Aquaculture Farmers’ Perceptions of Climate-Related Risks in the Mekong Region
This study examines aquaculture farmers’ perceptions and experiences of climate-related risks across Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Based on a survey of more than 3,300 farmers, it identifies rapid temperature changes, intense rainfall, and floods as important risks, while showing how perceptions vary according to geography, previous losses, gender, education, and production systems.
SUMERNET’s Water Insecurity advisor, Dr. Louis Label, and SUMERNET’s steering committee chair, Ms. Hap Navy, are the co-authors of the new journal article on “Aquaculture farmers’ perceptions of climate-related risks in the Mekong Region.”
The paper documents key findings from a large-scale survey of levels of concern and experience with significant losses of over 3300 aquaculture farmers in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Important climate-related risks included rapid changes in temperature, intense rainfall events, and floods. Farmers in Laos were less concerned with risks to profits than those in other countries. Farmers who had experienced significant losses from any climate-related source were more concerned with risks. Women and higher educated farmers perceived higher risks. Those with intensified production systems perceived lower risks and observed fewer climate changes. Perceptions of historical changes in risks and expectations for future risks were often strongly associated with each other and levels of concern, as well as experiences of losses, underlining that risk perception has multiple, inter-related dimensions. Geographical differences in risk perception were related to differences in both physical climate and social factors.
SUMERNET’s Water Insecurity advisor, Dr. Louis Label, and SUMERNET’s steering committee chair, Ms. Hap Navy, are the co-authors of the new journal article on “Aquaculture farmers’ perceptions of climate-related risks in the Mekong Region.”
The paper documents key findings from a large-scale survey of levels of concern and experience with significant losses of over 3300 aquaculture farmers in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Important climate-related risks included rapid changes in temperature, intense rainfall events, and floods. Farmers in Laos were less concerned with risks to profits than those in other countries. Farmers who had experienced significant losses from any climate-related source were more concerned with risks. Women and higher educated farmers perceived higher risks. Those with intensified production systems perceived lower risks and observed fewer climate changes. Perceptions of historical changes in risks and expectations for future risks were often strongly associated with each other and levels of concern, as well as experiences of losses, underlining that risk perception has multiple, inter-related dimensions. Geographical differences in risk perception were related to differences in both physical climate and social factors.
