Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Farmers’ Options to Address Water Scarcity in a Changing Climate: Case Studies from two Basins in Mediterranean Chile

  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Irrigated agriculture in Mediterranean areas faces tremendous challenges because of its exposure to hydroclimatic variability, increasing competition for water from different sectors, and the possibility of a climatic change. In this context, efficient management of water resources emerges as a critical issue. This requires the adoption of technological innovations, investment in infrastructure, adequate institutional arrangements, and informed decision makers. To understand farmers’ perceptions and their implementation of climate change adaptation strategies with regards to water management, primary information was captured in the Limarí and Maule river basins in Chile. Farmers identified stressors for agriculture; climate change, droughts, and lack of water appeared as the most relevant stressors compared to others productive, economic, and institutional factors; revealing a rising relevance of climate related factors. While most producers perceived climate changes in recent years (92.9 %), a significant proportion (61.1 %) claim to have experienced drought, whereas only a fraction (31.9 %) have implemented a strategy to deal with this situation. Identified actions were classified in four groups: investments for water accumulation, modernization of irrigation systems, rationalization of water use, and partnership activities. Using a multinomial logit model these strategies were related to socioeconomic and productive characteristics. Results show that gender and farm size are relevant for investments, implementation and improvement of irrigation systems. For all the strategies described, access to weather information was a relevant element. The study provides empirical evidence of a recent increase in the importance assigned to climate factors by producers and adaptation options that can be supported by agricultural policy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aceituno P (1988) On the functioning of the Southern Oscillation in the South American sector. Part I. Surface climate. Mon Weather Rev 116:505–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adger WN, Arnett N, Tompkins E (2005) Successful adaptation to climate change across scales. Glob Environ Chang 15:77–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alam K (2015) Farmers’ adaptation to water scarcity in drought-prone environment: a case study of Rajshahi Disctrict, Bangladesh. Agr Water Manag 148:196–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ancapichun S, Garces-Vargas J (2015) Variability of the southeast pacific subtropical anticyclone and its impact on sea surface temperature off north-central Chile. Cienc Mar 41(1):1–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arumí JL, Rivera D, Holzapfel E, Muñoz E (2013) Effect of drought on groundwater in a Chilean irrigated valley. Water Manag 166:231–241

    Google Scholar 

  • Basu M, Hoshino S, Hashimoto S (2015) Many issues, limited responses: coping with water insecurity in rural India. Water Res and Rural Dev 5:47–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger T, Troost C (2014) Agent-based modelling of climate adaptation and mitigation options in agriculture. J Agric Econ 65(2):323–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattarai B, Beilin R, Ford R (2015) Gender, agrobiodiversity, and climate change: a study of adaptation practices in the Nepal Himalayas. World Dev 70:122–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bojovic D, Bonzaningo L, Giupponi C, Maziotis A (2015) Online participation in climate change adaptation: a case study of agricultural adaptation measures in Northern Italy. J Environ Manag 157:8–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brechét T, Hritonenko N, Yatsenko Y (2013) Adaptation and mitigation in long-term climate policy. Environ Resour Econ 55:217–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chilean Ministry of Public Works (2012) Estrategia Nacional de Recursos Hídricos 2012–2025. http://www.mop.cl/documents/ENRh_2013_OK.pdf. Accessed Dec 2014

  • Clarvis MH, Allan A (2014) Adaptive capacity in a Chilean context: a questionable model for Latin America. Environ Sci Policy 43:78–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Comoé H, Finger R, Barjolle D (2014) Farm management decision and response to climate variability and change in Côte d’Ivore. Mitig Adapt Strategies Glob Chang 19:123–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Comoé H, Siegrist M (2015) Relevant drivers of farmers’ decisions behavior regarding their adaptation to climate change: a case study of two regions in Côte d’Ivore. Mitig Adapt Strategies Glob Chang 20:179–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis GW, Richadson DM, Keeley JE and Hobbs RJ (1996) Chapter 7. Mediterranean-type ecosystems: the influence of biodiversity on their functioning. In: Mooney HA, Cushman JH, Medina E, Sala OE and Schulze ED (eds) 1996. Functional roles of biodiversity: a global perspective, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, New York, USA, pp 151–183

  • DGA (2004a) Diagnóstico y clasificación de los cursos y cuerpos de agua según objetivos de calidad, Cuenca del Río Limarí. Chilean Ministry of Public Works. p 130

  • DGA (2004b) Diagnóstico y clasificación de los cursos y cuerpos de agua según objetivos de calidad, Cuenca del Río Maule. Chilean Ministry of Public Works. p 145

  • Deressa TT, Hassan RM, Ringler C, Alemu T, Yesuf M (2009) Determinants of farmers’ choice of adaptation methods to climate change in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia. Glob Environ Chang 19:248–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Falco S, Veronesi M, Yesuf M (2011) Does adaptation to climate change provide food security? A micro-perspective from Ethiopia. Am J Agric Econ 93(3):829–846

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen SH, Brown K, Kelly PM (2005) The dynamics of vulnerability: locating coping strategies in Kenya and Tanzania. Geogr J 171:287–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2012) Marco estratégico de mediano plazo de cooperación de la FAO en agricultura familiar en América Latina y el Caribe 2012-2015. Rome. p 45

  • FAO (2013) Climate smart agriculture sourcebook. Rome. p 557

  • Finan TJ, Nelson DR (2001) Making rain, making roads, making do: public and private adaptations to drought in Ceará, northeast Brazil. Clim Res 19:97–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García de Jalón S, Iglesias A, Cunningham R, Perez Díaz JI (2014) Building resilience to water scarcity in southern Spain: a case study of rice farming in Doñana protected wetlands. Reg Environ Change 14:1229–1242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gbetibouo GA. 2009. Understanding farmers’ perceptions and adaptations to climate change and variability: the case of the Limpopo Basin, South Africa. IFPRI discussion paper No. 849. pp 36

  • Gebrehiwot T, van der Veen A (2013) Farm level adaptation to climate change: the case of farmer’s in the Ethiopian Highlands. Environ Manag 52:29–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gebrehiwot T, van der Veen A (2015) Farmers prone to drought risk: why some farmers undertake farm-level risk-reduction measures while others not?. Environ Manag 55:588–602

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giuliani E (2013) Network dynamics in regional clusters: evidence from Chile. Res Policy 42(8):1406–1419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greene WH (2008) Econometric analysis, 7th Edn. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River

  • Habiba U, Shaw R, Takeuchi Y (2012) Farmers perception and adaptation practices to cope with drought: perspectives from Northwestern Bangladesh. Int J Disaster Risk Red 1:72–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hageback J, Sundberg J, Ostwald M, Chen D, Yun X, Knutsson P (2005) Climate variability and land-use change in Danangou Watershed, China: examples of small-scale farmers’ adaptation. Clim Change 72:189–212

  • IPCC (2007) Climate change 2007: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report. Geneve, Switzerland

  • IPCC (2014) Climate change 2014: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report. Geneve, Switzerland

  • INE (2010) Cifras Censo 2007. http://icet.odepa.cl/exp/ficha.php. Accessed Dec 2014.

  • Lindoso DP, Rocha JD, Debortoli N, Parente I, Eiro F, Bursztyn M, Rodrigues-Filho S (2014) Integrated assessment of smallholder farming’s vulnerability to drought in the Brazilian Semi-arid: a case study in Ceará. Clim Chang 127:93–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jara-Rojas R, Bravo-Ureta BE, Díaz J (2012) Adoption of water conservation practices: a socioeconomic analysis of small-scale farmers in Central Chile. Agr Syst 110:54–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiparsky M, Milman A, Vicuña S (2012) Climate and water: knowledge of impacts to action on adaptation. Annu Rev Environ Resour 37:163–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knowler D, Bradshaw B (2007) Farmers’ adoption of conservation agriculture: a review and synthesis of recent research. Food Policy 32:25–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maddala GS (ed.) (1987) Limited-dependent and qualitative variables in econometrics. In: Econometric society monographs. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

  • Manandhar S, Vogt DS, Perret SR, Kazama F (2011) Adapting cropping systems to climate change in Nepal: a cross-regional study of farmers’ perception and practices. Reg Environ Change 11(2):335–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maraseni TN, Mushtaq S, Reardon-Smith K (2012) Climate change, water security and the need for integrated policy development: the case of on-farm infrastructure investment in the Australian irrigation sector. Environ Res Lett 7(3):034006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mata L, Budhooram J (2007) Complementarity between mitigation and adaptation: the water sector. Mitig Adapt Strategies Glob Chang 12:799–807

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller A (1976) The climate of Chile. In: Schwerdtfeger W (ed) World survey of climatology: Climates of central and South America, Elsevier, Amsterdam.

  • Misra AK (2013) Climate change impacts, mitigation and adaptation strategies for agricultural and water resources, in Ganga Plain (India). Mitig Adapt Strategies Glob Chang 18:673–689

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mussetta P, Barrientos MJ (2015) Vulnerabilidad de productores rurales de Mendoza ante el cambio ambiental global: clima, agua, economía y sociedad. Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias—Universidad Nacional del Cuyo 47(2):145–170

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson DR, Adger WN, Brown K (2007) Adaptation to environmental change: contributions of a resilience framework. Annu Rev Environ Resou 32:395–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2014) OECD Rural Policy Reviews: Chile 2014. OECD Publishing, Paris, France, pp 210

  • Pahl-Wostl C (2009) A conceptual framework for analyzing adaptive capacity and multi-level learning processes in resource governance regimes. Glob Environ Chang 19:354–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira LS, Cordery I, Iacovides I (2012) Imporved indicators of water use performance and productivity for sustainable water conservation and saving. Agr Water Manage 108:39–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira LS, Paredes P, Cholpankulov ED, Inchenkova OP, Teodoro PR, Horst MG (2009) Irrigation scheduling strategies for cotton to cope with water scarcity in the Fergana Valley, Central Asia. Agr Water Manage 96:723–735

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rahm M, Huffmann W (1984) The adoption of reduced tillage: the role of human capital and other variables. Am J Agric Econ 66:405–413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Regional Government of Coquimbo (2013) Diagnostico del Plan Maestro para la Gestión de Recursos Hídricos, Región de Coquimbo. Executive Summary

  • Reyes A, Lensink R (2011) The credit constraints of market-oriented farmers in Chile. J Dev Stud 47(12):1851–1868

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roco L, Engler A, Bravo-Ureta B, Jara-Rojas R (2014) Farm level adaptation decisions to face climatic change and variability: evidence from central Chile. Environ Sci Policy 44:86–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roco L, Engler A, Bravo-Ureta B, Jara-Rojas R (2015) Farmers’ perception of climate change in Mediterranean Chile. Reg Environ Change 15(5):867–879

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sidibé A (2005) Farm-level adoption of soil and water conservation techniques in northern Burkina Faso. Agric Water Manag 71:211–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silvestri S, Bryan E, Ringler C, Herrero M, Okoba B (2012) Climate change perception and adaptation of agro-pastoral communities in Kenya. Reg Environ Change 12:791–802

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sofoluwe N, Tijane A, Baruwa O (2011) Farmers’ perception and adaptation to climate change in Osun State, Nigeria. Afr J Agric Resour Econ 6(20):4789–4794

    Google Scholar 

  • Tambo JA, Abdoulaye T (2012) Climate change and agricultural technology adoption: the case of drought tolerant maize in rural Nigeria. Mitig Adapt Strategies Glob Chang 17:277–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teshome A, de Graaff J and Kassie M. (2015) Household-level determinants of soil and water conservation adoption phases: evidence from North-Western ethiopian highlands. Environ Manage. doi: 10.1007/s00267-015-0635-5

  • Toledo R, Engler A, Ahumada V (2011) Evaluation of risk factors in agriculture: an application of the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) methodology. Chil J Agr Res 71(1):114–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torres R, Azócar G, Rojas J, Montecinos A, Paredes P (2015) Vulnerability and resistance to neoliberal environmental changes: an assessment of agriculture and forestry in the Biobio region of Chile (1974–2014). Geoforum 60:107–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urrutia RB, Lara A, Villalba R, Christie DA, Le Quesne C, Cuq A (2011) Multicentury tree ring reconstruction of annual streamflow for the Maule river watershed in south central Chile. Water Resour Res 47(6):W06527

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valdés-Pineda R, Pizarro R, García-Chevesich P et al. (2014) Water governance in Chile: availability, management and climate change. J Hydrol 519:2538–2567

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vicuña S, Garreaud RD, McPhee J (2011) Climate change impacts on the hydrology of a snowmelt driven basin in semiarid Chile. Clim Chang 105(3-4):469–488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vicuna S, Alvarez P, Melo O, Dale L, Meza F (2014) Irrigation infrastructure development in the Limarí basin in Central Chile: implications for adaptation to climate variability and climate change. Water Int 39(5):620–634

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X, Zhang J, Shahid S, Guang E, Wu Y, Gao J and He R. (2014) Adaptation to climate change impacts on water demand. Mitig Adapt Strategies Glob Chang. doi: 10.1007/s11027-014-9571-6

  • Zilberman D, Zhao J, Heiman A (2012) Adoption versus adaptation, with emphasis on climate change. Annu Rev Resour Econ 4:27–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zorom M, Barbier B, Mertz O, Servat E (2013) Diversification and adaptation strategies to climate variability: a farm typology for the Sahel. Agr Syst 116:7–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was developed under the project “Support system for decision making to reduce vulnerability in irrigated agriculture facing climate change and variability”, code N° D10i1051, founded by FONDEF Chile and implemented by Centro Interdisciplinario de Cambio Global UC. The authors thank the farmers who answered the survey. The authors also thank the feedback obtained from Mrs. Melanie Oertel, The LACEEP 10+ Workshop (México, July 2015) and The Workshop on Water Scarcity of Exceed-Swindon Program (Argentine, September 2015).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forestry, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Universidad Católica del Maule, PO Box 617, Av. San Miguel # 3605, Talca, Chile

    Lisandro Roco

  2. School of Civil Engineering, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile

    David Poblete

  3. Centro Interdisciplinario de Cambio Global, Departamento de Ecosistemas y Medioambiente, Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Francisco Meza

  4. Independent Consultant on Agricultural Economics, Talca, Chile

    George Kerrigan

Authors
  1. Lisandro Roco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David Poblete
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Francisco Meza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. George Kerrigan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lisandro Roco.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Roco, L., Poblete, D., Meza, F. et al. Farmers’ Options to Address Water Scarcity in a Changing Climate: Case Studies from two Basins in Mediterranean Chile. Environmental Management 58, 958–971 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0759-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0759-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation