Work

Determinants of Rural Farmers’ Adoption of Climate Change Adaptation Strategies: Evidence from the Amathole District Municipality, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: There is consensus that rural farmers' livelihoods are vulnerable to climate change.Also, literature suggests that locally driven adaptations are critical complementary strategies that can be targeted to reduce the negative effects of climate change in the short-run.Thus far, through using a cross sectional survey sample of 200 rural farmers from the Amathole district municipality of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, the paper estimated farmers' climate change adaptation strategies, adaptation portfolio diversity and factors that condition farmers' adoption behavior.The results reveal several crop, livestock and non-farm based adaptation strategies skewed in favour of crop and non-farm floral based techniques.The results further indicate that rural farmers in general are low adopters of climate change adaptation strategies with poor adaptation portfolio diversity.Regression estimates reveal several socio-economic and institutional factors as drivers of adoption and adaptation portfolio diversity worth targeting to promote the ability of rural farmers to cope with climate change.

Source: International Journal of Environmental Science and Development

DOI: 10.18178/ijesd.2016.7.9.863

Authors: A. Taruvinga, M. Visser, L. Zhou

Language: English

Topic: Climate change impacts on agriculture

Subfield: Agronomy and Crop Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDGs: Climate action, Zero hunger, No poverty

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: Department for International Development, University of Fort Hare

OpenAlex ID: W4251192883