Climate change adaptation and upland rice yield: evidence from a farm survey in Yunnan, China

Purpose - The study aims to examine the impact of farmers’ actual adaptations on rice yields in the upland areas of Yunnan province, China. Design/methodology/approach - The paper employs the simultaneous equations model with endogenous switching to investigate the different effects of adaptation strategies on rice yields achieved by adopters and nonadopters based on the cross-sectional data at farm level. Findings - The results show that farmers’ access to government agricultural extension services significantly encourages rice farmers to make the adjustments in farm managements. The authors find that the adaptation strategies employed by farmers significantly increase rice yields. Adaptations adopted by upland farmers increase rice yields for both adopters and nonadopters, particularly for the nonadopters. Originality/value - This paper contributes to the existing literature by focusing on farmers’ adaptation strategies to climate change in uplands of Yunnan using the primary household survey data. The results show the effectiveness of farmers’ adaptation adoptions on rice yields in uplands of Yunnan province.