Adoption of Climate Smart Agricultural Practices among Coastal Farmers: Insights from a Selected Southern Area of Bangladesh

Abstract

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) methods must be implemented to protect both ecological stability and sustainable livelihoods, as climate change poses significant dangers to coastal agriculture. Understanding the motivations behind farmers adoption of these methods is crucial for creating focused and successful policies, especially in climate-vulnerable areas like coastal zones of Bangladesh. The purpose of this study is to evaluate coastal farmers’ adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) methods and investigate the associations between a few chosen farmer attributes and adoption levels. In the Kalapara Upazila of Patuakhali district, 310 coastal farmers were chosen using a multi-stage random selection approach, and data was collected from them using a pre-tested interview schedule. The results showed that coastal farmers’ adoption of CSA techniques varied from 40.25 to 75.29, with a possible range of 0 to 100. The standard deviation was 8.50 and the mean adoption level was 56.53. Among farmers, the majority (60%) showed a medium degree of adoption, followed by low adoption (21.29%) and high adoption (18.71%). CSA adoption was significantly positively correlated with agricultural expertise, training exposure, communication exposure, innovativeness, risk orientation, and economic motive, according to correlation analysis. In contrast, farm size exhibited a significant negative relationship with adoption levels. Regression analysis indicated that 31.8% of the variation in CSA adoption was explained by farmers’ communication exposure (30.4%) and innovativeness (1.3%). One methodological limitation of this study is its reliance on self-reported data from a single region, which may limit the generalizability of findings to broader coastal contexts. However, the study provides a strong theoretical basis for policy formulation by linking farmer-level attributes with CSA adoption, emphasizing the importance of behavioral and socio-economic factors. To enhance CSA adoption, stakeholders- including policymakers, extension agents, and local NGOs should prioritize targeted training, improve access to climate information, and promote farmer-led innovation and communication networks. Future study is necessary to examine impediments to greater adoption and evaluate the long-term effects on farmers’ livelihoods and environmental sustainability, as these findings offer important insights into the factors driving coastal farmers’ adoption of CSA methods.