Role of Farmers’ Socioeconomic Factors in Sustainable Production and Livelihoods under Climate Change

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change is posing an immense challenge across the globe, especially for those in communities in rural areas who depend upon agriculture for their livelihoods. The changing climatic conditions are exerting adverse impacts through various means, ranging from droughts to floods along with rising temperatures, and erratic rainfall patterns. Farming communities are the worst-hit by climate change as they are directly influenced by these conditions. These impacts are reflected in terms of huge crop yield losses and resource base degradation, which increase the cost of production and cause physical damage to the crops, which ultimately affects the livelihoods of the communities either directly or indirectly connected with agriculture. We cannot ignore the role of the various agronomic inputs used by the farmers for increasing yields, but other very important socioeconomic factors can also play a significant role in managing the farming business to maximize profit. The best solutions to fight against the challenge created by climate change are suitable field management and adaptation practices that can minimize climate-induced impacts. A farmer with more education, access to resources like labor, and on-farm income is more likely to adopt to climate-smart agricultural practices in time to potentially increase crop yields.

Small-scale farmers have limited access to formal credit sources, but the availability of informal credit from friends, relatives, and farmer cooperatives can help them to purchase and apply various inputs in timely manner to achieve higher yields. Although information on climate change from extension workers and media sources is playing an important role, the role of informal information exchange through neighbors and fellow famers, especially at marketplaces, cannot be ignored. This means that the easy access to input markets also incerases awareness among farmers about climate variability and better field management practices. Thus, along with various crop inputs, farmers’ socioeconomic factors can play a significant role in improving field management and uptake of adaptation strategies to minimize the harmful impacts of climate change and to achieve sustainable crop production.

Therefore, it is crucial to discern the role of farmers’ socioeconomic factors under the changing climate on their welfare. The purpose of this Special Issue is to explore the rarely considered aspect of farmers’ socioeconomic factors and its ultimate impact on their welfare in the era of changing climatic conditions and deteriorating environmental conditions. This Special Issue welcomes articles on the abovementioned topic, which will provide valuable contributions to the literature on climate-centered studies.

Dr. Nasir Mahmood
Prof. Dr. Irfan Ahmad Baig
Guest Editors

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