Incremental and transformational climate change adaptation factors in agriculture worldwide: A comparative analysis...

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Environmental Science
• Social Science

Background:

• Climate change poses significant risks to global agriculture, necessitating adaptation by farmers.
• Existing research often focuses on quantitative data, overlooking qualitative insights into farmers' adaptation strategies.
• A comprehensive understanding requires integrating both quantitative and qualitative findings on farmers' climate change adaptation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comparatively analyze factors influencing farmers' climate change adaptation using both quantitative and qualitative research.
• To investigate differences in adaptation factors between incremental and transformational adaptation strategies.
• To examine regional disparities in factors affecting farmers' adaptation across different global regions.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Natural Language Processing (NLP) and generalized linear models for comparative analysis.
• Extracted metadata and associations from quantitative and qualitative publications retrieved from Scopus.
• Analyzed a derived database focusing on climate change adaptation of farmers.

Main Results:

• Adaptive capacity and access to information/technology are more strongly linked to transformational adaptation than incremental adaptation.
• Farmers in high-income countries have greater access to finance/income and infrastructure.
• Farmers in low- and middle-income countries face greater barriers in accessing essential resources for adaptation.

Conclusions:

• Integrating qualitative and quantitative research provides a more holistic view of farmers' adaptation mechanisms.
• Transformational adaptation is significantly influenced by adaptive capacity and technological access.
• Addressing global disparities in finance, income, and infrastructure is crucial for equitable farmer adaptation to climate change.