Assessment of farm households' perception, beliefs and attitude toward climatic risks: A case study of rural Vietnam

Vietnam is one the most vulnerable region to climate change and extreme climatic events, such as flash floods and droughts. This present research aims to explore the farm households' beliefs, risk perception, adaptive attitude and climate change adaptation measures that they currently utilize in their farms to cope with climatic risks. Further, this study analyzed effect of climate change belief, awareness and adaptive attitudes on farmers' adaptive behavior. By using structured questionnaire, the data from 816 respondents were collected from seven provinces of Vietnam. We used ordinary least squares regression and logistic regression approach to analyze farmers' belief, perception of climatic change, and risk attitude towards climatic hazards. Results revealed that farmers in the study area are using the most common climatic risk management strategies including applying new technologies, adjustment of the seasonal calendar, and diversification. Findings further revealed that that farm households were mostly concerned about the risk in soil erosion and washout, followed by the stress of prolonging dry season and droughts. The study participants also reported a decrease in precipitation and increase in temperature and frequency and incidence of other extreme climatic events. A positive significant relationship was found between farm management practices and ecological communities. Risk perceptions and attitude toward climate change are essential factors among farm households of northern mountains of Vietnam. Thus, the climate strain linked with the institutional stress and socio-economic has serious insinuations for farm households' livelihood bases, a universal climate change adaptation scheme is required to endure farmers' livelihood.

Automated summary

The study revealed that farmers in the northern mountainous region of Vietnam are primarily concerned about soil erosion and washout risks, followed by drought and dry season risks. The most common climatic risk management strategies employed by farmers include adopting new technologies, adjusting seasonal calendars, and diversifying their practices.