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2. Are smallholder farmers’ perceptions of climate variability supported by climatological evidence? Case study of a semi-arid region in South Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Rapholo, Maropene Tebello (author) and Makia, Lawrence Diko (author)
- Format:
- Journal Article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-08-20
- Published:
- International: Emerald
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11860
- Journal Title:
- International Journal of Climate
- Journal Title Details:
- 4
- Notes:
- 15 pages, via online journal, Purpose Literature contends that not much is known about smallholder farmers’ perceptions of climate variability and the impacts thereof on agricultural practices in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa in particular. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of smallholder farmers from Botlokwa (a semi-arid region in South Africa) on climate variability in relation to climatological evidence. Design/methodology/approach The study area is in proximity to a meteorological station and comprises mainly rural farmers, involved in rain-fed subsistence agriculture. Focus group discussions and closed-ended questionnaires covering demographics and perceptions were administered to 125 purposely sampled farmers. To assess farmers’ perceptions of climate variability, their responses were compared with linear trend and variability of historical temperature and rainfall data (1985-2015). Descriptive statistics were used to provide insights into respondents’ perceptions. Findings About 64% of the farmers perceived climate variability that was consistent with the meteorological data, whereas 36% either held contrary observations or were unable to discern. Age, level of education, farming experience and accessibility to information influenced the likelihood of farmers to correctly perceive climate variability. No significant differences in perception based on gender were observed. This study concludes that coping and adaption strategies of over one-third of the farmers could be negatively impacted by wrong perceptions of climate variability. Originality/value This study highlights discrepancies in perceptions among farmers with similar demographic characteristics. To guarantee sustainability of the sector, intervention by government and other key stakeholders to address underlying factors responsible for observed discrepancies is recommended.
3. Assessing the Potentials of Digitalization as a Tool for Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Development in Urban Centres
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Balogun, Abdul-Lateef (author), Marks, Danny (author), Sharma, Richa (author), Shekhar, Himanshu (author), Balmes, Chiden (author), Maheng, Dikman (author), Arshad, Adnan (author), and Salehi, Pourya (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-02
- Published:
- Science Direct
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 121 Document Number: D11094
- Journal Title:
- Sustainable Cities and Society
- Journal Title Details:
- 53
- Notes:
- 12 pages., Digitalization is a key enabler of sustainable development of cities’ socio-economic dynamics with the potential to foster climate-friendly urban environments and societies. The advent of the 4th industrial revolution has seen the increased application of digitalization in several fields and at different levels. High-tech digital devices, platforms and environments are increasingly being deployed to enhance productivity, efficiency and sustainability, and improve overall well-being of urban dwellers. Digitalization is projected to further impact cities in future, transform jobs and trigger life-style changes with far-reaching impacts that will ultimately affect cities’ resilience and adaptation capacities. While a growing body of research has highlighted the significance of digitalization to climate change mitigation such as reducing GHG and CO2 emissions, comprehensive evaluations of the potentials of digitalization as an enabler of climate change adaptation remain scarce. This paper addresses this gap by analysing the current trend in digital revolution in relation to climate change adaptation and examines the likely challenges of digitalization. A desk research method was adopted, focusing on core digitalization concepts driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0). Nine case studies in cities across various continents were selected to assess the potentials of digitalization in addressing climatic hazards and to highlight benefits from implementing digitalization, while considering the social-ecological-technological challenges and tensions around IR 4.0. Our findings reveal the capabilities of digitalization in supporting more effective early warning and emergency response systems, enhancing food and water security, improving power infrastructure performance, enabling citizen engagement and participatory adaptation measures and minimizing the impacts of climatic hazards. Finally, we recommend feasible pathways to overcome present risks and challenges in order to optimize the numerous opportunities offered by digitalization in support of climate change adaptation initiatives.
4. Australia wildfire coverage is long on koalas, short on causes
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- deMause, Neil (author)
- Format:
- Article
- Publication Date:
- 2020
- Published:
- Australia: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, New York City, New York
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 124 Document Number: D11203
- Notes:
- Via online. 5 pages
5. Austrian guild and IFAJ president think outside the box
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Blasl, Bianca (author / Austrian Association of Agrarian Journalists and Communicators)
- Format:
- News release
- Publication Date:
- 2020-01-01
- Published:
- International: International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ), Ormstown, Quebec, Canada
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 166 Document Number: D11680
- Notes:
- 3 pages., Via online news release., Report from the annual Eco-Social Forum winter conference in Vienna, Australia.
6. Climate change and farmer’s perception for the sustainability of farming in khyber pakhtunkhwa-pakistan
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Israr, Muhammad (author), Faraz, Muhammad (author), and Jay-Russell, Michelle T. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-05-31
- Published:
- International: Science and Education Publishing
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12459
- Journal Title:
- American Journal of Rural Development
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 8, No. 1
- Notes:
- 9pgs, This research was conducted in Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the aims to study the knowledge of farmers and to evaluate the perceptions of the farmers about Climate Change (CC). To accomplish these objectives primary data was collected from 98 randomly selected farmers by structure questionnaire through face to face interview method and was analysed by using descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that majority (93%) of farmers were aware of CC phenomena and perceived changes in temperature (89%) and precipitation (86%) during the last decade. Crop diversification, soil and water management practices and application of necessary farm inputs were the farmer’s preferred adaptive strategies to CC. Barriers to adaptive strategies were the ineffective government support, lack of capital, information and extension services, traditional beliefs and high cost of farm inputs. The study concludes that climate is changing and the farmers are practicing different adaptive strategies to overcome this problem, but still there is a space for more scientifically verified strategies which can boost the farmer’s productivity and increased the overall wellbeing for the future sustainability of farming.
7. Climate change brings challenges and opportunities, panel says
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Karst, Tom (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-08-20
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11714
- Journal Title:
- Packer
- Notes:
- Via online issue. 3 pages., Summary of panel discussion at a Virtual Town Hall meeting of the Produce Marketing Association. Panelists noted how greenhouse technologies can soften the blow of climate change.
8. Climate change vulnerability and adaptation strategies for smallholder farmers in Yangi Qala District, Takhar, Afghanistan
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Omerkhil, Najibullah (author), Chand, Tara (author), Valente, Donatella (author), Alatalo, Juha M (author), and Pandey, Rajiv (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-03
- Published:
- Science Direct
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 121 Document Number: D11091
- Journal Title:
- Ecological Indicators
- Notes:
- 10 pages., Smallholder farmers in Afghanistan are already facing various risks in agricultural production due to past continuous insurgencies. Climate change is likely to amplify the risk and make them even more vulnerable. The present study attempted to evaluate the vulnerability profiles of smallholder farmers due to climate change using the IPCC Framework. Primary data on relevant parameters for assessing climate change-led social vulnerability in the region were collected by classifying study region into two zones: the plain and the hills of Yangi Qala District in Takhar province, Afghanistan. Thirteen villages from each zone were selected at random, and face-to-face interviews were conducted with ten randomly selected households in each of the selected villages in both zones based on a pre-tested questionnaire. The questionnaire contained indicators for all three dimensions of vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The collected data were subjected to a proposed vulnerability index, after estimating the indices of the three dimensions of vulnerability. The Iyenger and Sudershan weighting method was used to assess the contribution of each vulnerability dimension. Vulnerability was classified according to different categories based on beta distribution to evaluate the villages’ vulnerability status. The results showed that about 23% of all 26 sampled villages in both zones had low exposure, 26% moderate exposure and 51% high exposure to climate-change hazards and extreme weather events. High sensitivity was observed in 51%, moderate sensitivity in 7%, and low sensitivity in 42% of villages. High adaptive capacity to climate change was observed in 38% of villages, 19% were moderately adaptive and 42% showed a low adaptive capacity. High vulnerability was observed in 50% of villages, 4% were moderately vulnerable, and 46% had low vulnerability. A high proportion of smallholder farmers in the hilly zone in the sampled district were highly vulnerable, exposed and sensitive with a low adaptive capacity to climate change compared to the plain zone. The high vulnerability in the hilly zone was attributed to limited resources with a low adjustment capability to counter the disturbances, especially in crop cultivation, in response to climate change. A handful of low-cost and local approaches such as improving farmer extension services, introducing small-scale local infrastructure projects, reinforcing informal safety nets and protecting natural ecosystems could be viable cost-effective options that would also be sustainable given their low recurring costs and the limited maintenance required.
9. Farm households’ risk perception, attitude and adaptation strategies in dealing with climate change: Promise and perils from rural Pakistan
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Khan, Imran (author), Lei, Hongdou (author), Shah, Irshad Ali (author), Ali, Imad (author), Khan, Inayat (author), Muhammad, Ihsan (author), Huo, Xuexi (author), and Javed, Tehseen (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-02
- Published:
- Science Direct
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 121 Document Number: D11093
- Journal Title:
- Land Use Policy
- Journal Title Details:
- 91
- Notes:
- 11 pages., Pakistan is highly vulnerable to extreme climatic events, such as floods and droughts. This study determines the farmers’ risk perception, risk attitude, adaptation measures and various aspects of vulnerability to climate change (e.g. floods, droughts, heavy rainfalls, pests and disease) at farm level in rural Pakistan. The risk perception and attitude of farm households are crucial factors that influence farm productivity, investment and management decisions at this level. A well-designed questionnaire was used to interview 720 farm households from six districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A binary logit model was used to determine the main factors that affect the choice of adaptation strategies of the farm household. The findings revealed that crop diversification, changing crop varieties, altering the crop calendar, varying the fertilizer used, mulching and farm insurance were the main adaptation strategies followed by farm households. The results of the binary logit model revealed that age, education, farm size, household size, credit accessibility, annual income and the perception on the increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall had significant influence on the selection of the adaption strategies. The findings of this study can provide guidance, policy recommendations and reference for future researchers.
10. Farmers' perceptions of climate variability, their adaptation strategies and agricultural productivity: a case of Limpopo province, South Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Aful, D. B. (author) and Ayisi, K. (author)
- Format:
- Journal Article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-12
- Published:
- South Africa: SciELO
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12093
- Journal Title:
- South African Journal of Agricultural Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 48 No.2, 2020
- Notes:
- 14 pgs., The provision of farm management decision support and advisory services to insure climate resilient agricultural production systems, especially for subsistence farmers, depends on data on such producers. The main objective of the paper was to generate such data by comparing the status quo regarding dryland, subsistence grain farmers’ perceptions of climate variability, their adaptation strategies and crop productivity. Using a survey questionnaire, the comparison was made across time (2014 and 2017) in selected municipalities of Limpopo province. The findings across time and aggregated for all the different local municipalities investigated were similar regarding respondents’ perceptions of climate variability, adaptation strategies used and crop productivity. The perceptions revealed that respondents were aware of the reality of climate variability and its negative effects on their crop and livestock production, Agricultural productivity amongst extension and non-extension recipients was low, with minimal differences. These findings auger well for the development of common strategies to improve the effectiveness of the support for farm management including climate variability that is provided by the public agricultural extension service to the group of producers in this study to reduce the negative effects of climate variability on their crop productivity. This will eventually help to improve their food security.