Assessing the Vulnerability of Farm Households in Yogyakarta to Risks Associated with Climate Change

Abstract

Agriculture sustainability has been threatened by climate change. Climate change affects not only food production but also harms the social life of farm households. This paper assesses farmers’ perceptions of climate change issues, the scale of its impact on farm households, and measures the sensitivity, adaptation strategies, and the livelihoods vulnerability of farm households in Yogyakarta. Two hundred and four farm households representing coastal and mountainous farm households were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive analysis and the Livelihoods Vulnerability Index (LVI) methods are used to analyze data. The results show that most farm households have low awareness of the issue of climate change as well as low-scale exposure and sensitivity to climate change. Meanwhile, the level of adaptation strategies for coastal farm households is slightly higher (better) than mountainous farm households. Livelihoods vulnerability indexes reveal that agricultural households in coastal and mountainous areas are at a low level of vulnerability related to climate change.