Socio-economic determinants of climate change adaptation strategies among smallholder farmers in Mbombela: a binary logistic regression analysis.

Abstract

Climate change poses significant challenges to smallholder farmers, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where agriculture is highly vulnerable to changing climatic conditions. This study examines the socioeconomic determinants influencing the adoption of strategies for adapting to climate change among smallholder farmers in Mbombela, South Africa. A quantitative research approach was employed, using structured questionnaires to collect data from 308 randomly selected smallholder farmers. Furthermore, the study utilised binary logistic regression to analyse the relationship between socioeconomic factors and the adoption of adaptation strategies. The results revealed that gender, age, income sources, access to climate information, and cooperative membership significantly influenced farmers’ adoption of adaptation strategies. Findings further showed that female farmers, older farmers, and those relying solely on farming income were less likely to adopt adaptation strategies, while younger farmers and those with diversified income sources were more likely to embrace adaptation strategies. Moreover, the study found that access to climate information and cooperative membership were negatively associated with the adoption of adaptation strategies. This negative association may be attributed to inefficiencies in current information dissemination, where climate-related information may not be tailored to the specific needs of farmers, or to cooperative structures that may not effectively facilitate knowledge sharing or collective action. The study concludes that targeted interventions, such as gender-sensitive policies, livelihood diversification, improved extension services, and strengthened cooperative structures, are essential to enhance smallholder farmers’ adaptive capacity.