Assessment of smallholder farmers’ perception and adaptation response to climate change in the Olifants catchment, South Africa

Climate change is expected to affect the livelihood of rural farmers in South Africa, particularly the smallholder farmers, due to their overwhelming dependence on rain-fed agriculture. This study examines smallholder farmers' perception of climate change, the adaptation strategies adopted and...

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Autores principales:	Mary Funke Olabanji, Nerhene Davis, Thando Ndarana, Anesu Gelfand Kuhudzai, Dawn Mahlobo
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	IWA Publishing 2021
Materias:	adaptation climate change farmers perception olifants catchment Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/df4700b643da4355bd2916b9c005b140
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:df4700b643da4355bd2916b9c005b1402021-11-10T00:00:06ZAssessment of smallholder farmers’ perception and adaptation response to climate change in the Olifants catchment, South Africa2040-22442408-935410.2166/wcc.2021.138https://doaj.org/article/df4700b643da4355bd2916b9c005b1402021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttp://jwcc.iwaponline.com/content/12/7/3388https://doaj.org/toc/2040-2244https://doaj.org/toc/2408-9354Climate change is expected to affect the livelihood of rural farmers in South Africa, particularly the smallholder farmers, due to their overwhelming dependence on rain-fed agriculture. This study examines smallholder farmers' perception of climate change, the adaptation strategies adopted and factors that influence their adaptive decisions. The unit of data collection was household interview and focus group discussion. Climate data for the Olifants catchment (1986–2015) were also collected to validate farmers' perception of climate change with actual climate trend. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, Mann–Kendall trend, Sen's slope estimator and multinomial logit regression model. Results revealed that smallholder farmers are aware of climate change (98%), their perception of these changes aligns with actual meteorological data, as the Mann–Kendall test confirms a decreasing inter-annual rainfall trend (−0.172) and an increasing temperature trend (0.004). These changes in temperature and precipitation have prompted the adoption of various adaptation responses, among which the use of improved seeds, application of chemical fertilizer and changing planting dates were the most commonly practised. The main barriers to the adoption of adaptation strategies were lack of access to credit facility, market, irrigation, information about climate change and lack of extension service. The implication of this study is to provide information to policy-makers on the current adaptation responses adopted by farmers and ways in which their adaptive capacity can be improved in order to ensure food security. HIGHLIGHTS Farmers perceived changes in temperature and precipitation.; Perception of climate change aligns with actual climate data.; Smallholder farmers in the catchment are significantly vulnerable to the impact of climate change.; Farmers perceived that the adoption of adaptation strategies can improve crop production.; Age and years of farming had a determining influence on the adoption of changing planting date as an adaptive response.;Mary Funke OlabanjiNerhene DavisThando NdaranaAnesu Gelfand KuhudzaiDawn MahloboIWA Publishingarticleadaptationclimate changefarmers perceptionolifants catchmentEnvironmental technology. Sanitary engineeringTD1-1066Environmental sciencesGE1-350ENJournal of Water and Climate Change, Vol 12, Iss 7, Pp 3388-3403 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	adaptation climate change farmers perception olifants catchment Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350
spellingShingle	adaptation climate change farmers perception olifants catchment Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Mary Funke Olabanji Nerhene Davis Thando Ndarana Anesu Gelfand Kuhudzai Dawn Mahlobo Assessment of smallholder farmers’ perception and adaptation response to climate change in the Olifants catchment, South Africa
description	Climate change is expected to affect the livelihood of rural farmers in South Africa, particularly the smallholder farmers, due to their overwhelming dependence on rain-fed agriculture. This study examines smallholder farmers' perception of climate change, the adaptation strategies adopted and factors that influence their adaptive decisions. The unit of data collection was household interview and focus group discussion. Climate data for the Olifants catchment (1986–2015) were also collected to validate farmers' perception of climate change with actual climate trend. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, Mann–Kendall trend, Sen's slope estimator and multinomial logit regression model. Results revealed that smallholder farmers are aware of climate change (98%), their perception of these changes aligns with actual meteorological data, as the Mann–Kendall test confirms a decreasing inter-annual rainfall trend (−0.172) and an increasing temperature trend (0.004). These changes in temperature and precipitation have prompted the adoption of various adaptation responses, among which the use of improved seeds, application of chemical fertilizer and changing planting dates were the most commonly practised. The main barriers to the adoption of adaptation strategies were lack of access to credit facility, market, irrigation, information about climate change and lack of extension service. The implication of this study is to provide information to policy-makers on the current adaptation responses adopted by farmers and ways in which their adaptive capacity can be improved in order to ensure food security. HIGHLIGHTS Farmers perceived changes in temperature and precipitation.; Perception of climate change aligns with actual climate data.; Smallholder farmers in the catchment are significantly vulnerable to the impact of climate change.; Farmers perceived that the adoption of adaptation strategies can improve crop production.; Age and years of farming had a determining influence on the adoption of changing planting date as an adaptive response.;
format	article
author	Mary Funke Olabanji Nerhene Davis Thando Ndarana Anesu Gelfand Kuhudzai Dawn Mahlobo
author_facet	Mary Funke Olabanji Nerhene Davis Thando Ndarana Anesu Gelfand Kuhudzai Dawn Mahlobo
author_sort	Mary Funke Olabanji
title	Assessment of smallholder farmers’ perception and adaptation response to climate change in the Olifants catchment, South Africa
title_short	Assessment of smallholder farmers’ perception and adaptation response to climate change in the Olifants catchment, South Africa
title_full	Assessment of smallholder farmers’ perception and adaptation response to climate change in the Olifants catchment, South Africa
title_fullStr	Assessment of smallholder farmers’ perception and adaptation response to climate change in the Olifants catchment, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed	Assessment of smallholder farmers’ perception and adaptation response to climate change in the Olifants catchment, South Africa
title_sort	assessment of smallholder farmers’ perception and adaptation response to climate change in the olifants catchment, south africa
publisher	IWA Publishing
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/df4700b643da4355bd2916b9c005b140
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Assessment of smallholder farmers’ perception and adaptation response to climate change in the Olifants catchment, South Africa

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