Farmers’ beliefs and concerns about climate change, and their adaptation behavior to combat climate change in Saudi Arabia

RESEARCH ARTICLE Farmers’ beliefs and concerns about climate change, and their adaptation behavior to combat climate change in Saudi Arabia Muhammad I. Azeem, Bader Alhafi AlotaibiID* Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Society, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia * balhafi@ksu.edu.sa Abstract Climate change threatens the existence of humankind on the planet Earth. Owing to its arid climate and poor natural resources base, Saudi Arabia is particularly susceptible to the neg- ative impact of ongoing climate change. Farmers’ understanding of this global phenomenon is extremely important as it may help determine their adaptation behavior. This study was designed to analyze farmers’ beliefs and concerns about climate change as well as their views about adaptation different obstacles. Data were collected from 80 randomly farmers of the Al-Ahsa region in Eastern Province using structured interviews. The findings revealed that farmers believed that climate change is mainly occurring due to anthropogenic activi- ties. Drought, insects, crop diseases, and heat stress were their main concerns regarding adverse impacts of climate change. Lack of knowledge about adaptation practices, and poor government and financial support are perceived as the major obstacles to adaptation. The results of non-parametric analysis identified no significant differences in farmers’ cli- mate change beliefs and concerns, and their views about obstacles to adaptation in relation

to their demographic characteristics. Based on the findings, we suggest that capacity build- ing programs should be undertaken by the government for enhancing the adaptive capacity of the farmers as well the provision of financial incentives wherever deemed necessary for promoting the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and building a resilient national food system. 1. Introduction Across the globe, climate change has emerged as a serious issue with significant implications for various domains of human life [1–3]. It poses a serious threat to the economies and socie- ties of the world [4]. Owing to changes in the climate, global warming as well as a change in precipitation patterns is predicted. By the end of 2100, global average temperatures may rise by 1.4–5.8 degree Celsius [5]. Across different regions of the world, shifts in seasonal water avail- ability throughout the year are also likely to be induced [6]. The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like flooding and drought may also increase [7–9]. PLOS ONE PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280838 January 25, 2023 1 / 20 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 OPEN ACCESS Citation: Azeem MI, Alhafi Alotaibi B (2023) Farmers’ beliefs and concerns about climate change, and their adaptation behavior to combat climate change in Saudi Arabia. PLoS ONE 18(1): e0280838. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0280838 Editor: Md Nazirul Islam Sarker, Neijiang Normal University, CHINA Received: June 16, 2022 Accepted: January 9, 2023 Published: January 25, 2023

Copyright: © 2023 Azeem, Alotaibi. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: Access to data is restricted by the Ethics Committee of King Saud University. However, upon request by the eligible researchers, data can be made available from "Deanship of Scientific Research" at the King Saud University via rec-dsr@ksu.edu.sa. Funding: This research was funded by Researchers Supporting Project Number (RSP2022R443), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.