The Philippines has been listed as the topmost affected country by climate change. One of the sectors affected by this climactic change is the agricultural sector. This study aimed to document the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAPs) on climate change among rice farmers as baseline study in disseminating the practices on disaster risk reduction management to rice farmers in Central Luzon to reduce risks and improve rice yield and income of rice farmers. A total of 969 respondents were randomly sampled from the seven provinces of Central Luzon. A survey questionnaire and unstructured questionnaire were used as instruments in gathering the needed data. Descriptive and thematic analysis were used in analyzing the data. Results revealed that the rice farmers are knowledgeable and have favorable attitude on the impact of climate change on farming. They sometimes practice climate-smart agricultural practices. Generally, the farmers are affected by weather and climatic conditions as well as the hazards that cause reduction in rice yield. Climate change has affected farmers in their social well-being, economic aspect and rice production. In terms of climate change disaster adaptation measures, the farmers sometimes adapt measures in terms of flood and drought, and seldom adapt measures in typhoon, erosion and volcanic eruption. The study recommends a conduct of the capability training on disaster risk reduction in rice production (such as early planting, and planting of high yielding varieties based on the specific needs of each province.
Disaster risks, knowledge, attitude, practices, climate change
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