SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS AFFECTING AWARENESS AND ADAPTION OF CLIMATE CHANGE: A CASE STUDY OF BANKE DISTRICT NEPAL

This study was carried to understand socioeconomic factors affecting knowledge and adaption of climate change among farmers of Banke district, with the hope that knowledge about climate change and their adaption strategy can be targeted properly among farmers and their empowerment can be achieved. All the farmers from Bageshwori Village Development committee were the target population for this study. Ninety households were selected as sampling respondents for this study. The study showed that 42.22% of the respondents know about climate change. The study revealed that 35% of the respondents know about climate change through self-experiences by comparing the past and present events of climatic parameters. Local radio and social organization were the main source of their knowledge about climate change, covering share of 27% and 23% of the respondents’ means of knowledge. Age, gender and education of household head, contact to the extension workers, farming experience, presence of NGO/INGO and access to mass media found to be determinants of awareness of climate change with positive effect, except for household head age. Gender of household head, total annual income of family, farming experience, access to mass media, education of household head, farm size, presence of NGO/INGO and contact to extension workers were found to be determinants of climate change adoption. No decision is taken in vacuum, peoples’ surrounding, and experience surely affects. So, to move forward and achieve climate smart agriculture these socioeconomic factors should be accounted while planning and implementation of program, project or policies.