Factors influencing the adaptation of farmers in response to climate change: a review

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to review empirical studies regarding factors influencing farmers’ adaptation to climate change and document those factors in a systematic manner. Adaptation to climate change is an important research topic, especially in agriculture, a sector reliant on climate-sensitive resources. Several studies have examined the adaptation issues and identified factors that influence the adaptive responses of farmers in specific contexts or regions. However, little research effort has been paid to collecting and categorizing those factors. Whilst a number of demographic, socio-economic, technological, cultural and psychological factors, and resources have been reported, the use of social, cultural and psychological factors remains relatively limited. The review provides useful knowledge for future research on factors affecting farmers’ adaptation to climate change. It highlights the importance of a series of factors, including both socio-economic and psychological considerations, in explaining farmers’ adaptive responses. It is also a relevant reference for planning effective adaptation strategies in the agricultural sector.

KEYWORDS:

• Adaptation
• adaptive behaviour
• adaptation intention
• climate change
• farmers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Alison-Jane Hunter for editing the manuscript and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions.

Notes on contributors

Hoa Le Dang is a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She works across a range of disciplines within agricultural economics, environment and development. Her research interests primarily focus on climate change, adaptation to climate change in agriculture, environmental valuation, environmental issues and food safety.

Elton Li was a senior lecturer in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine at the University of Adelaide, Australia, before his retirement in 2013. His research focuses on agricultural, food and wine value chains.

Ian Nuberg is a senior lecturer in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, the University of Adelaide. His research interest is the improvement of farming systems in developing economies using mixed method approaches.

Johan Bruwer is a Research Professor in the School of Marketing at the University of South Australia in Australia, and Senior Research Fellow in the School of Psychology at Charles Sturt University in Australia. His research focus is consumer behaviour, market segmentation, place-based branding, and wine tourism.

ORCID

Ian Nuberg http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1942-1190