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

Abstract

Climate change is an inevitable global challenge of the 21st century. For developing countries like Ethiopia, it intensifies existing challenges towards ensuring sustainable development. Adopting the protection motivation theory, this study examined factors affecting the practice of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies among farmers. The study employed a mixed research approach to assess the subjective understanding of farmers about climate change threats and identify factors determining their responses to climate change effects. Qualitative data were collected using focus group discussions and interviews. Quantitative information was gathered using semi-structured survey from 296 randomly selected farmers. Qualitative data was dominantly analyzed using content analysis, while descriptive and inferential statistics were applied to analyze quantitative data. Almost all respondents (97%) perceived that climate change was occurring and threatening their wellbeing. Dwindling precipitation, increasing temperature and occurrence of human and animal disease were perceived to represent climate change effects. From nationally initiated strategies, farmers were found to largely practice soil and water conservation, which they perceived as less costly and compatible to local knowledge. The result of binary logistic regression revealed that perceived severity of climate change, perceived susceptibility to climate change threat, perceived own ability to respond, response efficacy, and cost of practices predicted farmers’ motivation to practice climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. Thus, building a resilient system should go beyond sensitizing climate response mechanisms. Policies should focus on human capital development and economic empowerment which would enable farmers to pursue context-specific adaptation and mitigation strategies, thereby maintaining a sustainable livelihood.

Overlaps of indigenous knowledge and climate change mitigation: evidence from a systematic review

“…A collection of CSA practices identified involved traditional farming practices that are climate resilient and generate low emissions. In measures aimed at boosting crop productivity, Thailand farmers observe CSA practices by not burning rice residues, using rice straw compost, and alternative wetting and drying (Sereenonchai and Arunrat, 2020) whereas in Ethiopia such practices include soil conservation, agricultural intensification, water efficient irrigation and fuel wood conservation (Regasa and Akirso, 2019). Local farmers in Ghana and Liberia adopt soil management practices that increase soil fertility by adding ash, crop residues and food waste.…”

“…Climate smart agriculture Shelat and Ramachandran (2014), Mukherjee et al (2016), Solomon et al (2016), Regasa and Akirso (2019), Sereenonchai andArunrat (2020), andChaudhary et al (2022) Indigenous forestry conservation Maru et al (2023), Clay and Cooper (2022), Knight et al (2022), Kunz et al (2022), Chanza and Musakwa (2021a), Lewis et al (2020), Jones (2019( ), de Freitas et al (2018, Salick et al (2014), Guthiga and Newsham (2011), and Priyadarshini and Abhilash (2019) Agroforestry Robinson et al (2014) and Galang and Vaughter (2020) Agroecosystem Nautiyal and Goswami (2022), Kpienbaareh et al (2020), andBrattland et al (2019) Agrobiodiversity Avila-Bello et al ( 2023) and Agnoletti et al (2022) Biodiversity management Mahalwal and Kabra (2023) and Tschirhart et al (2016) Forestry monitoring Martello (2008), Paneque-Gálvez et al (2014), Kumar and Brewster (2022), Pittman et al (2022), Buckley et al (2023) (Chanza and de Wit, 2013;Brugnach et al, 2017). Instead, legitimate involvement of indigenous people in mitigation projects should be an ethical requirement set to empower the concerned communities (Brugnach et al, 2017;Hausner et al, 2020).…”

Determinants of COVID-19 Response Strategies in Selected African Countries

“…Although PMT was initially developed to explore the factors motivating preventive behavior during a health pandemic, the theory has been extended to other areas of research such as climate risks and stressors (Bagagnan et al 2019; Grothmann and Reusswig 2006; Regasa and Akirso 2019). Poussin et al (2014) assert that understanding preventive or mitigating behavior requires a comprehension of the socioeconomic conditions of individuals and communities, which the PMT fails to capture.…”

Socio-economic Impact of Climate Change, Adaptation and Determinants of Willingness to Pay for Crop Insurance in Central Agro-climatic Zone of Afghanistan

“…There are seven provinces in this zone and 15 samples were collected from each of the provinces with the total of 105 respondents located in this zone. The data was collected on a mixed approach to integrate quantitative and qualitative data to capture the perception of sample farmers about socio-economic impacts of climate change [20] and willingness to pay for crop insurance.…”