The systematic study of climate change is recent and naturally undergoing a learning curve. One area where this manifests is in the dearth of precise information on how to measure certain categories of data, particularly those related to farmer choices and perceptions and the actions that are taken to alleviate the negative effects of climate change that farmers confront from time to time. The crucial question is how to rank the actions in a manner that reflects their relative importance in the farming system. Do the responses provided by farmers hold some weight in the relative discussion and shed light on their intrinsic value in relation to other responses? The reliance on dummies and nominal measures to depict the locally validated coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies of farmers fail to capture their intrinsic values. For this reason, the value of existing research in contributing to effective policy formulation is limited. Therefore, to make progress towards developing appropriate policies that are aligned to the enormity of the problems farmers confront and assist in tackling some of the most pernicious threats to food security and sustainable livelihoods for the majority of smallholders, more empirically grounded research are needed.
Coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies are based on subjective criteria that local people develop from indigenous knowledge. Ultimately, these actions are validated by the fact that they are anchored in local traditions and customs, and appeal to the generality of local people. However, systematic research into their validity and relevance, and the extent to which they fit into broader policy frameworks is hampered by their weak empirical value being based on proxies, dummies, and nominal levels of measurement. The goal of the Research Topic is to encourage researchers to develop procedures for assigning quantitative measures to the coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies to provide a more objective basis for decision making in respect of the actions that can be promoted and recommended to deal with the threats and negative impacts of climate change.
The specific themes to be addressed by the manuscripts will include:
• Review of literature on approaches to improve quantification and empirical value of subjective attributes and perceptions about actions to alleviate and adapt to the threats of climate change
• Introducing a conceptual framework for infusing empirical elements in the answers to attitudinal and perception questions to enhance policy relevance.
• Innovative measures that reflect the relative importance of the actions that respondent
• Alternative techniques for depicting adaptation strategies and coping mechanism to climate change
• Developing common denominators for assessing subjective information in order to derive basis for comparing and ranking the claims made by smallholders regarding actions they currently take against the threats they confront in their farming programmes
The systematic study of climate change is recent and naturally undergoing a learning curve. One area where this manifests is in the dearth of precise information on how to measure certain categories of data, particularly those related to farmer choices and perceptions and the actions that are taken to alleviate the negative effects of climate change that farmers confront from time to time. The crucial question is how to rank the actions in a manner that reflects their relative importance in the farming system. Do the responses provided by farmers hold some weight in the relative discussion and shed light on their intrinsic value in relation to other responses? The reliance on dummies and nominal measures to depict the locally validated coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies of farmers fail to capture their intrinsic values. For this reason, the value of existing research in contributing to effective policy formulation is limited. Therefore, to make progress towards developing appropriate policies that are aligned to the enormity of the problems farmers confront and assist in tackling some of the most pernicious threats to food security and sustainable livelihoods for the majority of smallholders, more empirically grounded research are needed.
Coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies are based on subjective criteria that local people develop from indigenous knowledge. Ultimately, these actions are validated by the fact that they are anchored in local traditions and customs, and appeal to the generality of local people. However, systematic research into their validity and relevance, and the extent to which they fit into broader policy frameworks is hampered by their weak empirical value being based on proxies, dummies, and nominal levels of measurement. The goal of the Research Topic is to encourage researchers to develop procedures for assigning quantitative measures to the coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies to provide a more objective basis for decision making in respect of the actions that can be promoted and recommended to deal with the threats and negative impacts of climate change.
The specific themes to be addressed by the manuscripts will include:
• Review of literature on approaches to improve quantification and empirical value of subjective attributes and perceptions about actions to alleviate and adapt to the threats of climate change
• Introducing a conceptual framework for infusing empirical elements in the answers to attitudinal and perception questions to enhance policy relevance.
• Innovative measures that reflect the relative importance of the actions that respondent
• Alternative techniques for depicting adaptation strategies and coping mechanism to climate change
• Developing common denominators for assessing subjective information in order to derive basis for comparing and ranking the claims made by smallholders regarding actions they currently take against the threats they confront in their farming programmes
