Determinants of the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies by the smallholder farmers in Hiran region, Somalia

Abstract

East Africa, notably Somalia, is one of the worst-affected regions by climate crises. Adaptation to climate change can be used to minimize many of climate change's negative consequences while maximizing its positive effects. This necessitated the need to; (i) identify the smallholder farmers' adaptation methods to the negative impact of the climate crisis and (ii) identify factors that affect farmers' adaptation practices in the Hiran region of Somalia. The study used a descriptive study design where a random sample of 222 farmers from the Hiran Region were involved. The research surveys among the selected farmers were conducted using a questionnaire. The Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that age, family size, marital status, non-farm income, off-farm jobs, access to credits, access to extension, and support from extension agencies were major predictors of the different climate change adaptation measures of the farmers. Therefore, the Federal government ought to review farmer extension systems and design farm management adoption programs based on the socio-economic and institutional characteristics of the farmers and create a favorable environment for the provision of agricultural credits to the farmers in efforts to boost farmers' climate resilience.