A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF WILLINGNESS TO ACT ON FARMERS’ ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN RURAL PAKHTUNKHWA PAKISTAN

Abstract

The purpose of this research study was to assess the impact of farmers’ willingness to act on their adaptation actions to climate change risk in two districts (Dir Upper and Lower) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. The study was focused on farmers of agricultural crops including wheat, maize, rice, and vegetables. Using multistage sampling, the data was collected from 383 farmers in selected UCs of the study area. Chi-square and Kendall’s Tb tests were applied to test the association between climate risk perception and farmers’ adaptation at bivariate and multivariate level of analysis. It was found that farmers were willing to act against the climate change risks posing threats to their crops production. Similarly, willingness to act has significant and positive association with farmers’ adaptation to climate change. In addition, famers’ willingness to act influenced their adaptation to climate change more positively in case of married, literate and more experienced farmers. Similarly, joint family system have more positive influence on the association of willingness to act and farmers’ adaptation to climate change. The agriculture departments will need to be strengthened and well-equipped in order to keep farmers up to date with climate change information and new knowledge that could help them be more willing to adapt autonomously.