Modeling food growers’ perceptions and behavior towards environmental changes and its induced risks: evidence from Pakistan

In Pakistan, rice is considered as the second staple food and provides livelihoods to the millions of the farm households. During recent years, rice production in Pakistan significantly decreased reportedly due to changes in climate and its induced risks. This study analyzed the incidence and severity of climate change and its induced risks in the rice-growing region of Pakistan and assessed farmers’ perception and attitude by employing risk matrix and Equally Likely Certainty Equivalent model. According to the findings, the majority of the farmers were found risk-averse in behavior, while perceptions varied among different kinds of risks. Among the five kinds of risks, biological and financial risks were conceived as high risk, followed by the climate, biophysical, and social risk. Moreover, probit regression indicated farmers’ age, education, landholding, off-farm income, advisory access, and credit utilization among the significant determinants of farmers’ risk perceptions and attitudes. These findings suggest adopting a comprehensive approach with extended institutional and adaptation support to deal with various kinds of risks being faced by rice farmers in Pakistan. Graphical abstract