Can Protection Motivation Theory Explain Farmers’ Adaptation to Climate Change Decision Making in The Gambia?

Abstract

In The Gambia, climate change has affected, and continues to affect, the agriculture sector. Thus, there is a need to develop and understand effective agricultural adaptation policies. The present study used protection motivation theory to describe farmers’ adoption of climate change adaptation measures in the Central River Region of The Gambia. Primary data were collected in eight communities of the region. A transect walk was conducted, followed by a survey of farmers (n = 283). Perception data collected referred back to the past 20 years, with stated implementation addressing current adaptation practices. Results showed that the perception variables, namely, severity, ability to withstand, and internal barriers, were significantly correlated with protection motivation, while protection motivation and stated implementation for water conservation technique were strongly correlated. Structural equation modeling confirmed the mediation role of protection motivation between farmers’ “stated implementation” of adaptation measures and their perception of climate variability. A decrease in soil water storage capacity, degradation of the quality of soil surface structure, and a decrease of the length of the growing season are all factors that motivate farmers to implement an adaptation measure. The cost of the implementation and farmers’ vulnerability are factors that prevent implantation of adaptation measures. This study suggested that farmers’ resilience should be improved and adaptation measures should be subsidized in order to make them more accessible to farmers.

Determinants of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies: An Application of Protection Motivation Theory in Konta District, South Western Ethiopia

“…The protection motivation theory (PMT) was first introduced by Rogers in 1975, in order to understand individual's response to potential threats of health problem. Later Rogers (1975) extended its iteration to other social science issues including environmental concern (Bagagnan, Ouedraogo, Fonta & Sowe, 2019). The theory proposes a conceptual framework to explain factors predicting risk preventative behaviors.…”

Perceived Climate Variability and Farm Level Adaptation in the Central River Region of The Gambia

“…They only apply it when they expect favorable weather conditions so that they will improve their productivity. Similar studies have found that farmers' perception of climate change can determine their adaptation options [41,43].…”

“…There is also the cost associated with current water conservation techniques, which is not always affordable for most farmers. The cost was found to be a significant barrier to farmers' adoption of climate change adaptation measures [41,42]. The correlation analysis showed a significant relationship between some perception variables and farmer-stated implementation of the adaptation measures.…”

Determinants of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation strategies: An Application of Protection Motivation Theory

“…The protection motivation theory (PMT) was first introduced by Rogers in 1975 with the main purpose of assessing individual's response to perceived threats of health problems and motivation to respond to the threats. Later, it is extended to other social science issues such as environmental degradation and response measures (Bagagnan et al, 2019). The theory sheds light on factors influencing individual's motivation to react to a perceived risk.…”

“…Consequently, compared to other, strategies such as soil conservation and agricultural intensification, irrigation and fuel wood conservation are less practiced by the farmers. Farmers' subjective understanding of changes in the climate positively influences their protection motivation, while the cost of adaptation measures negatively affects their protection motivation (Bagagnan et al, 2019).…”