Agriculture sector, due to its sensitivity, is vulnerable to climate change and it
experiences several extreme climatic events such as droughts, flooding, natural catastrophes
and salinity intrusion. Coping climate change events and mitigating its impacts on crop
production need to assess farmers’ perception. The purpose of the study was to assess
smallholder farmers’ perception to climate change impact on crop production in drought prone
areas of Bangladesh. Mixed methods approaches including quantitative and qualitative data
were employed. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire through
household survey during September and October 2017. The study respondents were 100
smallholder farmers in the drought prone areas of Bangladesh. The data were analysed using
descriptive statistics, coefficient of correlation and stepwise regression. The major findings
reveal that the perceived impacts of climate change on crop production was severe followed by
moderate impact. Among twelve statements regarding climate change impact on crop
production, increased pest infestations was perceived as most important impact. Increased
frequency of drought occurrences was perceived as second most important impact of climate
change. However, the least important impact of climate change was increased intensity of
floods. Among the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, age, year of schooling,
farming experience, access to information sources and training experience were significantly
associated with their perception to climate change impacts on crop production. In addition, year
of schooling, farming experience and training experience were the most influential factors that
affected smallholder farmers’ perception. The study identified important issue for the policy
makers and other development practitioners to address and to recommend suitable programs.
The methods employed in and the findings of this study could be used in other districts of
Bangladesh with similar socio-economic and regional context.
Keywords
climate change, smallholder farmer, drought, impact, crop production
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY
Published by : Association of Agricultural Technology in Southeast Asia (AATSEA) Contributions welcome at : http://www.ijat-aatsea.com
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