3 Religious and Cultural-Spiritual Attributions of Climate-Driven …
43
Sikwafata has a population of 1,020 with 200 households and an average household
size of 5.1. Population estimates are based on information collected during the study.
There are eight religious denominations in Malu’u and Sikwafata - Anglican;
South Seas Evangelical Church (SSEC); Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA); Methodist;
Jehovah’s Witness; Baptist; Anglican Revival; and SSEC Revival. Malaita follows
Solomon Islands’ national six-level education system—Early childhood, Primary
school (grades 1–6), Junior high (grades 7–9), Secondary high (grades 10–12),
Training centres (rural, vocational and technical centres) and Tertiary (SINSO,
SIMoHMS, and PC 2017). To’abaita region has 11 schools, two of which are located
in Malu’u and Sikwafata.
Sampling, Data Collection
The sites were selected because of the principal researcher’s familiarity with the location and its people, through tribal and family ties. A network system was used to identify farmers in each location, after which the snowballing method was applied. This
is where the original farmer identifies the next potential farmer to participate in interviews. The interviews took place either at the farmers’ homes or at the local market.
Inclusive sampling ensured appropriate representation of genders, age groups, and
coastal and inland farmers.
Primary data collection took place in April and May of 2019. A socialdemographic survey was conducted to capture the household profile of the two sites
and a perception survey was administered as a one-on-one interview using a semistructured questionnaire (n = 98) and personal observation on farmers’ behaviour
towards the negative impacts on their food productions.
The farmers were asked four main questions.
• What do you think are the main causes/problems affecting your food production?
• What are the crop types you noticed that were affected or have changed over time?
• What are the main constraints/difficulties you faced that are affecting your food
production system?
• In your opinion can you describe the factors you faced in the last 30 years and
the possible outcome in the next 30 years that may affect your food productions?
The period of 1988–2050 was selected as the reference period for this study.
According to IPCC (2018), there is high confidence that the average temperature
is likely to exceed or reach 1.5 °C between 2030 and 2052. Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 scenario or the pathway with the highest greenhouse
gas emissions (GHGs) was adopted in this study assuming that business as usual
continue as normal leading to high concentration of carbon in the atmosphere (Riahi
et al. 2011). This indicates rapid global warming. Based on the climate models,
the climate change projection and the potential impacts and associated risk include
“increased mean temperature in most land and ocean regions (high confidence), hot
extremes in most inhabited regions (high confidence), heavy precipitation in several
43
Sikwafata has a population of 1,020 with 200 households and an average household
size of 5.1. Population estimates are based on information collected during the study.
There are eight religious denominations in Malu’u and Sikwafata - Anglican;
South Seas Evangelical Church (SSEC); Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA); Methodist;
Jehovah’s Witness; Baptist; Anglican Revival; and SSEC Revival. Malaita follows
Solomon Islands’ national six-level education system—Early childhood, Primary
school (grades 1–6), Junior high (grades 7–9), Secondary high (grades 10–12),
Training centres (rural, vocational and technical centres) and Tertiary (SINSO,
SIMoHMS, and PC 2017). To’abaita region has 11 schools, two of which are located
in Malu’u and Sikwafata.
Sampling, Data Collection
The sites were selected because of the principal researcher’s familiarity with the location and its people, through tribal and family ties. A network system was used to identify farmers in each location, after which the snowballing method was applied. This
is where the original farmer identifies the next potential farmer to participate in interviews. The interviews took place either at the farmers’ homes or at the local market.
Inclusive sampling ensured appropriate representation of genders, age groups, and
coastal and inland farmers.
Primary data collection took place in April and May of 2019. A socialdemographic survey was conducted to capture the household profile of the two sites
and a perception survey was administered as a one-on-one interview using a semistructured questionnaire (n = 98) and personal observation on farmers’ behaviour
towards the negative impacts on their food productions.
The farmers were asked four main questions.
• What do you think are the main causes/problems affecting your food production?
• What are the crop types you noticed that were affected or have changed over time?
• What are the main constraints/difficulties you faced that are affecting your food
production system?
• In your opinion can you describe the factors you faced in the last 30 years and
the possible outcome in the next 30 years that may affect your food productions?
The period of 1988–2050 was selected as the reference period for this study.
According to IPCC (2018), there is high confidence that the average temperature
is likely to exceed or reach 1.5 °C between 2030 and 2052. Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 scenario or the pathway with the highest greenhouse
gas emissions (GHGs) was adopted in this study assuming that business as usual
continue as normal leading to high concentration of carbon in the atmosphere (Riahi
et al. 2011). This indicates rapid global warming. Based on the climate models,
the climate change projection and the potential impacts and associated risk include
“increased mean temperature in most land and ocean regions (high confidence), hot
extremes in most inhabited regions (high confidence), heavy precipitation in several