Knowledge flow analysis of knowledge co-production-based climate change adaptation for lowland rice farmers in Bulukumba Regency,Indonesia

To increase the resilience of farmers’livelihood systems,detailed knowledge of adaptation strategies for dealing with the impacts of climate change is required.Knowledge co-production approach is an adaptation strategy that is considered appropriate in the context of the increasing frequency of disasters caused by climate change.Previous research of knowledge co-production on climate change adaptation in Indonesia is insufficient,particularly at local level,so we examined the flow of climate change adaptation knowledge in the knowledge co-production process through climate field school(CFS)activities in this study.We interviewed 120 people living in Bulukumba Regency,South Sulawesi Province,Indonesia,involving 12 crowds including male and female farmers participated in CFS and not participated in CFS,local government officials,agriculture extension workers,agricultural traders,farmers’family members and neighbors,etc.In brief,the 12 groups of people mainly include two categories of people,i.e.,people involved in CFS activities and outside CFS.We applied descriptive method and Social network analysis(SNA)to determine how knowledge flow in the community network and which groups of actors are important for knowledge flow.The findings of this study reveal that participants in CFS activities convey the knowledge they acquired formally(i.e.,from TV,radio,government,etc.)and informally(i.e.,from market,friends,relatives,etc.)to other actors,especially to their families and neighbors.The results also show that the acquisition and sharing of knowledge facilitate the flow of climate change adaptation knowledge based on knowledge co-operation.In addition,the findings highlight the key role of actors in the knowledge transfer process,and key actors involved in disseminating information about climate change adaptation.To be specific,among all the actors,family member and neighbor of CFS actor are the most common actors in disseminating climate knowledge information and closest to other actors in the network;agricultural trader and family member of CFS actor collaborate most with other actors in the community network;and farmers participated in CFS,including those heads of farmer groups,agricultural extension workers,and local government officials are more willing to contact with other actors in the network.To facilitate the flow of knowledge on climate change adaptation,CFS activities should be conducted regularly and CFS models that fit the situation of farmers’vulnerability to climate change should be developed.

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.

Spatial Based Assessment of Land Suitability and Availability for Maize (<i>Zea mays</i>L.) Development in Maros Region, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Recently, South Sulawesi Provincial government has launched the “gong” program with the main objective to optimize all the resources (land, infrastructures, and farmers) in agriculture areas for maize production in the province. This study is aimed at identifying the suitability and availability of land areas for maize development in Maros Regionthe regency having the most extensive agriculture production in South Sulawesi province. This study employed land evaluation method in geographic information system (GIS) based on the FAO Framework for Land Evaluation. Land availability was assessed from overlaying information on land use (obtained from available land use map and SPOT XS image interpretation) and suitability classes based on the FAO Framework, as well as administration boundary map. The results indicated that the S1 (highly suitable) class comprises a total area of approximately 34,468 ha, or about 24% from the total area. The limiting factors for S2 (moderately suitable) and S3 (marginally suitable) classes are slope and nutrient availability, but with the advanced management efforts (moderately input) such sub-classes can actually promote S3 class to S2 level. It was also found that from a total of 144,085 ha of the study area, potential maize development area (for extensification) covers approximately 24,716 ha (or 35.6%). Tanralili, Bantimurung, and Simbang sub-districts cover the largest suitable area, where no significant limiting factors exist. Surprisingly, potential development area for maize in Camba, Mallawa, and Tompobulu sub-districts denotes minus values. This implies the facts that maize cultivation is still practiced on the land that is ecologically not suitable, where steep slope is the dominant limiting factor.