Farmers' Perception of Climate Change: A Case Study from Subsistence Farming in Lalehun Kovama of Kailahun in Eastern Sierra Leone

Abstract

This study looks at the impact of climate change on subsistence farming. Farmers in the rural areas of Sierra Leone mostly practice subsistence agriculture. A lot of predictions have been done by the scientific community through climatic and crop modeling techniques concerning the impact of climate change on agriculture as well as all other spheres of life. This research aims to explore the knowledge and perceptions of subsistence farmers regarding the impacts of climate change on their farming activities and well-being. This study will broaden the research on subsistence farmers' perceptions of climate change. This study employed a mixed study design (quantitative and qualitative methods). Samples of 77 respondents were selected from a sample frame of 220 heads of households in the area listed for the study. A simple random sampling technique was used. It was revealed in the study that most of the farmers (67.5%) were illiterate and, hence, lacked knowledge of the concept of climate change; some farmers (27.3%) exhibited competencies to sense some of the changes that have occurred in the climatic pattern. The majority of the respondents (49.4%) agreed that the farming calendar for rice as a major crop has changed. This, according to the respondents, was responsible for the low productivity of rice in the study area. There is an urgent need to provide education related to agriculture to empower farmers with the methods and techniques involved in climate-smart agriculture and to sensitize them to the impacts of climate change in extremely rural areas.