What motivates rural households to adapt to climate change?

Climate change is likely to raise the frequency and severity of climate variability, rendering smallholder farmers increasingly vulnerable. This necessitates adaptation actions to mitigate potential losses. Based on farm household survey data collected from three Chinese mountain villages, the study examines farmers' adaptation measures in response to drought and factors driving motivations to adapt. The results show that climate risk perceptions and households' assessment of their own abilities to adapt are important determinants of proactive adaptation decisions, with the latter found a better predictor than the former. The influences of village context and farm income are also significant. By drawing attention to the vital roles of human cognition to stimulate adaptation responses, the study emphasizes the need for greater efforts to raise risk awareness and, more importantly, to equip households with a feeling of perceived capacity to adapt. This can be done by providing additional information on risk-reducing measures and how to implement them as well as to make them affordable. Adaptation can also be improved by continuing investment in developing agriculture and rural livelihoods, such as policy interventions that enhance farm income.