Climate Change Awareness and Farm Level Adaptation of Farmers (Central Dry Zone) in Monywa Township, Sagaing Region, Myanmar

Abstract

Climate change will affect the agricultural productivity in dry zone area due to insufficient knowledge, inadequate human capacity development, and limited institution al interventions dealing with farm level climate change adaptation. This paper examined factors influencing climate change awareness, the effects of climate change as perceived by farmers and farm level adaptations practiced by farmers in coping with climate variation and other factors in Myanmar. One hundred fifty respondents were interviewed from three geographical strata in Monywa Township (Central Dry Zone), Sagaing Region, in Myanmar namely upstream, midstream and downstream. Climate change awareness influenced by socio-economic and institutional factors can provide the effective decisions for better farming practices to minimize the risks of climate variation in rainfed areas. The development and application of relatively simple and reliable methods for assessing the impacts of climate change and adaptation strategies at the agricultural system and/or household level are still demanded to provide timely recommendations for alternative technologies and policies.