Perceived influence of climate variability in the context of multiple stressors on smallholder farmers in southern Mexico

Abstract

Most studies on hazards to smallholder farmers focus on the impact of climate variability on their livelihoods. However, climate variability does not exist in isolation; rather, it manifests in combination with a multiplicity of stressors. This paper examines the perceptions of the influence of climate variability on multiple stressors affecting the agricultural livelihoods of smallholder farmers in an irrigation system in southern Mexico. An ethnographic approach was used to conduct a qualitative study of 85 smallholder farmers in four communities. The results showed that farmers are affected by several biophysical (e.g. water scarcity, crop disease) and socioeconomic (e.g. market price problems, high cost of chemical inputs) stressors that interact with climate variability. Farmers perceived increase in temperature, decrease in rainfall, and changes in the rainfall pattern (onset of the rainy season, its duration or cessation) as amplifying the stressors of water scarcity and crop disease. The results suggest that policies should go beyond the impacts of climate variability on agricultural livelihoods and consider the full range of socioeconomic impacts. Furthermore, the differences in perception regarding stressors and climate variability in communities point to the need for effective implementation of policies adapted to local conditions.