Vulnerability of Maize Farming Systems to Climate Change: Farmers’ Opinions Differ about the Relevance of Adaptation Strategies
2022
Albert, Marine | Bergez, Jacques-Eric | Willaume, Magali | Couture, Stéphane | AGroécologie, Innovations, teRritoires (AGIR) ; Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP) ; Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Ecole d'Ingénieurs de Purpan (INP - PURPAN) ; Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP) ; Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) | Unité de Mathématiques et Informatique Appliquées de Toulouse (MIAT INRAE) ; Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) | INRAE: S2I 00000285; MP-P10182
International audience
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]英语. Climate change has negative impacts on maize cultivation in southwestern France, such as soil erosion and water stress. The vulnerability of maize farming systems to climate change must be assessed before considering potential adaptation strategies. This study focused on eliciting and understanding criteria that maize growers use to assess the vulnerability of their farming systems to climate change. To this end, we surveyed maize growers in two consecutive stages: a qualitative stage, to elicit vulnerability criteria, and a quantitative stage, to test the genericity of criteria related to the adaptation strategies. The qualitative stage identified 144 criteria that farmers used to assess vulnerability to climate change, while the quantitative stage showed that farmers’ opinions about the adaptation strategies differed. Many factors explained these differences, including structural (e.g., soil type) and psychological factors (e.g., interest in agroecology). Our typology of farmers revealed that their interest in agroecology and technology, as well as their perceptions of the risks of climate change and their attachment to their production systems, influence the type of adaptations they identify as relevant (i.e., intensification strategies, slight adjustments or agroecological innovations). Farmers’ perceptions should be considered when providing individual advice and assessing vulnerability, by including criteria related to their psychological characteristics.
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