Adaptation to Climate Change and Variability: Farmer Responses to Intra-seasonal Precipitation Trends in South Africa

Thomas, David S.G.; Twyman, Chasca; Osbahr, Henny

doi:10.1007/978-90-481-3842-5_7

Cited by 71 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…For instance, it emerged during the FGDs that the need for water has changed over time in the low potential zones due to other factors (e.g., growing population) that increased demand for rain, which is naturally highly variable. Similar observations have been made by Osbahr et al () in Uganda and Thomas et al () in Southern Africa. Focus group meetings (FGDs) with qualitative questions also confirm that some farmer perceptions on climate change do not match meteorological data.…”

Section: Empirical Results and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Adapting to climate variability and change in rural Kenya: farmer perceptions, strategies and climate trends

Ochieng¹,

Kirimi

Makau

2016

Natural Resources Forum

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Climate change has had a significant impact on rain-fed agricultural production in developing countries. Smallholder farmers are the most vulnerable, and currently must make production decisions in a high risk and uncertain environment with regard to rainfall and temperature. This paper uses climate and household survey data to analyse farmer perceptions regarding climate change, adaptation measures taken in response to these changes, and how well these perceptions correlate with meteorological data in Kenya. We find that a significant number of farmers perceive climate change as real, and that they are particularly concerned about changes in rainfall and temperature. Changing crop varieties is predominantly used as an adaptation measure since extension messages often encourage adoption of drought-resistant varieties. Major factors influencing farmer perceptions include age of the farmer, which is often associated with more farming experience and subsequent extension service. Except in low potential zones, farmers' perceptions of climatic variability are in line with climatic data records. Better education, access to extension messages, farm size and credit facilities are necessary for farmers to decide to adapt to climate change. The paper further assesses barriers to the adoption of various adaptation strategies, and lack of finances and knowledge have been found to inhibit adaptation response within the smallholder farming sector. Findings imply that effective adaptation to threats posed by climate variability and change requires a multi-dimensional collaborative approach, with different stakeholders playing key roles in providing support services in terms of education, extension, credit and meteorological information.

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Section: Empirical Results and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Adapting to climate variability and change in rural Kenya: farmer perceptions, strategies and climate trends

Ochieng¹,

Kirimi

Makau

2016

Natural Resources Forum

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“…Rising temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns are adversely impacting biodiversity, amplifying existing stress on water supplies, worsening vulnerability of agricultural systems especially among smallholder farmers and escalating climate-related health outcomes (IPCC 2014). Farmers in Africa adapt to climate variability and change in a multiplicity of ways (see Deressa et al (2009); Thomas et al (2011); Mugi-Ngenga et al (2016)). There are significant efforts taking place to develop, deploy, and scale up climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices (technologies and methods) to facilitate adaptation to climatic changes by farmers (Lipper et al 2014).…”

Section: Background and Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Farm household typology and adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices in smallholder farming systems of southern Africa

Makate

Mango

2018

African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Developm

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Farm household typology and adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices in smallholder farming systems of southern Africa. The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) believes that open access contributes to its mission of reducing hunger and poverty, and improving human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture. CIAT is committed to creating and sharing knowledge and information openly and globally. We do this through collaborative research as well as through the open sharing of our data, tools, and publications.

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“…A large number of publications in the literature deal with a particular component of water balance, e.g., streamflow [ Fu et al , 2007; Caballero et al , 2007], groundwater recharge [ Scibek and Allen , 2006; Jyrkama and Sykes , 2007], runoff [ Nunes et al , 2009], evapotranspiration [ Calanca et al , 2006], or a particular event throughout a year, e.g., low flows, peak flows [ Cuo et al , 2009], extreme events [ Xiong et al , 2009], and changes or shifts in seasonal processes [ Thomas et al , 2007]. However, fewer publications have focused on the long‐term evaluation of a basin's water balance due to climate change impacts on regional hydrologic processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the impact of climate change on water resources in Iran

Abbaspour

Faramarzi

Ghasemi

et al. 2009

Water Resources Research

469

256

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[1] As water resources become further stressed due to increasing levels of societal demand, understanding the effect of climate change on various components of the water cycle is of strategic importance in management of this essential resource. In this study, we used a hydrologic model of Iran to study the impact of future climate on the country's water resources. The hydrologic model was created using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model and calibrated for the period from 1980 to 2002 using daily river discharges and annual wheat yield data at a subbasin level. Future climate scenarios for periods of 2010-2040 and 2070-2100 were generated from the Canadian Global Coupled Model (CGCM 3.1) for scenarios A1B, B1, and A2, which were downscaled for 37 climate stations across the country. The hydrologic model was then applied to these periods to analyze the effect of future climate on precipitation, blue water, green water, and yield of wheat across the country. For future scenarios we found that in general, wet regions of the country will receive more rainfall while dry regions will receive less. Analysis of daily rainfall intensities indicated more frequent and larger-intensity floods in the wet regions and more prolonged droughts in the dry regions. When aggregated to provincial levels, the differences in the predictions due to the three future scenarios were smaller than the uncertainty in the hydrologic model. However, at the subbasin level the three climate scenarios produced quite different results in the dry regions of the country, although the results in the wet regions were more or less similar.

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Adaptation to Climate Change and Variability: Farmer Responses to Intra-seasonal Precipitation Trends in South Africa

Cited by 71 publications

References 46 publications

Adapting to climate variability and change in rural Kenya: farmer perceptions, strategies and climate trends

Adapting to climate variability and change in rural Kenya: farmer perceptions, strategies and climate trends

Farm household typology and adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices in smallholder farming systems of southern Africa

Assessing the impact of climate change on water resources in Iran

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