40
Z. Bird et al.
Introduction
In many parts of the world, the impact of climate change on agriculture is evident,
having effects on average temperature, evapotranspiration, soil stability and structure, reduced nutrient absorption, and increased erosion (Karmakar et al. 2016). In
addition, the spread of pests and diseases, and increased heat stress on plants are
increasingly damaging to agricultural crops (Goklany 2015; Rauff and Bello 2015).
If not effectively managed, they will have serious implications for the future of global
food security.
While farmers in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) have been coping with
changing weather patterns and climate-related extreme events for millennia, the
observed increase in frequency and intensity of extreme events over the last two
decades has caused widespread loss of crops, affecting their livelihoods (Wairiu et al.
2011). For instance, periods of drought associated with the 1997–1998 and 2015–
2016 El Niño events resulted in famine in some PICs, including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga
and Papua New Guinea (PNG) (Kuleshov et al. 2020; Wairiu et al. 2011). Recent
tropical cyclones in the Pacific have also increased in intensity and destructiveness
(Walsh et al. 2016).
Farmers are becoming increasingly aware that their limited understanding of
appropriate adaptive strategies to cope with the long-term impacts of climatic changes
is a major challenge in effectively sustaining their livelihoods (Le Dang et al. 2014;
Wang et al. 2020). Farmers have different perceptions of the factors affecting their
farming activities (Morton et al. 2017; Arbuckle et al. 2014). In an African case study
of a predominantly Christian community, the attitude towards climate change was
found to be divided between two main views: one group seeing climate change as
a natural process caused by God, and the other acknowledging the negative role of
human activity on the climate (Schuman et al. 2018). This may indicate that farmers
who once thought of climate change as a natural phenomenon may seek other explanations through their affiliations with spiritual/religious beliefs that lead them to
consider impacts as God’s punishment (Havea et al. 2018).
The factors influencing farmers’ perceptions and decision-making are largely
driven by traditional leadership and are often more practically-focused, placegrounded and culturally-rooted rather than scientifically-based (Sachitra and SiongChoy 2019; Hage and Posner 2015). This could be attributed to the nature of community leadership being rooted in shared visions, social networks, and pre-existing
knowledge and skills associated with members of the communities (Martiskainen
2017). Religious belief is a more dominant view compared to scientific explanation of climate change. This may have resulted from challenges to translate the
term ‘climate change’ into local languages, causing farmers to attribute the negative
impacts to other causes more connected to their religious belief and natural environment. As a consequence, the negative impacts may be held liable as the work of God
(Havea et al. 2018) with little mention of climate change or climate-related extreme
events.
Z. Bird et al.
Introduction
In many parts of the world, the impact of climate change on agriculture is evident,
having effects on average temperature, evapotranspiration, soil stability and structure, reduced nutrient absorption, and increased erosion (Karmakar et al. 2016). In
addition, the spread of pests and diseases, and increased heat stress on plants are
increasingly damaging to agricultural crops (Goklany 2015; Rauff and Bello 2015).
If not effectively managed, they will have serious implications for the future of global
food security.
While farmers in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) have been coping with
changing weather patterns and climate-related extreme events for millennia, the
observed increase in frequency and intensity of extreme events over the last two
decades has caused widespread loss of crops, affecting their livelihoods (Wairiu et al.
2011). For instance, periods of drought associated with the 1997–1998 and 2015–
2016 El Niño events resulted in famine in some PICs, including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga
and Papua New Guinea (PNG) (Kuleshov et al. 2020; Wairiu et al. 2011). Recent
tropical cyclones in the Pacific have also increased in intensity and destructiveness
(Walsh et al. 2016).
Farmers are becoming increasingly aware that their limited understanding of
appropriate adaptive strategies to cope with the long-term impacts of climatic changes
is a major challenge in effectively sustaining their livelihoods (Le Dang et al. 2014;
Wang et al. 2020). Farmers have different perceptions of the factors affecting their
farming activities (Morton et al. 2017; Arbuckle et al. 2014). In an African case study
of a predominantly Christian community, the attitude towards climate change was
found to be divided between two main views: one group seeing climate change as
a natural process caused by God, and the other acknowledging the negative role of
human activity on the climate (Schuman et al. 2018). This may indicate that farmers
who once thought of climate change as a natural phenomenon may seek other explanations through their affiliations with spiritual/religious beliefs that lead them to
consider impacts as God’s punishment (Havea et al. 2018).
The factors influencing farmers’ perceptions and decision-making are largely
driven by traditional leadership and are often more practically-focused, placegrounded and culturally-rooted rather than scientifically-based (Sachitra and SiongChoy 2019; Hage and Posner 2015). This could be attributed to the nature of community leadership being rooted in shared visions, social networks, and pre-existing
knowledge and skills associated with members of the communities (Martiskainen
2017). Religious belief is a more dominant view compared to scientific explanation of climate change. This may have resulted from challenges to translate the
term ‘climate change’ into local languages, causing farmers to attribute the negative
impacts to other causes more connected to their religious belief and natural environment. As a consequence, the negative impacts may be held liable as the work of God
(Havea et al. 2018) with little mention of climate change or climate-related extreme
events.