International Journal of Microbiology and Mycology | IJMM |

pISSN: 2309-4796
http://www.innspub.net
Vol. 19, No. 5, p. 1-9, 2024

Open Access RESEARCH PAPER

Asian farmer's adaption strategies to climate change: A review

Fazale Rehman*, Hassan Akhtar, Muhammed Zaheer, Filza Fatima Razvi, Sajjad Ali,
Jawad Ullah, Faridullah Khan

National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan

Keywords: Drought, Systematic review, Environment management, Community development, Climate

change adaptation, Asian farmers

Publication date: November 09, 2024

Abstract
Farmer's everyday activities are being impacted by climate change in Asia. The effects of climate
change on farming's economy and environment have received a lot of attention. When the major
factor determining the dilemma is drought. The social effects of climate change on Asian farmers
have not been thoroughly explored. The goal of this paper was to analyse the available research on
Asian farmer's adaption strategies to climate change consequences. A systematic examination of the
Scopus database revealed 63 linked papers, which were found using the PRISMA Statement
(Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) review technique. The six key
topics that emerged from a further analysis of these articles are social activities, financial
management, physical infrastructure management, farm management, irrigation and water
management, and crop management. More qualitative research should be conducted, a standard
systematic review methodology should be used to guide research synthesis in the context of climate
change adaptation, and complementary searching strategies like citation tracking, reference
searching, snowballing, and contacting experts should be used.
* Corresponding Author: Fazale Rehman  [email protected]

1 Rehman et al.
Introduction extremely rare occurrences at a specific location
The impact of climate change is expected to and time of year that produce an average or total
intensify across Asia. The core of Asia's continent that is also extremely rare (e.g., drought or
is where the temperature is raising the fastest flood) (Limantol et al., 2016). The drought causes
(Mavhura et al., 2022). The unpredictable fininacial losses and it effects various filed of life
temperature variability and faster glacier melting with great potentially and enough hazardous
have raised the danger of extinction for different consequences. It occurs naturally when there is a
plant and animal kinds, which is evidence that less precipitation above an area for huge duration
impact of climate change has a great effect on of time (months to years), consequently lack of
shortage of water resources. While the effects of water and soil moisture availability naturally
extreme climate change on the environment are (Vogt and Somma, 2000). Mainly, the drought
still being documented, the effects of climate can be categorized into four types:
change on people are more severe, especially for meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, and
those who depend on environmental and climatic socio-economic drought (Mukherjee et al., 2018).
stability, such as Asian farmers (Teshome et al., Any climate area, whether dry, semi-arid, or
2021). In its 2014 report, the IPCC emphasized humid, is susceptible to drought, although the
the regional variations in Asia's responses to geographical and temporal aspects differ greatly
climate change on food production. The across places (Wilhite, 2020). The precipitation
community of Asian coastal communities is at that frequently fluctuates inter-annually brings
danger of flooding due to projected sea level rise. higher drought risk in arid region because of high
Furthermore, owing to its devastating effects on probability of low rainfall.
the environment and natural resources brought
on by fast urbanization, industrialization, and An inquiry into a clearly defined topic using
economic growth, climate change will obstruct systematic and explicit methods to search,
the sustainable development of several Asian choose, and critically assess significant
nations (Chan et al., 2018). observation along with collection and synthesis
of data from the studies that are included in the
The world International Union for Conservation of review is known as a systematic review. The
Nature defines adaptation as "the capability to findings of the included research may or may not
response to problems by learning, limiting risk be analyzed and condensed using statistical
and impacts, acquiring new information, and techniques. The claims of the authors' study's
devising efficient alternatives" (2010, p. 5). In rigor may be supported by a systematic review,
the context of this paper, the terms "climate allowing for the gap analysis and desired
change," "variability of climate," "climate and research directions. There are several researches
weather," "huge events," and "weather and on farmers’ adaptation to climate change, but
natural changes" are utilized interchangeably. there haven't been any comprehensive reviews
Weather is defined as condition of the of these studies. This article identifies and
atmosphere at every day and its small change in describes the pattern of change in adaptation of
minutes to weeks, in other hand climate is the climate among Asian farmers in an effort to close
average of the weather over a long duration of the knowledge gap. This research gives a
time, sometimes 30 years. Climate variability is comprehensive study of adaptation in the area
defined as change occur in the average state and by using adaptation reports from peer-reviewed
other climate statistics on all spatial and temporal literature as a proxy for adaptation. The study
scales behind that of weather conditions closes a significant gap in the literature by
separately, whereas extreme weather refers to conducting the most thorough analysis of the

2 Rehman et al.
adaptation efforts made by non-agriculture exclusion criteria, phases of the review process
communities (Babatunde et al., 2017). (identification, screening, and eligibility), and
Scopus resources utilized to conduct the
This research is significant since there haven't systematic review.
been many papers that present a comprehensive
guideline on the level of farmers’ adaptation to PRISMA
climate change in Asia. The systematic review The PRISMA Statement functioned as the
studies on adaptation experiments of Asian review's direction (Preferred Reporting Items
farmers that have been published in the past are for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses). In
weak in that they don't go into great detail about the subject of environmental management,
the review procedures that were used (e.g., PRISMA is often used. It has three distinct
databases searched, articles except, search terms benefits, including the ability to clearly
utilized), which makes it challenging for future formulate research questions that allow for
researchers to replicate the study, support the systematic study, identify inclusion and
interpretation, or assess the thoroughness. This exclusion criteria, and try to quickly review a
research is important because it will help us huge database of scientific literature (Sierra-
understand where the significances is and where Correa and Cantera Kintz, 2016). Future
attention necessary to be paid since the Asian environmental management evaluations may
area is predicted to continue experiencing climate use coded information and a thorough search
change pressures (droughts, floods, and winds) of phrases relating to Asian farmers reactions
that demand for urgent adaptation activities to to climate change and its effects thanks to the
boost resilience. PRISMA Statement. The tool may be used to
track how Asian farmers are adjusting to a
How Asian farmers adapt to the effects of climate harsher climate via their farming methods.
change was the key research issue that served as
the foundation for the present article's Criteria for inclusion and removal
comprehensive evaluation. The study's primary There are a number of prerequisites and
emphasis was on human adaptation techniques. restrictions put in place. In selecting literature,
Asian agriculture received particular attention only publications from journals with empirical
since this population is more vulnerable to data are considered; this means that book
climate change than other groups because they reviews, book series, novels, book chapters,
depend more heavily on natural stability for their and conference proceedings are ignored. To
socioeconomic activities (Shaffril et al., 2017). avoid confusion and translation issues, the
Fishermen and people engaged in aquaculture searches limited themselves to English-
operations were excluded from this evaluation language articles and excluded any non-English
even though they are regarded to be part of the media. Third, an 8-year period (from 2016 to
agricultural community since their activities are 2023) has been selected since it is sufficient for
quite different from those of inland farming. seeing changes in related research and
publications. Due to the review's emphasis on
Materials and methods adaptation techniques for climate change,
This section discusses the technique used to papers from the rigorous scientific index
find articles about Asian farmer's adaptability (Science Citation Index Expanded) are
to climate change. The reviewers used the disqualified. Finally, the publication's
PRISMA methodology, which comprises data concentration on Asian farmers means that it
abstraction and analysis, inclusion and exclusively publishes articles with an Asian slant.

3 Rehman et al.
Systematic evaluation procedure were eliminated from the 173 articles that were
The procedure of conducting the systematic initially eligible for evaluation. The entire
review included four steps. The initial stage articles were accessible at the eligibility stage,
was identifying the search terms. Using terms which is the third step. After rigorous review, a
comparable to and connected to climate total of 41 articles were dropped because they
change, adaptability, and agricultural didn't address inland agricultural communities,
communities, prior research and thesaurus weren't empirical, didn't address adaptation
were employed (Table 1). At this point, two strategies, or didn't address Asian nations and
duplicate items were eliminated following regions. A total of 63 articles were found after
meticulous screening. Screening came in at the last round of evaluation and utilized in the
stage two. At this point, a total of 59 papers qualitative analysis (Fig. 1).

Table 1. The search string used for the systematic review process
Database Keywords used
TITLE-ABS-KEY(((Drought* OR "Drought Stres*" OR "Drought* Adaptibilit*") And("Climat* chang*"
OR "Climat* risk* OR " climat* AND variabilit*) AND ("Adapt* abilit*" OR "adapt* strateg*" OR
Scopus "adapt* capacit*" OR "adapt* capabilit*" OR "adapt* strength*" OR "adapt* potential*" OR "adopt*
abilit*" OR "adopt* capacity*" OR "adopt* capabilit*" OR "Adopt* potential*" OR adopt* AND
strategy*)) AND (farmers*)) AND ( LIMIT-TO ( OA,"all" ) )

Fig. 1. The flow diagram of the study

Data abstraction and analysis find pertinent topics and sub-themes, the data
Assessment and analysis were done on the were extracted. To find themes relating to Asian
remaining publications. Focused efforts were farmers’ adaptation techniques, qualitative
made on certain research that provided answers research employing content analysis was
to the posed issues. After carefully reviewing the conducted. The topics defined by typology were
whole paper and their accompanying abstracts to then surrounded by sub-themes by the writers.

4 Rehman et al.
Results and discussion six subthemes), physical infrastructure
Six primary themes and 35 sub-themes (Fig. 2) management (with four subthemes), and social
of adaptation techniques were generated from activities (with six primary themes) are the six
the review. Crop management (with five subthemes (seven sub-themes) (Fig. 2). The
subthemes), irrigation and water management findings provide a thorough examination of the
(with six subthemes), farm management (with existing adaption techniques used by Asian
seven subthemes), revenue management (with agricultural groups.

Fig. 2. Processing and finding

5 Rehman et al.
Asian farmers coping mechanisms for climate topic include micro and supplementary irrigation,
change water conservation, the use of natural resources
Irrigation and water management, Crop for irrigation, and overall water management.
management, financial management, farm Fourteen articles revealed that most Asian
management, physical infrastructure farmers rely on natural resources for irrigation,
management, and social activities are some of while seven studies highlighted the practice of
the primary adaptation strategies discussed in storing water as a resource during drought
this section, which focuses on farmers belongs to periods. In Nepal, methods such as underground
Asian nations. storage, water tanks, ponds, and wells are
commonly employed for water storage (Mushore
Crop Management: Several studies of crop et al., 2021). Similarly, Malaysian farmers
management, according to research studies, strategically cultivate crops near water storage
revealed that crops mostly affect climate change. facilities to reduce costs and promote faster crop
Diversifying crops is the most common crops growth (Abubakar et al., 2021).
management that has been found in 23 studies,
while the farmers depend on improved varieties Farm management: Farm management practices
has discussed in 18 studies that make sure the adopted by Asian farmers have been extensively
effect of climate change. The rescheduling of studied, with 42 studies highlighting various
planting calendars has proposed in 16 studies strategies. Key areas under this theme include
while fertilizer or insecticides/pesticides has used soil conservation, tree planting, insurance
as a strategy in 8 studies. Kogo et al., 2022 schemes, in-house farming, and organic farming.
suggested that the location of farming has been Nine studies focused on tree planting, while eight
changed by farmers to mitigate the effect of discussed organic farming. Shaffril et al. (2017)
climate change. presented the mulching technique used by
farmers in Bangladesh and Nepal. This technique
In India the climate change is greatly affect the enhances soil quality by reducing erosion and
crops such as sugarcane due to variation of speed nutrient leaching, increasing soil moisture and
of wind from one region to other region, fertility, and protecting the soil from high
therefore the farmers have decided to change temperatures during summer. In western
the sugarcane crop to peppermint crop, that get Bangladesh, farmers use jute biomass to improve
more profit (Singh et al., 2020). In Bangladesh soil fertility for the next harvest season (Kabir et
farmers have started to crop rice called Swarma, al., 2017). Additionally, in countries like
which is more drought and pest tolerant. To Bangladesh, farmers utilize remaining land for
minimize the risk of crops damaged due to tree planting, which provides extra income and
certain factors such as climate change, a essential nutrients.
rescheduling method is proposed. The most
farmers in Bangladesh take the advantages from Financial management: Some of studies
the rainfall during wet-season and do the crop concluded that the financial perspective of Asian
growing during the season having less stress farmers relies on climate change. Fish rearing,
such as no drought or storm (Kabir et al., 2017). non-farmers activities, making loans, and
minimizing the expenditure of house holding are
Irrigation and water management: Studies have the emerging elements of financial management.
documented that farmers utilize irrigation and The driving license plays an important role in
water management as strategies to mitigate the agriculture fields therefore its essential for every
impacts of climate change. Key areas under this employer. Fish rearing is one the source of

6 Rehman et al.
income for the farmers to increase its income by Results show that Asian farmers have used a
decreasing the associated risk with productivity wide range of methods. Six main themes and
due to climate variation impact (Bagagnan et al., thirty-five secondary themes emerged from the
2019). In Bangladesh, the farmers’ income also data used in this analysis. The A farmers principal
depends on buying and sailing of goat and cattle. adaptation tactics were irrigation and water
They buy the goat at lower price and then sale it management, crop management, financial
at high price during peak time (Kabir et al., management, farm management, and in addition
2017). Most farmers of Asia take loan from to infrastructure management (physical) and
various sources such as bank. The western social activities.
Bangladesh farmer's taken loan from relatives
and other agencies such as NGOs (Malek et al., Crop diversification has one of the many ways in
2020). The farmer's takes loan from different which Asian farmers adapt to changing
bank in In Vietnam. Most farmers also save their conditions. Rainfall patterns and flood have
income for live off. delayed the planting of many crops and may
damage the sorts of crops that can be grown,
Physical infrastructure management: Physical throughout the Asian continent, producing a
infrastructure management in farming ripple effect on the price of food and harming the
encompasses key areas such as technology populations. In the future, scientists predict,
related to farming, upgrading farm infrastructure, these storms and floods will become more often.
and building structures. In Bangladesh, a type Asian farmers adopted the technique of
of roof called Golpata is commonly used by intercropping and mixed cropping with high-tech
farmers for its durability, while house walls are varieties of crops in response to these unusually
typically constructed using wood and bamboo severe weather patterns and occurrences. This
instead of mud. These materials not only method not only helped them generate additional
enhance the structural strength of houses but money but also mitigated the danger of financial
also minimize risks during severe weather ruin due to the failure of a single crop.
conditions (Malek et al., 2020).
Even if many farmers of Asia are now residing in
Social activities: The Asian farmers’ relation with the contemporary world, this does not imply that
each other depends on social activities such as they have abandoned their traditional and local
traditional/local knowledge, migration, wisdom. Researchers are currently looking at
community, and motivational events. Sharing of issues including monitoring climate change's
information is popular in its tradition. Migration is effects, carbon abatement activities, and the
the common social activity due to climate creation of locally tailored adaptation plans to see
change. Migration is done due lack of facilities how they might be improved by using local and
and having no land, this mostly happens in traditional environmental knowledge. Improved
Bangladesh. The most common cause of physical infrastructure is another adaptation
migration is loss in crops and buys land in city to measure taken by Asian farmers as rising
migrate (Habib-ur-Rahman et al., 2022). In temperatures, sea level and precipitation, reduce
paper (Nyikahadzoi et al., 2017) explains the the quality service. Farmers understanding
different methods for awareness of climate climate change and how these beliefs may
change in people. The various functional activities influence future decisions regarding local
play vital role for awareness in farmers to share adaptation to climate change are mediated in
information with each other to make its strength large part by local and traditional knowledge.
against climate change. Some of the adaptation measures they are taking

7 Rehman et al.
include enhancing their transportation and and decision-making processes around adaptation
communication networks and constructing new or techniques. The second is to use supplementary
enhancing existing infrastructure. This plan search strategies including snowballing, reference
shields farmers from climate change's deadly searching, citation tracking, and contacting experts,
impacts and lessens the likelihood of physical and the third is to use a specialized and systematic
harm or even death. The speed with which help standardized review process to guide the research
may be sought or supplied can be increased by a synthesis to climate change in the context of
well-developed transportation and adaptation.
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