Assessing the impacts of climate change on domestic crop production: Experience and perception of local farmers in North Malaita, Solomon Islands.

Abstract

The aim of this research was to: 1) gather farmers' experiences and observations of climate change impacts on domestic crop yields during the last thirty years (1988-2018); 2) study climatic projections (2050) and their potential impacts on Sikwafata and Malu'u's crops; and 3) understand the knowledge engaged with, and adaptations taken, to avoid susceptibility to climate change. The data was collected using the snowball approach, in which the researcher contacts informants using information provided by previous informants. A thematic analysis was performed using NVIVO 10 software. For both sites, soil samples were taken to determine moisture content. Farmers reported changes in rainfall patterns (73.5%) and temperature (44.9%), while 26.5% indicated no change in rainfall or temperature (55.1%). About 83.7% of farmers anticipate increasing temperatures and rainfall to occur by 2050, with extreme impacts on crop productivity. The majority of the gardens (87.5%) were on hillsides, while 8.5% were on the lowland, with an average of three garden per farmer. The gardens (57.0%) were on rotational sites that had been abandoned for two to five years, while 43.0% had never been rotated. In comparison to Malu'u moisture content (47.4%), Sikwafata moisture content is 66.4% higher. Furthermore, farmers are aware of adaptation measures to reduce the risk of crop failure. However, the absence of scientific information on climate change and agricultural resilience has increased the vulnerability to extreme climate-related events harming food security and nutrition. Climate change will undoubtedly intensify, resulting in a global and local drop in crop production, thus compromising livelihoods in the future.