IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jenvss/v8y2018i1d10.1007_s13412-017-0461-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the role of farmer field schools in promoting pro-adaptive behaviour towards climate change among Jamaican farmers

Author

Listed:
  • Jhannel Tomlinson

    (University of the West Indies)

  • Kevon Rhiney

    (Rutgers University)

Abstract

With the vulnerability of Jamaica’s agricultural sector to climate change being well established, there is a compelling need to incorporate useful adaptation strategies. One such pro-adaptation strategy is the farmer field school (FFS) which is currently being used to promote climate-smart agricultural practices among Jamaican farmers through a number of social learning and capacity building initiatives. A hallmark of the field school methodology is its promotion of adaptation by empowering farmers to plan for and cope with the effects of climate change by improving knowledge, awareness and adoption of best practices, while providing a viable income stream to participants. Though the FFS program has been touted as a huge success, with several community groups sustaining their income diversification and adaptation efforts even after the formal project has ended, the extent of participation in these field schools has however been uneven and limited in numbers. Amidst claims of the program’s achievements to date, and plans to replicate and upscale the field school methodology in Jamaica as a climate adaptation strategy, a comparative assessment of the role participation plays in shaping local farmers’ cognitive and behavioural responses towards climate change is very timely. The case study reported in this paper is informed by a comparative mixed methods approach, undertaken in three communities in northern Clarendon, Jamaica. The study assesses the particular ways that participation in the farmer field school program has influenced the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of FFS trainees about climate change compared to their non-FFS counterparts. Preliminary results indicate that FFS participants perceive themselves as having a higher adaptive capacity in comparison to non-field school participants, amidst both groups having access to similar stocks of assets. Ultimately, our results highlight that cognitive factors (e.g. perceptions of adaptive capacity) and involvement in social networks may be as important as the more commonly researched asset-based indicators in shaping individual adaptive behaviour.

Suggested Citation

  • Jhannel Tomlinson & Kevon Rhiney, 2018. "Assessing the role of farmer field schools in promoting pro-adaptive behaviour towards climate change among Jamaican farmers," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 8(1), pages 86-98, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:8:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s13412-017-0461-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s13412-017-0461-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13412-017-0461-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13412-017-0461-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amireeta Rawlani & Benjamin Sovacool, 2011. "Building responsiveness to climate change through community based adaptation in Bangladesh," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 16(8), pages 845-863, December.
    2. Godtland, Erin M & Sadoulet, Elisabeth & De Janvry, Alain & Murgai, Rinku & Ortiz, Oscar, 2004. "The Impact of Farmer Field Schools on Knowledge and Productivity: A Study of Potato Farmers in the Peruvian Andes," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(1), pages 63-92, October.
    3. Shalini Lata & Patrick Nunn, 2012. "Misperceptions of climate-change risk as barriers to climate-change adaptation: a case study from the Rewa Delta, Fiji," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 110(1), pages 169-186, January.
    4. Arun Agrawal & Nicolas Perrin & Ashwini Chhatre & Catherine S. Benson & Minna Kononen, 2013. "Climate policy processes, local institutions, and adaptation actions: mechanisms of translation and influence," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 4(1), pages 72-72, January.
    5. Mark Pelling & Chris High & John Dearing & Denis Smith, 2008. "Shadow Spaces for Social Learning: A Relational Understanding of Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change within Organisations," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 40(4), pages 867-884, April.
    6. Gershon Feder & Rinku Murgai & Jaime B. Quizon, 2004. "Sending Farmers Back to School: The Impact of Farmer Field Schools in Indonesia," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 26(1), pages 45-62.
    7. Kolikow, Steven & Kragt, Marit Ellen & Mugera, Amin W., 2012. "An interdisciplinary framework of limits and barriers to climate change adaptation in agriculture," Working Papers 120467, University of Western Australia, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    8. David Dodman & Diana Mitlin, 2013. "Challenges For Community‐Based Adaptation: Discovering The Potential For Transformation," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(5), pages 640-659, July.
    9. Christopher Bryant & Barry Smit & Michael Brklacich & Thomas Johnston & John Smithers & Quentin Chjotti & Bhawan Singh, 2000. "Adaptation in Canadian Agriculture to Climatic Variability and Change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 181-201, April.
    10. Hope, Aimie L.B. & Jones, Christopher R., 2014. "The impact of religious faith on attitudes to environmental issues and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies: A mixed methods study," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 48-59.
    11. Luseno, Winnie K. & McPeak, John G. & Barrett, Christopher B. & Little, Peter D. & Gebru, Getachew, 2003. "Assessing the Value of Climate Forecast Information for Pastoralists: Evidence from Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 1477-1494, September.
    12. Thomas G Measham & Benjamin L Preston & Cassandra Brooke & Tim F Smith & Craig Morrison & Geoff Withycombe & Russell Gorddard, 2010. "Adapting to Climate Change Through Local Municipal Planning: Barriers and Opportunities," Socio-Economics and the Environment in Discussion (SEED) Working Paper Series 2010-05, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems.
    13. Donovan Campbell & Clinton Beckford, 2009. "Negotiating Uncertainty: Jamaican Small Farmers’ Adaptation and Coping Strategies, Before and After Hurricanes—A Case Study of Hurricane Dean," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 1(4), pages 1-22, December.
    14. Niels Röling & Elske Fliert, 1994. "Transforming extension for sustainable agriculture: The case of integrated pest management in rice in Indonesia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 11(2), pages 96-108, March.
    15. Justice Tambo & Tahirou Abdoulaye, 2012. "Climate change and agricultural technology adoption: the case of drought tolerant maize in rural Nigeria," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 277-292, March.
    16. Mohamed Esham & Chris Garforth, 2013. "Agricultural adaptation to climate change: insights from a farming community in Sri Lanka," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 18(5), pages 535-549, June.
    17. Thomas Measham & Benjamin Preston & Timothy Smith & Cassandra Brooke & Russell Gorddard & Geoff Withycombe & Craig Morrison, 2011. "Adapting to climate change through local municipal planning: barriers and challenges," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 16(8), pages 889-909, December.
    18. Maddison, David, 2007. "The perception of and adaptation to climate change in Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4308, The World Bank.
    19. Anderson, Jock R. & Feder, Gershon, 2007. "Agricultural Extension," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: Robert Evenson & Prabhu Pingali (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 44, pages 2343-2378, Elsevier.
    20. Maria Carmen Lemos & Christine J. Kirchhoff & Vijay Ramprasad, 2012. "Narrowing the climate information usability gap," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 2(11), pages 789-794, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cornelius K. A. Pienaah & Roger Antabe & Godwin Arku & Isaac Luginaah, 2024. "Farmer field schools, climate action plans and climate change resilience among smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(6), pages 1-25, June.
    2. Ireti Emmanuel Adesida & William Nkomoki & Miroslava Bavorova & Mustapha Yakubu Madaki, 2021. "Effects of Agricultural Programmes and Land Ownership on the Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices in Nigeria," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Tharani Gopalakrishnan & Md Kamrul Hasan & A. T. M. Sanaul Haque & Sadeeka Layomi Jayasinghe & Lalit Kumar, 2019. "Sustainability of Coastal Agriculture under Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-24, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Davis, K. & Nkonya, E. & Kato, E. & Mekonnen, D.A. & Odendo, M. & Miiro, R. & Nkuba, J., 2012. "Impact of Farmer Field Schools on Agricultural Productivity and Poverty in East Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 402-413.
    2. Praneetvatakul, Suwanna & Waibel, Hermann, 2006. "Impact Assessment of Farmer Field School Using A Multi-Period Panel Data Model," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25499, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Praneetvatakul, S. & Waibel, H., 2007. "The Impact of Farmer Field School On Pesticide Use and Environment in Thailand," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 42, March.
    4. Gawel, Erik & Lehmann, Paul & Strunz, Sebastian & Heuson, Clemens, 2018. "Public Choice barriers to efficient climate adaptation – theoretical insights and lessons learned from German flood disasters," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 473-499, June.
    5. María Amelia Gibbons & Alessandro Maffioli & Martín Rossi, 2016. "Money for Wine?: Complementarities in the Provision of Private and Public Goods to Wine Producers," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 94217, Inter-American Development Bank.
    6. Gawel, Erik & Heuson, Clemens & Lehmann, Paul, 2012. "Efficient public adaptation to climate change: An investigation of drivers and barriers from a Public Choice perspective," UFZ Discussion Papers 14/2012, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    7. Yasuyuki Todo & Ryo Takahashi, 2013. "Impact Of Farmer Field Schools On Agricultural Income And Skills: Evidence From An Aid‐Funded Project In Rural Ethiopia," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(3), pages 362-381, April.
    8. James Ford & Diana King, 2015. "A framework for examining adaptation readiness," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 505-526, April.
    9. Larsen, Anna Folke & Lilleør, Helene Bie, 2014. "Beyond the Field: The Impact of Farmer Field Schools on Food Security and Poverty Alleviation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 843-859.
    10. Francisca Henriquez, 2009. "Microcrédito y su Impacto: Un Acercamiento con Datos Chilenos," OVE Working Papers 0309, Inter-American Development Bank, Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE).
    11. Chad Stephen Boda & Anne Jerneck, 2019. "Enabling local adaptation to climate change: towards collective action in Flagler Beach, Florida, USA," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 631-649, December.
    12. Satoshi Shimizutani & Shimpei Taguchi & Eiji Yamada & Hiroyuki Yamada, 2021. "The Impact of "Grow to Sell" Agricultural Extension on Smallholder Horticulture Farmers: Evidence from a Market- Oriented Approach in Kenya," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2021-020, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    13. Pedro Cerdán-Infantes & Alessandro Maffioli & Diego Ubfal, 2008. "The Impact of Agricultural Extension Services: The Case of Grape Production in Argentina," OVE Working Papers 0508, Inter-American Development Bank, Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE).
    14. Chloe B. Wardropper & Adena R. Rissman, 2019. "Adaptations to extreme storm events by conservation organizations," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 152(1), pages 85-101, January.
    15. S. H. A. Koop & L. Koetsier & A. Doornhof & O. Reinstra & C. J. Van Leeuwen & S. Brouwer & C. Dieperink & P. P. J. Driessen, 2017. "Assessing the Governance Capacity of Cities to Address Challenges of Water, Waste, and Climate Change," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(11), pages 3427-3443, September.
    16. Xinyu Fu & Bowen Sun & Kathryn Frank & Zhong-Ren Peng, 2019. "Evaluating sea-level rise vulnerability assessments in the USA," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 393-415, August.
    17. Cook, Brian R. & Satizábal, Paula & Curnow, Jayne, 2021. "Humanising agricultural extension: A review," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    18. Tripp, Robert & Wijeratne, Mahinda & Piyadasa, V. Hiroshini, 2005. "What should we expect from farmer field schools? A Sri Lanka case study," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1705-1720, October.
    19. Jinyang Cai & Fengxiang Ding & Yu Hong & Ruifa Hu, 2021. "An Impact Analysis of Farmer Field Schools on Hog Productivity: Evidence from China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-14, October.
    20. Marta Olazabal & Sonia De Gregorio Hurtado & Eduardo Olazabal & Filomena Pietrapertosa & Monica Salvia & Davide Geneletti & Valentina D?Alonzo & Efrén Feliú & Senatro Di Leo & Diana Reckien, 2014. "How are Italian and Spanish cities tackling climate change? A local comparative study," Working Papers 2014-03, BC3.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:8:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s13412-017-0461-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.