Farmers’ climate change risk perception, adaptation capacity and barriers to adaptation: a multi-method approach

The research was based on the assumption that despite farmers’ risk perception regarding climate change, they have lower adaptation capacity due to various problems. In this context, the study examined farmers’ perception of climate change effects, the extent of their use of adaptation strategies and the constraints they face. To fulfil these objectives, the study used both quantitative and qualitative data. For quantitative data, 347 farm household heads were surveyed from multiple agro-ecological zones in Bangladesh, applying a four-stage sampling technique. Focus group discussion (FGD) and key informant interview (KII) were used to gather qualitative data. Household survey and Problem Confrontation Index (PCI) were employed for quantitative data. The multi-method approach was used to maximise reliability of the findings. The results revealed that about one-third of the farmers (32%) were low adaptation strategy users, and only 8% were high adaptation users. However, the majority (86%) believed that climate change is a risk to desired crop production. The multi-method (PCI, FGD and KII) approach was applied to identify the major problems in expanding adaptation capacity, such as a shortage of farm inputs, lack of knowledge on adaptation practices, lack of credit facilities, shortage of land and inadequacy of flood and saline tolerant varieties. The results could contribute to decision and policy making to minimise the barriers to adaptation. Moreover, future researchers can benefit from the methodology applied to identify the barriers to climate change adaptation.