Climate change adaptation actions by fish farmers: evidence from the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

This paper examined climate change adaptation strategies in fish farming and the effect of such methods on the profit of fish farmers in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. Using cross‐sectional data obtained from 420 fish farmers from the region and applying multivariate probit and instrumental variable regressions, the study found that fish farmers have adopted a broad range of strategies to address climate risk and that these have significantly increased farmers’ profit. Our findings indicated important relationships between certain farm, socio‐economic and institutional characteristics and the adaptation actions. The study provides useful insight into factors that potentially encourage the adoption of livelihood‐enhancing climate risk adaptation strategies by fish farmers in the Niger Delta region and similar contexts.     

生态补偿对水源地农户可持续生计能力的影响研究——基于改进的DFID生计分析框架

目的 为检验生态补偿在水源地农户可持续生计能力发展方面的实施效果。方法 文章在调整DFID生计分析框架的基础上,改进基于生计资本测量农户可持续生计能力的方法,并利用该方法评价生态补偿前后东平湖水源地农户可持续生计能力变化情况。结果 （1）从整体上看,实施生态补偿政策以来东平湖水源地保护区农户生计可持续性得到显著增强,可持续生计能力从补偿前的0.302增至补偿后的0.323,但当地农户可持续生计能力仍处于较弱水平,需要进一步加强;（2）从生计资本来看,补偿后人力、社会、信息、物质、自然、金融、环境资本指数值分别为0.384、0.459、0.508、0.450、0.016、0.258、0.901,自然、金融、人力资本存量较低是当地农户生计可持续发展的短板;（3）值得注意的是,补偿后信息资本与物质、金融、环境资本之间的相关性显著提高,而自然资本与物质、人力资本之间的相关性显著降低,表明水源地农户的生产方式正逐步由传统农业向现代化农业或非农行业过渡。结论 当地政府应致力于提高自然、金融、人力资本存量,实施多样化的生态补偿方式,积极引导水源地农户寻找替代生计。     

Socio‐economic differentiation from a class‐analytic perspective: The case of smallholder tree‐crop farmers in Limpopo,South Africa

South African agrarian policy aims to integrate smallholder tree‐crop farmers into high‐end value chains with growth and employment potential, generally neglecting socio‐economic differentiation amongst them. This paper aims to analyse socio‐economic differentiation amongst tree‐crop farmers in Vhembe District, Limpopo, using a class‐based analysis based on livelihood diversification and accumulation. Cluster analysis of survey data and semi‐structured interviews reveals that most tree‐crop farmers engage in petty commodity production, internally differentiated by their combination of income sources and livelihood strategies. Farmers' ability to engage in accumulation and upward class mobility is generally severely constrained by limited access to capital. Agricultural diversification offers livelihood potential but limited possibility for accumulation, whereas salaried nonfarm work offers more promising prospects for accumulation but limited livelihood opportunities. A minority demonstrated characteristics of small‐scale capitalist farmers, internally differentiated by their reliance on salaried employment or agricultural production. The findings challenge the notion of an undifferentiated class of market‐oriented smallholders.     

Adaptation strategies to climatic variability: A case study of small-scale farmers in rural Mexico

Climate change is predicted to have major consequences for small-scale farmers in the developing rural areas of the world. Rural areas, nonetheless, harbor opportunities to mitigate global climate changes. Identification of innovative adaptation strategies used by small-scale farmers, therefore, is crucial in order to understand the extent of their implications. This paper identifies the relationships between livelihood units and landscapes that they depend upon, in a small-scale farm community. It examines their experiences of increasing climatic variability, and how the different groups in the community are adapting to it. The study was conducted in a typical rural ejido community on the Pacific coast of Mexico (Ejido Ticuiz), where a detailed socio-cultural profile was obtained by means of semi-structured interviews. In the study area we encountered a range of individual and community-based adaptation strategies, built on farmers’ recognition of the different types of landscapes which supply goods and benefits. Small-scale farmers have used their landscape diversity to build adaptation strategies to guarantee the supply of goods and benefits to cope with uncertain of climate events. Households rather than individuals or the community as an institution were depicted as the core socio-cultural group for better understanding of patterns, behavior and aspirations related to climate change adaptation at local level. The adaptation capacities of rural communities could be significantly strengthened if political, financial and institutional support is targeted at households rather than at individuals or the community level only.     

Determinants and implications of crop production loss: An empirical exploration using ordered probit analysis

This study investigates farmers’ perception about the severity of loss for three rice crops, identifies their determinants and explores policy implications based on findings. This research employs an ordered probit model to data collected from 1800 farm households from drought-prone and groundwater depleted areas of Bangladesh. This is the first study of its kind.Severity of rice production loss, while differing across all three rice crops, was higher for rain-fed crops. This was broadly consistent with available independent evidence. Geophysical factors, household characteristics, institutional and market accessibility, and household adaptation strategy were key determinants of crop loss. The impact of these factors was specific to the crop and severity of loss.This study has several policy implications involving market, R & D and institutional support based options. Strengthening support systems for institutional and market accessibility, and science driven climate change adaptation strategy including generation and wider dissemination of drought tolerant rice varieties, and enhancing farmers’ capacity to change rice varieties on a regular basis, constitute key areas for policy intervention.     

Farmers’ perceptions and management of risk in rice/shrimp farming systems in South-West Coastal Bangladesh

Farmers in Bangladesh face considerable risk due to fluctuations in biophysical and economic conditions, but the response to these risks is poorly understood. In particular, there is a need to better understand the endogenous management of risk in the rice/shrimp farming systems that have emerged in the inner coastal zone of Bangladesh. This paper draws on a case study of a typical rice/shrimp farming village in Khulna District to explore: (a) farmers’ perceptions of risks and their management responses, (b) risk-return trade-offs within small-, medium-, and large-farm households, and (c) the role of other farm and non-farm activities in mitigating risks to household livelihoods. Farm-level data were collected through a reconnaissance survey, a village census, household case studies, and a sample survey of 73 households. Representative farm budgets were constructed for the three farm-size classes. The key performance indicators calculated were gross margin (GM), net income (NI), and GM per workday of family labour. The riskiness of the rice/shrimp system was assessed for each farm type using farmers’ estimates of low, normal, and high yields and prices to specify triangular distributions. Cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) for GM, NI, and GM per workday were generated. A whole-farm economic analysis was also conducted to assess the relative contributions of different sources of income for each farm type. With access to saline water for shrimp farming in the dry season and fresh water for rice in the wet season, farmers have developed and progressively adapted an alternating rice/shrimp farming system that has minimised the trade-offs between the two crops and provides a good return to household and village resources for all farm types. The system is subject to significant production and market risks, especially the shrimp component. However, farmers have clearly perceived these risks and ameliorated them through a range of production, marketing, and management strategies. With these risk management practices, the rice/shrimp cropping system is economically viable, given the current variation in yields and prices. The greater risk associated with the shrimp component was offset by the renewed stability of the rice component over the past decade, and the risks of the whole cropping system were offset by other farm and non-farm sources of livelihood. Development interventions need to work with farmers to provide further options (suitable rice varieties, solutions to shrimp disease, improved village and transport infrastructure) if this resilience is to be maintained.     

SLA框架下生计资本影响山区农户分化的机理与实证研究以广西山区农户为例

目的 基于可持续生计分析（SLA）框架,对生计资本影响山区农户分化进行深入研究,为职业分化背景下促进农户多渠道创收以及实现山区乡村振兴提供参考。方法 文章运用比较分析法、多值选择模型,以广西山区的540家农户为研究对象,探讨农户职业分化的影响因素。结果 研究结果表明,社会资本有助于纯农户与非农农户向以农为主的兼业农户分化;自然资本丰裕更能吸引农户向纯农户或以农为主的兼业分化;增加金融资本有助于兼业农户专注于农业生产,也促使非农经营主体投身于农业经营;物质资本影响农户向纯农户或以非农为主的兼业农户转变;拥有自身务工经历的农民更易于选择以农为主的兼业形态,对农民进行农业技术培训因提升其农业生产经营能力从而有助于他们投身于农业生产;生计资本影响农户分化的程度因距离中心市场的远近而存在差异。结论 生计资本影响农户向不同类型的职业进行分化,应从鼓励农户兼业化实现收入多元化以及鼓励乡村精英返乡创业的视角,适应不同类型农户分化需要,为调整农户生计资本,维持生计可持续性提供必要的决策支持和政策保障。     

气候变化对农户生计的影响研究综述

气候变化是21世纪人类面临的最严峻挑战之一,加剧了许多国家和地区的脆弱性,对以自然资源为生计基础的农业人口的影响尤为显著,明确气候变化对农户生计的影响,对于制定有效的气候变化适应政策,增强农户的气候变化适应能力,减轻农村贫困人口生计脆弱性具有重要意义。目前,国内外围绕气候变化对农户生计影响开展了许多研究,主要集中在过去或当前气候变化对水资源、土地、农作物、病虫害、人类健康等农户生计资本的宏观影响以及局地或区域尺度上气候变化对农户生计策略选择的影响等方面。从发展趋势看,亟需开展气候变化对农户生计的影响机理及适应机制研究,建立合理的气候变化对农户生计影响的评估框架,加强对模拟、分析和预测气候变化及其与其他压力相结合对农户生计要素的可能影响进行广泛评估,科学把握农户生计对气候变化脆弱性的关键影响因素,这对人类科学地适应气候变化和促进人类福祉和恢复力的提升具有重大的科学价值和现实意义。     

农户生计资本对不同偏好技术采纳行为的影响基于可持续生计框架的分析

目的 农户行为理论中的行为动因决定了农户在生产过程中的技术采用行为,农户的技术采用行为受到农业资源稀缺性的约束,由于农户自身生计资本的异质性,农户生计方式的选择和技术偏好都有所差异,导致农户在生产技术采用行为上也有差异。方法 文章基于农户分化背景下,从农户可持续生计的角度出发,将农户的荔枝龙眼主产区广东、广西区域的农户荔枝龙眼技术采用行为作为研究对象,选择二元Logit模型从多维的农户生计资本的视角研究农户的技术采用行为差异以及影响因素。结果 农户生计资本中的人力资本、社会资本、金融资本、自然资本和物质资本五个方面影响着农户生产技术采用与效率。结论 健全和完善保障机制,提升农户的人力资本;拓展多元化的社会网络,提升农户的社会资本;健全农村信贷制度,提升农户的金融资本;加快土地提质增效,提升农户的自然资本;加强果园设施建设和完善补贴措施,提升农户的物质资本。     

Determinants of climate change adaptation strategies and its impact on the net farm income of rice farmers in south-west Nigeria

A multivariate probit (MVP) model was used to analyse the determinants of strategies adopted for adapting to climate change in a sample of smallholder rice farmers in south-west Nigeria. An efficient endogenous switching regression model (ESRM) was used to estimate the impact of climate change adaptation strategy on the net income of rice farmers. The MVP results show that the socio-economic factors, the institutional factors, and locational variables of some households statistically influenced the choice of climate change adaptation strategies employed. Complementarities among all the adaptation strategies used by the farmers were revealed by the positive pair-wise correlation matrix of the MVP model. The study also indicated that farmers affected by prolonged drought and incidences of flood were more likely to adopt adaptation strategies on their farmlands. The ESRM treatment effect indicated that the average net income per rice farm of those who adopted the strategies was significantly higher than that of those who did not. Thus, the government, stakeholders, and donor agencies must provide capacity-building innovations related to agricultural extension systems and climate change education through information and communication technologies. This investment in education is essential for development and would encourage farmers to adopt appropriate climate change adaptation strategies.     

Determinants of peri-urban and urban agricultural locational choice behaviour in Lagos,Nigeria

This article quantitatively assessed factors that shape locational choice behaviour of urban farmers. Three hundred questionnaires were randomly administered to farmers in ten localities with a view to identifying factors that shape their locational choice behaviour. The average number of farmers per locality was designated as the index of attractiveness and was correlated with six broad categories of factors identified by farmers as influential in urban agricultural site selection. These broad factors are proximity to water, proximity to residence, access to land, proximity to market, suitable fertile soils, and availability of labour. These factors were subsequently broken down to sixteen categories. Almost all the variables exhibited negatively significant correlations with the index of attractiveness. Urban farmers prefer sites which were closer to water, free with minimal lease and rental cost, and also sites with fertile soil that is closer to farmer's residence, where aggregate costs of production is minimal and labour relatively available. The results obtained can be used in mainstreaming urban agriculture into city planning while at the same time provide avenue for increased urban agricultural productivity.     

Farm-level adaptation to climate change in Western Bangladesh: An analysis of adaptation dynamics,profitability and risks

Using long-term district-level climate data and a case study from a drought-prone village in western Bangladesh, this research explored trends in climate change, and analysed farmers’ adaptation dynamics, profitability and risks. This is the first study of its kind for drought-prone areas in Bangladesh.Farmers perceived climate changes included increases in temperature and decreases in rainfall which were as consistent with the trends of Chuadanga climate records. Farmers’ adaptation measures included changes in cropping systems, cropping calendars, crop varieties, agronomic practices, crop diversification and improved animal husbandry. Reducing environmental stress, ensuring self-sufficiency in staple crops (mainly rice) and other crop production practices, and enhancing economic viability of farm enterprises have underpinned these adaptations. Off-farm and non-farm wage employment, temporary migration, self-employment and educating children, constituted the core non-farm adaptation strategies.Emerging cropping systems like maize/cucumber and maize/stem amaranth/rice were economically more viable than the traditional rice/rice and rice/maize systems. Despite some uncertainties, farming was preferred to off-farm work, generating higher returns to labour for all cropping systems. Limited access to stress-tolerant varieties, extension services and affordable agricultural credit, combined with high production costs, variability in crop yields and output prices, are the main barriers to adaptation. Stronger agricultural research and support services, affordable credit, community-focussed farming education and training are critically important for effective adaptation to climate change.     

Climate-resilient practices and welfare impacts on rice-cultivating households in Vietnam: Does joint adoption of multiple practices matter?

Farmers have a long history of adjusting their production practices in response to changing production conditions. Using a multinomial endogenous treatment effects model that accounts for observable and unobservable heterogeneity, this study investigates the adoption and welfare impacts of climate-resilient practices on Vietnamese rice-cultivating households. We found evidence of clear and positive welfare impacts from the adoption of canal irrigation (CI) and the joint adoption of agricultural conservation practices (CP) and CI as the main adaptation strategies to increase water stress. More importantly, although farmers with access to CI systems obtained the highest returns, the joint adoption of multiple practices still had substantially high adoption rates and significantly positive effects on rice yield, rice revenue and household income. Our findings indicate that farms' and farmers' characteristics, market information and climatic conditions are generally the main factors driving rice farmers' decisions to adopt climate-resilient technologies, both individually and jointly. Follow-up policy interventions should focus on improving CI systems and promoting the joint adoption of climate-resilient technologies to improve rice farmers' well-being and enhance their resilience capacity to cope with incoming climatic uncertainty.     

Factors Affecting Technical Efficiency of Rice Farmers in Village Reservoir Irrigation Systems of Sri Lanka

Given the importance of water for rice production, this study examines the factors affecting the technical efficiency (TE) of irrigated rice farmers in village irrigation systems (VIS) in Sri Lanka. Primary data were collected from 460 rice farmers in the Kurunagala District, Sri Lanka, to estimate a stochastic translog production frontier for rice production. The mean TE of rice farming in village irrigation was found to be 0.72, although 63% of rice farmers exceeded this average. The most influential factors of TE are membership of Farmer Organisations (FOs) and the participatory rate in collective actions organised by FOs. The results suggest that enhancement of co‐operative arrangements of farmers by strengthening the membership of FOs is considered important for increasing TE in rice farming in VIS.     

新冠疫情背景下不同生计类型农户生计恢复力评价及影响因素研究

目的 疫情的冲击为农户的生计发展带来了诸多风险,了解当前农户生计现状及相关影响因素,对于提升农户生活质量,促进乡村振兴具有重要意义。方法 文章基于陕西省杨凌区及其周边农户调研数据,将主客观恢复力结合,构建了缓冲能力、自组织能力、学习能力和心理感知4个维度的农户生计恢复力评价体系,运用综合指数法和障碍度诊断模型,测度新冠疫情冲击下不同生计类型农户生计恢复力现状并识别其影响因素。结果 （1）新冠疫情冲击下农户生计恢复力水平整体偏低,从高到低依次为综合生计型、兼业主导型、务农主导型、务工主导型,各维度水平均偏低且分布呈现一定差异;（2）主观恢复力指标对各类型农户生计恢复力影响较大,主观恢复力对农户总体生计恢复力的影响不容忽视;（3）不同生计类型农户障碍因子差异较小,技能培训参与程度、个人风险认知感受、个人风险认知能力、家庭存款、社会网络支持度等对农户生计恢复力产生影响。结论 不同生计类型农户生计恢复力及影响因素存在差异,基于此,可为不同生计类型农户提出差异化的生计恢复力提升建议。     

Institutional factors and farmers’ adoption of conventional,organic and genetically modified cotton in Burkina Faso

Organic farming and genetically modified (GM) crops technologies are currently being promoted as alternatives to conventional farming that is seen as unsustainable. However, institutional constraints can impede the adoption of even the most sustainable technology. This paper analysed the effect of institutional factors on farmers’ adoption of conventional, organic and GM cotton in Burkina Faso. Building on the expected utility model and institutional theory, a multinomial logistic regression was performed using farmers’ survey data from the 2014–2015 production season. The results showed that subsidies on fertiliser and credit for cereals production, the power of farmers’ association and that of the cotton company favoured the adoption of conventional and GM cotton at the expense of organic cotton. In order to succeed, organic cotton projects need to include components that help farmers to access organic fertilisers for cereals production. They also need to involve the cotton companies that are the most powerful stakeholders of the cotton sector. Extension services are necessary for both organic and GM cotton adoption. Other important factors to consider include farmers’ education, the potentials of the technologies, the good agro-ecological conditions, the continued involvement of women, the availability of virgin lands and the closeness of farmers to their farms.     

Sustainability of fish pond culture in rural farming systems of Central and Western Cameroon

In Sub-Saharan Africa, fish ponds are often an integral part of farming systems but have suffered from a lack of viability and sustainability. The present study aims to understand the strategies used by fish farmers to overcome economic and environmental constraints. In 2008 and 2009, fish farmers were surveyed in Central and Western Cameroon, and the fish production systems were classified by cluster analysis. Four broad types were identified according to the complexity of household operations. The development of extensive systems (large-scale and low-input) in rural areas of central Cameroon is induced mainly by abundant available land. For semi-intensive systems in both regions (small-scale and high-input in the Western Region, large-scale and high-input in peri-urban areas of the Central Region), horizontal integration is not sufficient to make fish production profitable and sustainable. More intensive fish farms tend towards vertical integration, in which farmers establish close links with input suppliers. Main causes of low productivity of semi-intensive systems (1–2?t/ha/yr) are both lack of knowledge of fish farming principles by farmers and lack of technical improvement by extension agents and researchers which need to consider the local complexity of farming systems to develop and intensify fish production. The adaptation of development strategies to socio-economic and environmental contexts is a necessity to hope for an increase in fish pond aquaculture production in Africa.