To Adapt or not to Adapt: How Swiss Fruit Farmers respond to Climate Change

Anna Schmid

No 355317, Agricultural Economics Society (AES) 98th Annual Conference, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, March 18-20, 2024 from Agricultural Economics Society (AES)

Abstract: Climate change poses a substantial threat to global agricultural livelihoods, with particular challenges for the perennial crop sector due to path dependencies. This study utilizes survey data from Swiss fruit farmers to analyze grower behavior, climate perception, and adaptation strategies. We investigate the differential impacts of frost and drought on farmers’ livelihoods, providing an extensive overview of Swiss farmers’ perspectives on climate change. Our examination encompasses climate perceptions and the assessment of willingness to adapt to various paths, exploring factors influencing adaptation choices. Preliminary findings highlight significant harvest losses from frost compared to drought. Farmers with irrigation systems demonstrate enhanced abilities in identifying temporal shifts in precipitation. Moreover, farmers acknowledging both climate change and its human causes exhibit more accurate climate perceptions than those denying climate change. Additional results reveal a U-shaped relationship between farmers’ losses and their willingness to adapt, with a tendency for climate change believers to exhibit greater adaptability to future climatic shifts. This study contributes scientific insights into the complex dynamics of climate change impacts on Swiss fruit growers, offering a basis for informed decision-making and adaptive strategies in evolving climatic conditions.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Environmental Economics and Policy; Environmental Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-env
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/355317/files/A ... currentdraft%20-.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aes024:355317

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.355317

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Agricultural Economics Society (AES) 98th Annual Conference, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, March 18-20, 2024 from Agricultural Economics Society (AES) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().