Climatic and non-climatic factors driving the livelihood vulnerability of smallholder farmers in Ahafo Ano North District,Ghana

Smallholder farmers in Ahafo Ano North District,Ghana,face multiple climatic and non-climatic issues.This study assessed the factors contributing to the livelihood vulnerability of smallholder farmers in this district by household surveys with 200 respondents and focus group discussions(FGDs)with 10 respondents.The Mann–Kendall trend test was used to assess mean annual rainfall and temperature trends from 2002 to 2022.The relative importance index(RII)value was used to rank the climatic and non-climatic factors perceived by respondents.The socioeconomic characteristics affecting smallholder farmers’perceptions of climatic and non-climatic factors were evaluated by the binary logistic regression model.Results showed that mean annual rainfall decreased(P>0.05)but mean annual temperature significantly increased(P<0.05)from 2002 to 2022 in the district.The key climatic factors perceived by smallholder farmers were extreme heat or increasing temperature(RII=0.498),erratic rainfall(RII=0.485),and increased windstorms(RII=0.475).The critical non-climatic factors were high cost of farm inputs(RII=0.485),high cost of healthcare(RII=0.435),and poor condition of roads to farms(RII=0.415).Smallholder farmers’perceptions of climatic and non-climatic factors were significantly affected by their socioeconomic characteristics(P<0.05).This study concluded that these factors negatively impact the livelihoods and well-being of smallholder farmers and socioeconomic characteristics influence their perceptions of these factors.Therefore,to enhance the resilience of smallholder farmers to climate change,it is necessary to adopt a comprehensive and context-specific approach that accounts for climatic and non-climatic factors.

Age Structure and Change Trend of Tobacco Farmers:A Case Study of Shashi Town,Liuyang City,Hunan Province

Taking the tobacco-growing area of Shashi Town,Liuyang City as the object,the number of registered,newly added and resigned tobacco farmers in each year,average age,number and proportion of tobacco farmers of different ages,number and proportion of tobacco farmers born in different eras,as well as planting scale and planting history of flue-cured tobacco in the last 10 years were analyzed statistically.The results showed that the number of tobacco farmers in Shashi Town showed a rapid decline trend from 2012 to 2018,while the average age continuously increased,and the average planting scale rose in a wave like way.From 2019 to 2021,the decline rate of the number of tobacco farmers slowed down,and the average planting scale continuously increased,while the aging of tobacco farmers accelerated.Meantime,the birth years of tobacco farmers were further concentrated in the 1960s,and they were mainly at the age of 50-59.The tobacco industry in Shashi Town of Liuyang City is facing the crisis of aging tobacco farmers and no successor of flue-cured tobacco planting,and it is predicted that the next 5-10 years will continue the change trend from 2019 to 2021.

Farmers' perception and knowledge on climate change and their coping strategies to the related hazards: case study from Adiha, central Tigray, Ethiopia

Climate change adversely affects Ethiopian economy due to heavy dependence of the agricultural sector on rainfall. A decrease of rainfall and rise in temperature has been increasing the exposure of the country to frequent drought. The study was conducted in central Tigray, Adiha tabia, to examine the perception of farmers on trends of climate changes and existing coping strategies. Farmers’ knowledge of various adaptation strategies, drought early warning system and weather forecasting were assessed using focus group discussion (FGD), which consisted of 144 systematically sampled respondents. Temperature is rising while precipitation is declining from time to time. Untimely rain and frequent drought are challenging crop production in the area. Drought is perceived, both by male and female respondents, as the primary climate related hazard which is occurring frequently and affecting their livelihood. Individual’s vulnerability to this hazard varies based on their hazard coping capacity. Lack of modern early warning systems, inflexible cropping calendar and narrow choice of crop varieties should aggravates the vulnerability. Hence, improving forecasting and dissemination of climate information, developing drought resistant varieties and promoting farm-level adaptation measures like use of irrigation technologies and adjusting planting dates should be prioritized to improve community resilience to climate change.

Motivations,enablers and barriers to the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices by smallholder farmers:Evidence from the transitional and savannah agroecological zones of Ghana

This paper examined the prioritized climate-smart agricultural practices by smallholder farmers,the motivations of adopting climate-smart agricultural practices,the enablers to the successful adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices,and the barriers to the successful adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices in the transitional and savannah agroecological zones of Ghana.Specifically,we employed ethnographic research using participatory approaches,including two stakeholder workshops and household surveys with 1061 households in the transitional and savannah agroecological zones of Ghana.The weighted average index(WAI)and problem confrontation index(PCI)were used to rank smallholder farmers’perceived enablers to the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices and the barriers affecting climate-smart agricultural practices,respectively.Results suggest that the majority of the respondents used a suite of climate-smart agricultural practices,including the timely harvesting of produce and storage,emergency seed banking,appropriate and timely weed and pest control,and early planting as practices to build climate resilience.The majority of smallholder farmers primarily employed climate-smart agricultural practices to improve household food security(96.2%),reduce pests and diseases(95.6%),and obtain higher yields and greater farm income(93.2%).Findings also show that secured land tenure system arrangement,understanding the effects of climate change,and access to sustainable agricultural technologies were ranked the first,second,and third most important enablers to the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices with the WAI values of 2.86,2.75,and 2.70,respectively.Key barriers to the successful adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices included incidences of pests and diseases(PCI=2530),inadequate access to agricultural credit(PCI=2502),high cost of improved crop varieties(PCI=2334),and limited government support with farm inputs(PCI=2296).Smallholder farmers need to be better supported through the provision of appropriate institutional and policy arrangements together with improved land management extension advice to overcome these barriers and facilitate the more effective implementation of climate-smart agricultural practices in Ghana.

Chinese Citizens Should Change from Savers to Consumers

Editorial note Consumer demand is the driving force of economy.Since 1978,China has witnessed a massive rise in consumption and expansion of consumption mix.However,insufficient consumption has remained a primary constraint to economic growth.As such,domestic demand expansion and in particular demand-inducing strategy are high on the agenda of the Eleventh"Five- year Plan"(2006～2010).This article written by Dr.Chen Wenling offers a complete insight into the development,tendencies and deep-seated problems of consumer demand in China.

Climate change risk,resilience,and adaptation among rural farmers in East Africa:A literature review

This study assesses the literature evidence on climate change risk,resilience,and adaptation measures used among rural farmers in East Africa.A systematic literature review was conducted comprising 30 papers from the Web of Science database published during 2000-2022.The results of the literature review showed that climate change risks have direct impacts on agricultural practices,limit rural farmers’resilience,and exacerbate their food insecurity.The most prominent risks are increasingly shorter wet seasons and heat stress,which lead to droughts and food production losses.Responding to climate risks,farmers in East Africa adopt various adaptation strategies such as mixed-and inter-cropping,conservation tillage,early planting,crop diversification,etc.Also,this review summarizes the determinants of climate change adaptation strategy selection by farmers in East Africa,including age,gender,household size,economic status and household assets,landownership and livestock,education and training,etc.Overall,the choice of adaptation strategies to climate change is strongly determined by the gender of household heads,the results of gender as a determinant of adaptation differ greatly between different case studies.Although female-headed households(FHHs)tend to perceive changes in temperature more readily than male-headed households(MHHs),the latter are generally more likely to adopt different adaptation strategies.Despite the resilience and adaptation measures used by rural farmers in East Africa now,improved weather forecasting and early warning systems are needed as a better direction towards the future.

Determinants of Farmers’ Perception of Climate Change: A Case Study from the Coastal Region of Bangladesh

Socio-economic conditions of farmers, especially in the coastal region in Bangladesh, have been severely affected because of climate change. This study was focused on analyzing the farmers’ perception of climate change by examining three vital issues: (1) description of the socioeconomic characteristics of farmers;(2) reporting on the perception of farmers experiences with climatic change;and (3) identification of the socio-economic factors associated with farmers’ perception of climate change. The study area encompasses three villages within the coastal region (Sathkhira district) of Bangladesh, a geographic region where climate change literature has highlighted as prone to accelerated degradation. A logit model, along with weighted indexes for ranking and descriptive statistics, was used to analyze the result of 100 farmers surveyed by questionnaire. We found that the majority of the farmers (88%) perceived changes in climatic conditions. Almost all farmers indicated increases in temperature, droughts, floods, cyclones, salinity level and decreasing rainfall over the last 20 years. The logit model explained that out of the nine factors surveyed;education, family size, farm size, family income, farming experiences and training received were significantly related and influential factors to perception of climate change. Therefore, government and non-governmental organizations are recommended to push forward with interventions, especially focusing on identified factors, in order to strengthen the farmers’ capacity to battle against climate change effects.

Livelihood vulnerability of smallholder farmers to climate change: A comparative analysis based on irrigation access in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Bulukumba Regency is one of the major rice-producing areas in South Sulawesi,Indonesia and has experienced frequent climate disasters over the past decade.Several downstream villages within the Bettu River irrigation area have been affected by the drought,culminating in reduced lowland rice production and increasing the vulnerability of farmers’livelihoods.This study aims to evaluate the vulnerability of the livelihood system among rice farmers in the Bettu River irrigation area by classifying the area into two zones based on the distance from the main irrigation canal,namely the upstream area and downstream area.The livelihood vulnerability index(LVI)framework and livelihood vulnerability index-Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(LVI-IPCC)approach were applied by selecting geographic and socio-demographic indicators that affected the farmer households,including 8 major components and 26 sup-components.The data for LVI-IPCC estimation were collected by randomly selecting 132 households from villages in the two areas.The empirical results showed that farmers in the downstream area were more vulnerable to climate change than farmers in the upstream area.The major components causing the livelihood vulnerability of the downstream farmers were livelihood strategy,food,water,land,and health,as well as natural disasters and climate variability.In particular,the sub-components of agricultural livelihood diversification,consistent water supply for farming,and drought events were important in the downstream area.Farmers in the upstream area were vulnerable to socio-demographic profile and social network components.The LVI-IPCC findings suggested that the government should prioritize farmers in the downstream area to develop resilience strategies,particularly by increasing irrigation infrastructure and the number of reservoirs and drilling holes.Furthermore,to increase their adaptive capacity in terms of diversification of agricultural livelihood systems,the government and donor agencies need to provide trainings on the development of home food industries for poor farmers and vulnerable households that were affected by disasters.

Changes in Agricultural System as Farmers Adapt to Economic-Social and Climatic Changes in the Min Upriver Rural Areas in Western Sichuan,Southwestern China

Rapid economic growth in China has brought about great economic-social changes in rural areas, having considerable impact on the society in economy and environment. With a per capita possession of about 0.08 ha of cropland, Chinese farmers in rural areas adopt various ways in response to these changes in a bit to maintain their livelihood, wherein the agricultural system is facing one more options possible. To understand how rural communities have used different mechanisms to adapt to the economic and natural changes, we joined a survey in dry valleys of the Min upriver area under Maoxian county of western Sichuan province, southwestern China and visited the local people. Changes in the main crop cultivation have shown up an important means to keep up their household income. Farm households start seeking economic growth through diversified cultivating of cereal and economic crops in five lines, namely cereal, apple monoculture, apple and vegetables, plum and vegetables, mixed fruits and vegetables. These new lines mirror farmers' flexibility to cope with today's economic-social and climatic changes. The farming operation has changed all the more from a subsistence on grain to special agricultural products. Economic reforms in the early 1980 s motivated theprogress first in conversion of production from grain to fruits, and the desire to increase family income turned out to be an impetus for the subsequent events. At present, more farmers moving out of the rural areas, uneasy availability of labor force, increased opportunity cost of labors and their wages, increased farm size, and the urgent demand for the agricultural labor force, all these combine into the trend of the agricultural system of China on facing further economic-social reforms and reconstruction of the countryside across China.

Analysis on Consumption Behavior of Zhejiang Province's Farmers from the Perspective of Their Income Increase

With rapid development of industrialization in Zhejiang Province, surplus rural labor forces move to the secondary and tertiary industries. Farmers of Zhejiang Province are no exception. They turn to industrial workers and their income source has great changes. Wage income becomes their major source of income. Accordingly, farmers' consumption behavior has great changes. Apart from satisfying basic production and living demands, farmers start to pursue living quality and their life style tends to urbanization. Nevertheless, under the influence of rural physical environment, policies and systems, the existing consumption environment fails to follow farmers' urban lifestyle any more. In line with how to optimize rural consumption environment, improve farmers' consuming capacity, continue to expand farmers' consumption and promote urbanization development of rural areas, this paper presents pertinent countermeasures and recommendations.

Policy Needs for Social Security in the Process of Citizenization of the Peri-urban Farmers:A Case Study of Hefei City

We conduct a survey of transformational towns and villages in High-tech Development District, Yaohai District and Shushan District, Hefei City. Using data, we analyze the "sideline effect" and inherent contradiction of transformational cities, research the policy needs for social security and its trend in the citizenization process of the peri-urban farmers. On this basis, we construct the social security policy system that can adapt to the accelerated process of urbanization. Finally, we put forth the following recommendations for the social security policy in the citizenization process of the peri-urban farmers: distinguishing different groups' policy needs for social security; attaching importance to people's dynamic policy needs for social security in urbanization; focusing on the adaptability of social security policy transformation in urbanization; attaching importance to the social psychosocial environment of social security policy transformation in urbanization; achieving the trinity of non-farm conversion, urbanization and citizenization in the process of urbanization; strengthening the government's dominant position in the building of social security policy system.

Land-losing Farmers' Citizenization in the Process of Urbanization

Starting from the status of citizenization of land-losing farmers,problems in the citizenization are analyzed,such as the difficulty in land-losing farmers' economic life after turning into citizens,employment difficulties of land-losing farmers after living in the city,and the prominent problems in social security of land-losing farmers.Causations for the citizenization problems of land-losing farmers are analyzed.Firstly,institutionalized rejection is the root of the obstacle in citizenization of land-losing farmers.Secondly,exclusion from social security system is a fundamental reason.Thirdly,exclusion of land-losing farmers from both urban citizens and themselves is the subjective factor.Fourthly,exclusion of land-losing farmers from urban employment is the objective factor.Based on these,countermeasures are put forward:formulating a reasonable price of land transfer;establishing a reasonable land compensation and benefit-sharing mechanism;setting up a multi-level social security system for land-losing farmers;increasing the human capital investment in land-losing farmers to enhance their employment status;and improving the cultural quality of land-losing farmers to realize the change in lifestyle.

Determinants of Adaptation to Climate Change:A Case Study of Rice Farmers in Western Province,Iran

The decisions made by agricultural households to adjust to climate change(CC)in Iran are not well known.This study is intended to investigate the influence of perceptions and socioeconomic,institutional features on farmers’adaptation decisions about CC,which constitute the hypothetical statements of the study.We undertook a survey of 200 farm householders from 31 villages of Ilam Province,situated in the western Iran,as randomly selected.The result discloses that the proposed discriminant model matches the dataset well,with a strong effect size of partial eta-squared(η^(2)=0.38).The analysis further signals that adapters are younger and more welleducated than non-adapters.Adapters are also knowledgeable about CC risks and institutional policy barriers.The adapters have subsidiary work,better access to credit,and have good contacts with expansion agents and specialists.The paper concludes that government authorities should provide farmers with the enriched capabilities and competencies enabling them to adapt to CC.

Effect of Socio-Demographic Characteristics on Kenyan Smallholder Dairy Farmers’ Adaptive Strategies to Climate Change Effects

Climate change (CC) impedes smallholder dairy industry in Kenya. Consequently, farmers’ adaptation to CC effects would greatly determine their resilience, profitability, and sustainable contribution to the economy. Socio-demography among other factors, determine smallholder farmers’ adaptive strategies to CC effects. This study sought to understand how smallholder dairy farmers in South Western Kenya adapt to climate changes and determine the relationship between famers’ adaptive strategies and their socio-demographics of sex, age, marital status, highest educational level, household size, and experience in dairying. Concurrent Fixed Mixed Methods were used to collect primary and secondary data. Reports and papers were reviewed for temperature and precipitation data, dairy population, production trends, and farmers’ socio-demographics. A survey questionnaire was administered to 367 smallholder dairy household heads with 10 years’ experience obtained through multi-stage sampling of respondents from 4 sub counties of Migori county. The data collected included the respondents’ socio-demographics, climate changes and adaptability to CC effects. Key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted with heads of government departments of Livestock Production, Cooperative Development, Meteorology, Environment and Agriculture Sector Development Support Programme (ASDSP) in Migori County. Others included the leadership of Rongo Dairy Farmers’ Cooperative Society, Lichota Livestock Development Farm, and a Research Officer for Livestock Production Systems with Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO). Focus group discussions (FGDs), on the other hand, were conducted with old men and women (aged 60 years and above), and farmer groups from Rongo Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society, Cham Gi Wadu Dairy and Multipurpose Cooperative Society, and East Sakwa Farmers’ Development Group. These were obtained purposively based on dairying experience. Descriptive statistics (percentages) were used to describe climate change effect on smallholder dairying and farmers’ adaptation. Percentages, minimum and maximum values, means, range, and standard deviations were used to describe respondents’ socio-demographics. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine the effect of farmers’ socio-demographics on their adaptive strategies to CC effects. Results indicated that individually, male farmers were more likely to adopt mixed crop and livestock farming (Odds = 3.97;p = 0.02) and experience an increasing trend in income earning from milk sales (Odds = 0.63;p = 0.04). Individually, older farmers were significantly more likely to establish own fodder (Odds = 0.96;p = 0.03), keep non-Friesians and their crosses (Odds = 0.97;p = 0.02), and experience increasing trends in income earned from milk sales (odds = 1.02;p = 0.02). Individually, household size significantly influenced establishment of own fodder (Odds = 0.69;p = 0.00) and jointly with the other 5 socio-demographic factors (Odds = 0.70;p = 0.00). With other socio-demographic factors, male farmers were more likely to rely mainly on household labour (Odds = 0.32;p = 0.05). Thus, gender, age and household size were found to have significant effects on smallholder dairy farmers’ adaptation to climate change effects in the study area.

Factors Influencing Cassava Farmers’ Climate Change Risk Perception in Anambra State, Nigeria

This study analyzed the determinants of climate change risk perception among cassava farmers in Anambra state, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of cassava farmers in the area and to examine the farmers’ climate change risk perception through examining their perception of the various sources of climate change risk. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select one hundred and sixty (160) respondents who were selected from 40 communities and 8 Local Government Areas from across the four Agricultural Zones of the state. Data were obtained through the administration of structured questionnaire to the respondents. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, weighted mean obtained from Likert scale, and Tobit regression model. The results of the socioeconomic characteristics of farmers showed that majority of the farmers had formal education and only 15.19% had no formal education, 56.74% of the farmers had 11 years of farming experience. The farmers’ risk perception showed that the most important risk factors perceived by cassava farmers in their farm were flooding/erosion, increased frequency and intensity of rainfall and incidence of pest and diseases. The factors that influenced the farmers’ level of risk perception included age, level of education, access to extension agents and access to climate change information. Based on the findings of cassava farmers’ level of risk perception, it was inferred that the farmers have reasonable perception of climate change risk. It was therefore recommended from the findings of this research that there is need for effective and functional extension services and provision of enabling environment and policies that will help boost the socio-economic welfare of farmers as this will significantly help in the management of climate change risk in the study area.

Adaptation of Smallholder Dairy Farmers in South Western Kenya to the Effects of Climate Change

Despite great potential, Kenyan smallholder dairying faces diminishing land sizes, high input costs, poor extension contacts, non-responsive price policies, and new pests and diseases. Climate change will worsen the situation. This study sought to assess smallholder dairy farmers’ climate change adaptation level in Southwestern Kenya. Adopting Concurrent Fixed Mixed Methods, primary and secondary data was collected. Reports and papers were reviewed for temperature and precipitation data, dairy population, production trends, and farmers’ socio-demographics. A survey questionnaire for climate changes and farmers’ adaptiveness was administered to 367 smallholder dairy household heads with 10 years’ experience, obtained by multi-stage sampling from 4 sub-counties. Key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with farmer groups, heads of research, government departments and livestock farms;and the old that were obtained purposively based on dairying experience. Percentages were used for climate change effect on smallholder dairying and farmers’ adaptation. Principal component analysis was used for factors with great influence on respondents’ climate change adaptiveness;while one proportion Z-score test was used for significant differences between adapters and non-adapters (p < 0.05). Flexible and systematic Framework Approach was used for qualitative data analysis by cases and 5 themes. Findings indicated that despite Migori County’s great dairying potential, climate changes have partly hindered full exploitation. Temperatures and rainfall increased slightly in 30 years;with feeds and water diminishing, and resistant diseases and parasites emerging. Upon ranking, pasture loss (42.2%);over-grazing (41.1%);cattle under-feeding (39.5%);and increasing cattle diseases and pests (61.0%) had high impact;while drying water sources (37.1%) had moderate effect. Farmers’ adaptiveness included mixed farming (96.5%);non-intensive dairying (95.1%);establishing own fodder (92.4%);rearing crossbred dairy cattle (87.7%);reducing dairy herd size to 2 (92.9%);relying mainly on household labour (94.6%);and maintaining a 10-year increasing trend in milk-income (68.4%). Z-scores indicated significant differences between adapters and non-adopters (p < 0.05). Civil societies, academic and research institutions should intensify farmer advisory services to complement government extension.

Climate Change Adaptation among Smallholder Farmers: Evidence from Ghana

Local discourses on climate change adaptation are very relevant to many developing countries which suffer the most of climate change impacts. Smallholder farmers are a backbone to the Ghanaian economy. However, the activities of smallholder farmers are threatened by climate-related risk increasing their vulnerability. This study aims to review knowledge on climate change adaptation for the ultimate goal of fostering climate-resilience among smallholder farmers. This paper uses purposive sampling to systematically review recent available literature on the theme “adaptation of smallholder farmers in Ghana”. In order to avoid the duplication of the information and track data sources for accuracy purpose, Mendeley version 1.19.4 software was used to incorporate articles while MS EXCEL Version 2019 was used to categorize the types and key examples of adaptation strategies used by smallholders. It was found that the most utilized adaptation types are farm management and technology (67%) and diversification on and beyond the farm (20.6%) with less adoption for knowledge management, networks and governance (5.4%);farm financial management (4%);government interventions in rural infrastructure, the rural health care services, and risk reduction for the rural population (3%). Although the strategies enlisted above help to adapt to climate change, challenges such as poor and unsustainable agricultural practices, socio-cultural constraints, institutional barriers and under-representation of other regions (except Northern Ghana) in the study of climate change adaptation of smallholder farmers in Ghana remain. The study therefore advocates for strengthening the link between research institutions and the extension officers and enhanced deployment of agricultural extension services to smallholder farmers in the rural areas among others.

A Storm of Changes Sweep over Tibetan Farmers and Herdsmen Led by the Qinghai-Tibetan Railway

From the opening traffic of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway,a major restriction on transportation to and from Tibet was finally removed. Such a change has had a massive impact on the economy of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) as a whole and,in particular,on the rural Tibetans.In other words,the railway became a leading force in the re- structure and advancement of the Tibetan economy.

Changing Concepts of Farmers and Herdsmen

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Climate change and Chinese farmers: Perceptions and determinants of adaptive strategies

Farmers’ perceptions, beliefs, adaptive strategies, and barriers regarding climate change are critical to promoting sustainable ecosystems and societal stability. This paper is based on an extensive survey of 1 500 farmers and their households in Henan Province in China during 2013–2014. Henan is the largest agricultural province in China with over 51 million farmers. The survey results showed that approximately 57% of the respondents perceived the direct impact of climate change during the past 10 years, with 70.3% believing that climate change posed a risk to their livelihood. Not surprisingly, most farmers reported that they have adopted new measures to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. The main barriers hindering farmers’ adopting adaptation measures were lack of funds and timely information. A multinomial logit model revealed that land ownership, knowledge of crop variety and the causes of climate change, as well as the belief of climate change, were all positively related to the likelihood of employing adaptive strategies. Moreover, the percentage of households engaging in agriculture activity, and years of engaging in farming were both negatively correlated with famer’s likelihood of adopting adaptation strategies. More importantly, farmers with high incomes were less likely to adopt adaptive strategies and more willing to engage in other business activities. In conclusion, it is important to communicate climate change related information and government policies in rural areas, promote farmer associations and other educational outreach efforts to assist Chinese farmers to deal with climate change.