Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Society, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
PLoS One. 2023 Jan 25;18(1):e0280838. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280838. eCollection 2023.
Climate change threatens the existence of humankind on the planet Earth. Owing to its arid climate and poor natural resources base, Saudi Arabia is particularly susceptible to the negative impact of ongoing climate change. Farmers' understanding of this global phenomenon is extremely important as it may help determine their adaptation behavior. This study was designed to analyze farmers' beliefs and concerns about climate change as well as their views about adaptation different obstacles. Data were collected from 80 randomly farmers of the Al-Ahsa region in Eastern Province using structured interviews. The findings revealed that farmers believed that climate change is mainly occurring due to anthropogenic activities. Drought, insects, crop diseases, and heat stress were their main concerns regarding adverse impacts of climate change. Lack of knowledge about adaptation practices, and poor government and financial support are perceived as the major obstacles to adaptation. The results of non-parametric analysis identified no significant differences in farmers' climate change beliefs and concerns, and their views about obstacles to adaptation in relation to their demographic characteristics. Based on the findings, we suggest that capacity building programs should be undertaken by the government for enhancing the adaptive capacity of the farmers as well the provision of financial incentives wherever deemed necessary for promoting the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and building a resilient national food system.
气候变化威胁着地球上人类的生存。由于沙特阿拉伯气候干燥，自然资源基础薄弱，因此特别容易受到正在发生的气候变化的负面影响。农民对这一全球现象的理解非常重要，因为这可能有助于决定他们的适应行为。本研究旨在分析农民对气候变化的信仰和担忧，以及他们对适应不同障碍的看法。研究人员通过结构化访谈，从东部省艾哈萨地区随机抽取了 80 名农民，收集了数据。结果表明，农民认为气候变化主要是由于人类活动引起的。干旱、昆虫、作物病害和热应激是他们对气候变化不利影响的主要担忧。缺乏适应实践的知识以及政府和财政支持不足被视为适应的主要障碍。非参数分析的结果表明，农民对气候变化的信仰和担忧，以及他们对适应障碍的看法，与他们的人口特征无关。基于这些发现，我们建议政府应开展能力建设计划，以提高农民的适应能力，并在必要时提供财政激励措施，以促进可持续农业实践的采用和建立有弹性的国家粮食系统。
