Knowledge flow analysis of knowledge co-production-based climate change adaptation for lowland rice farmers in Bulukumba Regency, Indonesia

Abstract

To increase the resilience of farmers' livelihood systems, detailed knowledge of adaptation strategies for dealing with the impacts of climate change is required. Knowledge co-production approach is an adaptation strategy that is considered appropriate in the context of the increasing frequency of disasters caused by climate change. Previous research of knowledge co-production on climate change adaptation in Indonesia is insufficient, particularly at local level, so we examined the flow of climate change adaptation knowledge in the knowledge co-production process through climate field school (CFS) activities in this study. We interviewed 120 people living in Bulukumba Regency, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, involving 12 crowds including male and female farmers participated in CFS and not participated in CFS, local government officials, agriculture extension workers, agricultural traders, farmers' family members and neighbors, etc. In brief, the 12 groups of people mainly include two categories of people, i.e., people involved in CFS activities and outside CFS. We applied descriptive method and Social Network Analysis (SNA) to determine how knowledge flow in the community network and which groups of actors are important for knowledge flow. The findings of this study reveal that participants in CFS activities convey the knowledge they acquired formally (i.e., from TV, radio, government, etc.) and informally (i.e., from market, friends, relatives, etc.) to other actors, especially to their families and neighbors. The results also show that the acquisition and sharing of knowledge facilitate the flow of climate change adaptation knowledge based on knowledge co-operation. In addition, the findings highlight the key role of actors in the knowledge transfer process, and key actors involved in disseminating information about climate change adaptation. To be specific, among all the actors, family member and neighbor of CFS actor are the most common actors in disseminating climate knowledge information and closest to other actors in the network; agricultural trader and family member of CFS actor collaborate most with other actors in the community network; and farmers participated in CFS, including those heads of farmer groups, agricultural extension workers, and local government officials are more willing to contact with other actors in the network. To facilitate the flow of knowledge on climate change adaptation, CFS activities should be conducted regularly and CFS models that fit the situation of farmers’ vulnerability to climate change should be developed.