Smallholder Farmers' Perceptions, Adaptation Constraints, and Determinants of Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change in Chengdu

This study assessed smallholder farmers' perceptions, adaptation constraints, and determinants of adaptive capacity to climate change. The study used severity and problem confrontation index estimations to examine the farmers' perceptions of climate warming and barriers to climate adaptation. The results indicated that the farmers were cognizant of climate change and its adverse impacts on their livelihood. It was evident that most surveyed rice farmers perceived changes in climatic conditions to affect rice production adversely. The farmers claimed that unpredictable weather conditions, limited farm size, inadequate farm labor, scarce water resources, high cost of farm inputs, and insufficient information on weather conditions had impeded their adoption of climate change adaptive strategies. Based on the results of the principal component analysis, economic resources, physical resources, information, human resources, and technology significantly influence smallholder farmers' responsive ability to climate warming. Therefore, policymakers must design policy frameworks and measures that consider these significant factors explaining farmers' constraints to climate change adaptation.

Automated summary

This study found that smallholder farmers were aware of the negative impacts of climate change on their livelihoods, mainly in terms of changes in climatic conditions affecting rice production. The farmers felt constrained by factors such as unpredictable weather, limited resources, and lack of information, which hindered their adoption of climate change adaptive strategies. Various resources and technology significantly influence smallholder farmers' capacity to respond to climate warming, highlighting the need for policymakers to consider these factors in designing effective adaptation measures.