To support effective adaptation in the agriculture sector through policy and practice, it is essential to know how farmers, as the primary decision-makers regarding land use, understand and respond to water scarcity. Using the model of private proactive adaptation to climate change (MPPACC) as a basic framework for the study, the research investigated the effects of cognitive factors on maladaptation in farmers' incremental adaptation to water scarcity as a climate risk. Data were collected during face-to-face interviews with 250 farmers of irrigated lands in Khuzestan province, Iran. The structural equation modeling results showed that the research model predicted 49% of the variance in adaptive behavior and 24% of the variance in maladaptation. These results provide strong empirical evidence for the hypothesis that maladaptation has an important and negative effect on determining adaptive behaviors (beta =-.33). Moreover, perceived susceptibility (beta =-.42, beta = .38), perceived cost (beta =-.21, beta =-.32), and perceived self-efficacy (beta = .31, beta =-.29) directly affected both adaptive behavior and maladaptation. This study contributes to the literature by: i) adding to the limited number of studies on the MPPACC; ii) confirming the efficiency of this model in the water scarcity context, as the MPPACC can be used to understand behavior of people faced with an environmental threat; and iii) improving knowledge regarding the impact of belief in climate change on the constructs of the MPPACC.
Zobeidi, T; Yaghoubi, J; Yazdanpanah, M
Farmers' incremental adaptation to water scarcity: An application of the model of private proactive adaptation to climate change (MPPACC)
Agricultural Water Management