Farmers’ perceptions of climate change : identifying types

Ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture have been set by both national governments and their respective livestock sectors. We hypothesize that farmer self-identity influences their assessment of climate change and their willingness to im- plement measures which address the issue. Perceptions of climate change were determined from 286 beef/sheep farmers and evaluated using principal component analysis (PCA). The analysis elicits two components which evaluate identity (productivism and environmental responsibility), and two components which evaluate behavioral capacity to adopt mitigation and adaptation measures (awareness and risk perception). Subsequent Cluster Analyses reveal four farmer types based on the PCA scores. ‘The Productivist’ and ‘The Countryside Steward’ portray low levels of awareness of climate change, but differ in their motivation to adopt pro-environmental behavior. Conversely, both ‘The Environmentalist’ and ‘The Dejected’ score higher in their awareness of the issue. In addition, ‘The Dejected’ holds a high sense of perceived risk; however, their awareness is not conflated with an explicit understanding of agricultural GHG sources. With the exception of ‘The Environmentalist’, there is an evident disconnect between perceptions of agricultural emission sources and their contribution towards GHG emissions amongst all types. If such linkages are not con- ceptualized, it is unlikely that behavioral capacities will be realized. Effective communication channels which encour- age action should target farmers based on the groupings depicted. Therefore, understanding farmer types through the constructs used in this study can facilitate effective and tai- lored policy development and implementation

Value chain analysis of vegetables in the humid tropics of Cameroon

Vegetables have high farm gate values and their consumption can alleviate malnutrition. A study was conducted to analyze vegetable value chains in selected locations of Cameroon. Data were collected from key vegetable value chain actors and stakeholders using structured questionnaires customized for 162 producers, 65 traders, 12 exporters, 30 processors and 29 transporters in the humid tropics of Cameroon. The analysis included value chain mapping, detailed description and quantification of value chains, and economic evaluation of value chains. Most vegetable crop value chains are relatively simple, and involve only five main groups: producers, transporters, traders, processors and exporters (for traditional leafy vegetable value chains); input suppliers are a sixth category for standard vegetable chains. Vegetables are produced under different production systems adapted to the agroecological and climatic conditions of various regions. Most vegetable farmers generally have poor access to input and output market support services, including agricultural credit; this lowers their capacity to invest in their farms. What limited credit is available is typically obtained through the informal credit system, which tends to be more easily accessible by men than women. This may explain the fact that men who are engaged in vegetable farming earn much higher incomes than women. Our economic analysis of the value chain shows a benefit-cost ratio > 1 for vegetable production, processing and marketing. This indicates the vegetable sector is generally profitable for all actors along the chain, although there are wide disparities in earnings as different actors are subject to site-specific market conditions, constraints, and circumstances

A typology of farm households for the Umutara Province in Rwanda

Rwanda, Farm household, Farm typology, Technology adoption, Multivariate analysis,