Farmer Health and Adaptive Capacity in the Face of Climate Change and Variability. Part 2: Contexts, Personal Attributes and Behaviors

Abstract

This study extends the emerging body of research on farmer adaptation to climate change, by segmenting farmers on the basis of specific attributes (health, values, belief about climate change, sense of responsibility for climate change, desire to change, social, human and financial capitals and farmer demographics) and considering such attributes as critical social aspects of the contextualized capacity to adapt. The segmental analysis was based on a nationally representative sample of 3,993 farmers concerned with farmer adaptation of climate risks. The resulting data were subjected to two-step cluster analysis to identify homogenous groups of farmers based on factors related to climate change adaptation. A three-cluster solution was identified wherein farmers were distinguishable on the basis of belief in climate change, desire for financial assistance and advice, social connectedness, information seeking, and adverse farm conditions. The largest group (Cluster 1: 55%) was characterized by farmers who recognized being affected by drought and drying and who were actively engaged in adaptive practices, despite the fact that they had little income and poor farm resources. One third of these farmers reported that their health was a barrier to sustained activity in farming. Cluster 2 (26%) was characterized by farmers not readily affected by drying, who enjoyed good incomes, good health and better farming conditions. They expressed little desire to adapt. The smallest cluster (Cluster 3: 19%) was also characterized by farmers who recognized that they were affected by drying. However, despite a desire to adapt, they had very little means to do so. They reported the poorest natural resources and the poorest health, despite being younger. The findings suggest that it is the intent to adapt, starting from where people are at, which is a more important indicator of the capacity to work towards sustainable practices than assets tests alone.

Farmer Health and Adaptive Capacity in the Face of Climate Change and Variability. Part 1: Health as a Contributor to Adaptive Capacity and as an Outcome from Pressures Coping with Climate Related Adversities

“…The purpose of this was to reduce (summarize) the twenty concepts to a more manageable number for use in the cluster analysis which is reported in Part 2 of this study [ 34 ]. This second-order analysis produced more accurate, meaningful and interpretable results with fewer (higher order) input variables.…”

A systematic review of scientific research focused on farmers in agricultural adaptation to climate change (2008-2017)

“…Based on our findings, the key role that farmers play in agricultural adaptation to climate change has begun to be recognized globally [117][118][119]. An increasing number of research collaborations have been conducted across various academic disciplines [120,121], geographic locations [122,123], and socio-economic circumstances over the last decade, but these collaborative efforts must continue. The current explorations and understandings of farmers' roles in agricultural adaptation remain limited.…”

Focusing Resource Allocation-Wellbeing as a Tool for Prioritizing Interventions for Communities at Risk

“…A place-based focus can assume that everyone within a given area may be equally affected by external events and in so doing does not provide for differences in pre-existing physical, personal or economic resources. As Hogan et al [46] demonstrated, farmers working within similar geographically defined spaces may in fact have access to quite differing qualities of farm resource to work with (rain, for example, may fall literally on one side of a hill and not the other).…”