Percepciones de cambio climático y respuestas adaptativas de caficultores costarricenses de pequeña escala

Abstract

Introducción. El cambio climático afectará la distribución, productividad y rentabilidad del cultivo de café en América Central, perjudicando las economías nacionales y los medios de vida de los pequeños productores. Es necesario entender cómo el cambio climático está afectando a los pequeños caficultores en la región para promover medidas que permitan enfrentar estos cambios y adaptarse a ellos. Objetivo. El objetivo de este trabajo fue describir los sistemas cafetaleros costarricenses de pequeña escala en dos zonas productivas y explorar los esfuerzos de adaptación al cambio climático que realizan los productores. Materiales y métodos. Entre marzo y mayo de 2014, se realizaron encuestas estructuradas en hogares cafetaleros de dos paisajes vulnerables al cambio climático: Turrialba y Los Santos. El estudio se centró en las percepciones de los productores sobre los cambios en temperatura y lluvia, los impactos reportados como consecuencia de dichos cambios y las acciones de adaptación implementadas en las fincas. Resultados. Los resultados indicaron que el 98 % de los productores percibió cambios en el clima, gran parte de ellos los asociaron con impactos sobre su producción de café, y el 60 % de los encuestados realizó cambios en el manejo de sus cafetales para reducir los efectos del cambio climático. Las prácticas de adaptación más frecuentes fueron sembrar árboles e incrementar el uso de agroquímicos, en mayor medida en respuesta al incremento de temperatura. Conclusión. Este estudio destaca la necesidad de incrementar el apoyo técnico, financiero y político orientado a fomentar y diversificar la implementación de prácticas de adaptación entre pequeños caficultores e incrementar su resiliencia ante el cambio climático.

Awareness of climate change's impacts and motivation to adapt are not enough to drive action: A look of Puerto Rican farmers after Hurricane Maria

“…But perhaps most important, is that we find no relationship between motivation to adapt and actual adoption eight months after Hurricane Maria, suggesting that other barriers to adoption exist, especially in areas constantly affected by extreme weather events. Farmers in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa have expressed concern for climate change at different scales, but such perceptions are poorly linked to actual climate change adaptation [ 40 , 68 – 70 ]. For example, Harvey and colleagues (2018) found that regardless of perceiving and experiencing climate change risks and impacts, Central American farmers showed low adoption of adaptation practices in response to climate change’s impacts, primarily because of low adaptive capacity due to social determinants and structural barriers, such as level of education, household income, access to disaster aid, land tenure, and others [ 67 ].…”

“…Farmers in Latin America [ 67 , 68 ], and the Caribbean [ 70 , 71 ] have been noted to lack institutional structures of support. In Puerto Rico, Perfecto and colleagues (2019) found that social capital and support networks were pivotal for Puerto Rican coffee farmers’ recovery after Hurricane María, and that their agroecological practices, such as agroforestry, and other management styles were not sufficient for farms to be resilient and resistant within the catastrophic context of Hurricane Maria [ 54 ].…”

Puerto Rican Farmers' Psychological Awareness of Climate Change, and Adaptation Perceptions after Hurricane Maria

“…Farmers in Latin America [65,66], and the Caribbean [68,69] [6,23,24,49,51], and are localized in a region that still today is subject to colonial relationships and power dynamics that increase their vulnerability to natural hazards [28][29][30]. It is important to understand the degree to which psychological awareness (not distance) of climate change relates to other cognitive beliefs and decision-making, but this cannot be done through ignoring the circumstances in which farmers are embedded.…”

“…Puerto Rican farmers, overwhelming, understand that the climate is changing. This awareness of climate change as a threat is strong in Latin America and the Caribbean[62], where farmers and non-farmers are aware of the impacts related to climate change[64][65][66]. Surveyed farmers understand that climate change is happening now (temporal), that it will affect farmers and non-farmers (social), and that it will affect local and global agriculture (geographical).…”

“…This further suggests that in areas constantly affected by extreme weather events, other variables beyond the ones explored here may be more relevant in explaining and fostering adaptation. Farmers in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa have expressed concern for climate change at different scales, but such perceptions are poorly linked to actual climate change adaptation[42,65,66,68]. Puerto Rican farmers overwhelmingly feel motivated to adapt to climate change, and that is positively linked to perceived self-capacity and perceived vulnerability.…”