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Climate Adaptation Ways for Smallholder Farmers
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Climate Adaptation Ways for Smallholder Farmers

A special issue of Climate (ISSN 2225-1154).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 44797

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Evangelos Hatzigiannakis

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Guest Editor
Hellenic Agricultural Organisation, Soil and Water Resources Institute, Gorgopotamou Str., 57400 Sindos, Greece
Interests: rivers; water resources management; environment; water quality; hydrological modeling; climate change; water resources engineering; hydraulics; water engineering; soil and water conservation; sustainable agriculture; circular economy; plant nutrition; fertilisation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dimitrios Voulanas

E-Mail
Guest Editor Assistant
Hellenic Agricultural Organisation, Soil and Water Resources Institute, Gorgopotamou Str, 57400 Sindos, Greece
Interests: rivers; water resources management; environment; water quality; hydrological modeling; climate change; water resources engineering; hydraulics; water engineering; soil and water conservation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Agriculture plays a key role in a nation’s economy, especially in developing countries. Farming is highly vulnerable to climate change as extreme heat; floods; droughts; hail windstorms; weed species and distribution changes; pest and disease pressures; potentially depleted soils; and water stress have a negative impact on welfare and food security. Farmers, in order to alleviate income losses, need to stand ready to adjust their farming practices to overcome climate change by identifying the changes in climatic variables. The significant parameters affecting adaptation include: the size of the household, income, education, accessibility to climate information, location of the land, crop variety, access to formal loans, and distance to input markets. The practices associated with sustainable agriculture which aim to increase the resilience of the agricultural systems are diversifying crop rotations, mulching, integrating livestock with crop production systems, improving soil quality, minimizing off-farm flows of nutrients and pesticides, and implementing more efficient irrigation practices.

This Special Issue calls for contributions on the following non-exclusive list of topics: irrigation water management and modeling under climate change scenarios, precision irrigation, deficit irrigation, use of recycled water, improvement in problematic irrigated soils, crop rotations, improvement in physicochemical parameters of irrigated soils, crop needs in water under climate change, minimizing leaching, and integrating livestock with crop production systems.

Dr. Evangelos Hatzigiannakis
Guest Editor

Dimitrios Voulanas
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Climate is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • small- and medium-scale farms
  • climate change
  • sustainable agriculture
  • water and soil sustainability
  • adaptation measures
  • adaptation policies
  • climate change impacts
  • irrigation
  • research needs

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 985 KiB  
Article
Synergistic Impacts of Climate Change and Wildfires on Agricultural Sustainability—A Greek Case Study
by Stavros Kalogiannidis, Dimitrios Kalfas, Maria Paschalidou and Fotios Chatzitheodoridis
Climate 2024, 12(9), 144; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli12090144 - 14 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1816
Abstract
Climate change and wildfire effects have continued to receive great attention in recent times due to the impact they render on the environment and most especially to the field of agriculture. The purpose of this study was to assess the synergistic impacts of [...] Read more.
Climate change and wildfire effects have continued to receive great attention in recent times due to the impact they render on the environment and most especially to the field of agriculture. The purpose of this study was to assess the synergistic impacts of climate change and wildfires on agricultural sustainability. This study adopted a cross-sectional survey design based on the quantitative research approach. Data were collected from 340 environmental experts using an online questionnaire. The results showed that extreme weather events such as heavy rains or extreme droughts negatively influence agricultural sustainability in Europe. The results showed that disruptions in ecosystems caused by climate change have a significant positive impact on agricultural sustainability in Europe. Furthermore, forest regeneration after wildfires showed statistically significant positive influence on agricultural sustainability in Europe. The economic impact of fire on crops, cattle, and farms can be estimated. This information can be used to develop and plan agricultural regions near fire-prone areas; choose the best, most cost-effective, and longest-lasting cultivar; and limit fire risk. It is also clear that increased wildfire smoke negatively affects agricultural sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptation Ways for Smallholder Farmers)
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16 pages, 703 KiB  
Article
Local Context Capacity Building Needs for Climate Change Adaptation among Smallholder Farmers in Uganda: Policy and Practice Implications
by David Mfitumukiza, Gordon Y. Mwesigwa, Ellen J. Kayendeke and Vincent B. Muwanika
Climate 2024, 12(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli12010010 - 19 Jan 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2708
Abstract
Climate change impacts threaten sustainable development efforts. The magnitude of the impacts, however, varies with the socio-ecological characteristics of locations. This is the reason there is consensus on the necessity for climate change adaptive capacity building that is country driven, and based on, [...] Read more.
Climate change impacts threaten sustainable development efforts. The magnitude of the impacts, however, varies with the socio-ecological characteristics of locations. This is the reason there is consensus on the necessity for climate change adaptive capacity building that is country driven, and based on, and responsive to, local needs. However, information on context specific capacity building needs in developing countries is not readily available. The objective of this study was to establish location specific awareness, training, educational research and technology capacity building needs for climate change adaptation among smallholder farmers in Uganda. Semi-structured questionnaires were used with 465 households from five agro-ecological zones, selected based on the level of vulnerability of agricultural systems to the main climate variation and change hazards. Results reveal substantial capacity building needs in all the zones. The majority of the farmers needed capacity building for interventions on soil-water conservation practices for adapting to drought and unpredictable rainfall. For all zones, education, research, and technology were perceived as key needs. However, the needs varied among zones. These results demonstrate the importance of context specificity in adaptation efforts. The study provides agro-ecological and social system specific information for climate change adaptation planning and policy interventions for effective capacity building. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptation Ways for Smallholder Farmers)
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19 pages, 2529 KiB  
Article
Risky Business: Modeling the Future of Jamaica’s Coffee Production in a Changing Climate
by Anne-Teresa Birthwright and Mario Mighty
Climate 2023, 11(6), 122; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11060122 - 30 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3553
Abstract
Jamaica produces one of the most expensive coffees on the global market. The local specialty coffee industry plays a significant role in the island’s economy and also contributes to the livelihood of smallholders—the majority of whom operate the industry’s coffee farms. While climate [...] Read more.
Jamaica produces one of the most expensive coffees on the global market. The local specialty coffee industry plays a significant role in the island’s economy and also contributes to the livelihood of smallholders—the majority of whom operate the industry’s coffee farms. While climate model projections suggest that Jamaica will continue to experience a warming and drying trend, no study has assessed the future impacts of changing climatic patterns on local coffee-growing areas. This research developed a number of geospatial processing models within the ArcMap software platform to model current coffee suitability and future crop suitability across three Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5) and three future time periods (2021–2040, 2041–2060, and 2081–2100). The results validated current locations of coffee production and revealed that there was an observable decrease in coffee suitability across the island, across all SSP scenarios and time periods under study. Most growing regions were projected to experience declines in production suitability of at least 10%, with the most severe changes occurring in non-Blue Mountain regions under the SSP5-8.5 scenario. Implications of this projected suitability change range from decreased production volumes, increased price volatility, and disruption to market operations and livelihood incomes. The paper’s findings offer stakeholders within Jamaica’s coffee industry the opportunity to develop targeted adaptation planning initiatives, and point to the need for concrete decisions concerning future investment pathways for the industry. It also provides insight into other tropical coffee-growing regions around the world that are facing the challenges associated with climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptation Ways for Smallholder Farmers)
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Review

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37 pages, 504 KiB  
Review
Adaptation of Agriculture to Climate Change: A Scoping Review
by Elena Grigorieva, Alexandra Livenets and Elena Stelmakh
Climate 2023, 11(10), 202; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11100202 - 6 Oct 2023
Cited by 45 | Viewed by 32586
Abstract
Since agricultural productivity is weather and climate-related and fundamentally depends on climate stability, climate change poses many diverse challenges to agricultural activities. The objective of this study is to review adaptation strategies and interventions in countries around the world proposed for implementation to [...] Read more.
Since agricultural productivity is weather and climate-related and fundamentally depends on climate stability, climate change poses many diverse challenges to agricultural activities. The objective of this study is to review adaptation strategies and interventions in countries around the world proposed for implementation to reduce the impact of climate change on agricultural development and production at various spatial scales. A literature search was conducted in June–August 2023 using electronic databases Google Scholar and Scientific Electronic Library eLibrary.RU, seeking the key words “climate”, “climate change”, and “agriculture adaptation”. Sixty-five studies were identified and selected for the review. The negative impacts of climate change are expressed in terms of reduced crop yields and crop area, impacts on biotic and abiotic factors, economic losses, increased labor, and equipment costs. Strategies and actions for agricultural adaptation that can be emphasized at local and regional levels are: crop varieties and management, including land use change and innovative breeding techniques; water and soil management, including agronomic practices; farmer training and knowledge transfer; at regional and national levels: financial schemes, insurance, migration, and culture; agricultural and meteorological services; and R&D, including the development of early warning systems. Adaptation strategies depend on the local context, region, or country; limiting the discussion of options and measures to only one type of approach—"top-down” or “bottom-up”—may lead to unsatisfactory solutions for those areas most affected by climate change but with few resources to adapt to it. Biodiversity-based, or “ecologically intensive” agriculture, and climate-smart agriculture are low-impact strategies with strong ecological modernization of agriculture, aiming to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes while addressing the interrelated challenges of climate change and food security. Some adaptation measures taken in response to climate change may not be sufficient and may even increase vulnerability to climate change. Future research should focus on adaptation options to explore the readiness of farmers and society to adopt new adaptation strategies and the constraints they face, as well as the main factors affecting them, in order to detect maladaptation before it occurs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptation Ways for Smallholder Farmers)

Other

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23 pages, 677 KiB  
Perspective
A Pathway towards Climate Services for the Agricultural Sector
by Ioannis Charalampopoulos and Fotoula Droulia
Climate 2024, 12(2), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli12020018 - 31 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2692
Abstract
Climate change is already having a negative impact on many areas of human activity, affecting life globally. It is more urgent than ever to increase our adaptive capacity to respond to current and future climate change risks. Climate services refer to a specialized [...] Read more.
Climate change is already having a negative impact on many areas of human activity, affecting life globally. It is more urgent than ever to increase our adaptive capacity to respond to current and future climate change risks. Climate services refer to a specialized sector that encompasses both research and operational activities. This sector is primarily focused on interpreting and communicating knowledge and information about climate risks in a manner that is tailored to meet the specific needs of diverse user communities. Climate services offer a range of specialized outputs, including forecasts, assessments, and advisories, which enable users to make decisions that are based on an understanding of the potential impacts of climate change. The outputs of climate services are designed to help diverse user communities effectively manage risks and capitalize on opportunities arising from climate variability and change. An attempt is made to outline the fundamental elements of climate services and point out their contribution to various aspects of human activity, focusing on their essential role in the adaptability of the priority for action agricultural sector, which appears as considerably vulnerable to the change of considerably susceptible to climate conditions. This article is structured to answer basic questions about climate services in general and to show the specificities of climate services in the agricultural sector. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptation Ways for Smallholder Farmers)
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