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Perceptions of climate trends among Mexican maize farmers

2017; Inter-Research Science Center; Volume: 72; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3354/cr01466

1616-1572

Nelly Rodríguez, Hallie Eakin, Candida F. Dewes,

Urban Agriculture and Sustainability

CR Climate Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials CR 72:183-195 (2017) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01466 Perceptions of climate trends among Mexican maize farmers Natalia Rodriguez1,*, Hallie Eakin1, Candida de Freitas Dewes2 1School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA 2CIRES, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA and Physical Sciences Division, NOAA/ESRL, Boulder, CO 80305, USA *Corresponding author: narodri2@asu.edu ABSTRACT: Farmers around the world are among the groups most vulnerable to the effects of climate variability and change. Accurate perceptions of climate variability and change can help farmers take effective measures to protect their livelihoods against threats from local environmental change; conversely, understanding how farmers perceive threats from climate change (or not) can help policy-makers anticipate the diversity of strategies and behaviors that will ultimately shape the vulnerability of agriculture in the coming decades. Nevertheless, perceptions of climatic variability and change are influenced by far more than direct experience with and observations of weather and climate; thus, farmers’ perceptions may not always accurately reflect observed climatic trends. We analyzed Mexican maize farmers’ perceptions of change in drought frequency as a proxy for their perceptions of climate variability and change. Through statistical analyses of survey data collected from 1092 maize-producing households in Sinaloa, Chiapas, and the state of Mexico, we identified factors associated with the perception of change in drought frequency. Results showed that indigenous identity and receipt of credits or loans were the variables that most strongly influenced, either positively or negatively, perceptions of change in drought frequency. These results suggest that climate adaptation policies will need to go beyond focusing on agronomic options to consider the social and institutional contexts of farmers’ decision-making as important influences on their risk perception and adaptation strategies. KEY WORDS: Mexico · Drought · Climate change · Perceptions · Adaptive capacity Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Rodriguez N, Eakin H, de Freitas Dewes C (2017) Perceptions of climate trends among Mexican maize farmers. Clim Res 72:183-195. https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01466 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in CR Vol. 72, No. 3. Online publication date: June 19, 2017 Print ISSN: 0936-577X; Online ISSN: 1616-1572 Copyright © 2017 Inter-Research.