Helping Farm Households Cope with Climate Change and Adverse Events

The Philippines is the second on the list of nations which are prone to disasters, according to the 2014 World Risk Report of the United Nations University. The country is highly exposed to natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, tropical cyclones, and floods. This vulnerability is heightened by climate change as it affects weather patterns among other natural environmental occurrences. Projections from meteorologists showed that from 2020 to 2050, wet seasons will be wetter and the dry seasons will be drier. Eighteen to 20 typhoons are expected every year with flooding projected in different parts of the country. One of the sectors highly affected by these vulnerabilities are the farmers, for they are the ones mostly exposed to weather extremes. One implication of these changes is that farmers’ experience of the frequency, duration, strength, severity and timing of rainfall and the frequency of droughts will be less reliable; hence, the accuracy of their subjective decision-making processes will decline, causing their level of risk to rise. The bottom line is that past experiences are less useful as predictors of future experience. Adaptation and coping instruments of these farm households were analyzed to provide understanding of their micro-level coping strategies.