area of interest, their land uses and the possible diversity of responses to policy and environmental drivers. Opportunities exist for future studies quantifying the extent of the impacts of ecosystem service provision through formal models combining farmers’ land use decision-making and spatially explicit modelling of landscape processes.     

Shifting from apple to peach farming in Kazuno, northern Japan: perceptions of and responses to climatic and non-climatic impacts

Apple farmers in Kazuno, northern Japan, have started to grow peaches in the northernmost climatic region suitable for peach farming. Here, we investigate the process from the initial introduction of peach cultivation to its diffusion focusing on the farmers’ perceptions of climatic and non-climatic stimuli and their actions to respond to these stressors. Interviews with the farmers identified three distinct groups. Four farmers (Group 1) initiated the transition to peach production, which then spread to other farmers (Group 2) via personal connections. Later, after the provision of various means of support from the local government and the producers’ cooperative, many more apple farmers (Group 3) decided to begin peach production. Most farmers recognized the risk of damages to apple production as a result of typhoons and drought. However, only Group 1 farmers, who depend on direct sales to customers, mentioned these climate-related damages as a reason to shift toward peach cultivation in order to maintain their customers. The peach fruit was specifically chosen as a replacement for apple because it is less vulnerable to these climatic stressors. For Group 3 farmers, the financial losses associated with these climate-related events could be compensated for by insurance. Their decision to grow peach is largely due to its higher price and immunity against a specific disease which affects apples but they only shifted once institutional support was available, thereby reducing the risk in cultivating a new species. Our findings suggest that the role of institutions was not to drive the process of the adaptation itself but rather to provide relevant support to farmers to enable them to shift to new crop varieties more easily. We argue that such process-based understanding is crucial in formulating strategies to increase adaptive capacity in agriculture.