TY - JOUR

T1 - Farmers’ perceptions of climate change: identifying types

AU - Hyland, John

AU - Jones, David

AU - Parkhill, Karen A.

AU - Barnes, Andrew P.

AU - Williams, Arwel

N1 - Hybu Cig Cymru and the Knowledge Economic Skills Scholarship

PY - 2015/5/13

Y1 - 2015/5/13

N2 - Ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions from agriculture have been set by bothnational governments and their respective livestock sectors.We hypothesize that farmer self-identity influences theirassessment of climate change and their willingness to implementmeasures which address the issue. Perceptions ofclimate change were determined from 286 beef/sheepfarmers and evaluated using principal component analysis(PCA). The analysis elicits two components which evaluateidentity (productivism and environmental responsibility),and two components which evaluate behavioral capacity toadopt mitigation and adaptation measures (awareness andrisk perception). Subsequent Cluster Analyses reveal fourfarmer types based on the PCA scores. ‘The Productivist’and ‘The Countryside Steward’ portray low levels ofawareness of climate change, but differ in their motivation toadopt pro-environmental behavior. Conversely, both ‘TheEnvironmentalist’ and ‘The Dejected’ score higher in theirawareness of the issue. In addition, ‘The Dejected’ holds ahigh sense of perceived risk; however, their awareness is notconflated with an explicit understanding of agricultural GHGsources. With the exception of ‘The Environmentalist’, thereis an evident disconnect between perceptions of agriculturalemission sources and their contribution towards GHGemissions amongst all types. If such linkages are not conceptualized,it is unlikely that behavioral capacities will berealized. Effective communication channels which encourageaction should target farmers based on the groupingsdepicted. Therefore, understanding farmer types through theconstructs used in this study can facilitate effective and tailoredpolicy development and implementation.

AB - Ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions from agriculture have been set by bothnational governments and their respective livestock sectors.We hypothesize that farmer self-identity influences theirassessment of climate change and their willingness to implementmeasures which address the issue. Perceptions ofclimate change were determined from 286 beef/sheepfarmers and evaluated using principal component analysis(PCA). The analysis elicits two components which evaluateidentity (productivism and environmental responsibility),and two components which evaluate behavioral capacity toadopt mitigation and adaptation measures (awareness andrisk perception). Subsequent Cluster Analyses reveal fourfarmer types based on the PCA scores. ‘The Productivist’and ‘The Countryside Steward’ portray low levels ofawareness of climate change, but differ in their motivation toadopt pro-environmental behavior. Conversely, both ‘TheEnvironmentalist’ and ‘The Dejected’ score higher in theirawareness of the issue. In addition, ‘The Dejected’ holds ahigh sense of perceived risk; however, their awareness is notconflated with an explicit understanding of agricultural GHGsources. With the exception of ‘The Environmentalist’, thereis an evident disconnect between perceptions of agriculturalemission sources and their contribution towards GHGemissions amongst all types. If such linkages are not conceptualized,it is unlikely that behavioral capacities will berealized. Effective communication channels which encourageaction should target farmers based on the groupingsdepicted. Therefore, understanding farmer types through theconstructs used in this study can facilitate effective and tailoredpolicy development and implementation.

U2 - 10.1007/s10460-015-9608-9

DO - 10.1007/s10460-015-9608-9

M3 - Article

VL - 33

SP - 323

EP - 339

JO - Agriculture and Human Values

JF - Agriculture and Human Values

SN - 0889-048X

IS - 2

ER -