Farmers’ adaptation to climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in NW Turkey

Abstract

Some of the measures to be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are related to agricultural activities. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is a method allowing implementation of agricultural practices in compliance with the efforts to combat climate change. CSA is an approach guiding agricultural systems under changing climate conditions to provide sustainable development and food safety. The targets of this approach included sustainable increase in agricultural production, resistance and adaptation to climate change and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Farmer participation and level of consciousness play a significant role in successful implementation of CSA. The present study was conducted to put forth farmers’ adaptation of climate change. Farmer perceptions or approaches to CSA were taken into consideration. In the study, the literature was examined to analyze the adoption of CSA and the typology of CSA applications was developed. The typology consists of five categories: (1) soil management, (2) water management, (3) chemical input management, (4) crop diversification and (5) planting trees/agroforestry. Household survey data were used to create and test hypotheses about farmers’ adoption of CSA. Nonparametric tests were used to estimate the socioeconomic variables that were effective in the adoption of CSA categories. The results generally show that CSA categories have high application potential among farmers. The factors influencing farmer decisions on these issues were identified as education, participation into agricultural meetings, land size and agricultural income. Such factors may guide policymakers while taking measures against climate change.