Abstract
Smallholder farmers are vital to global agricultural supply chains but remain highly vulnerable to nature-related risks due to direct exposure and limited benefits from value chains. This study examines how smallholder tea farmers in northern Vietnam perceive nature-related risks, including observed and experienced changes in ecosystem services, their future perceptions of nature-related risks, and the factors influencing these views, using social surveys grounded in nature-related risk concepts and Protection Motivation Theory. Farmers observed declines in soil health and water availability, as well as climate change and pest pressures, which are affecting tea yield and quality. While soil and water issues were seen as less immediate, they remain important longer-term risks. Risk experiences, farming practices, adaptation actions, socioeconomic characteristics, and information shaped perceptions. Heavy fertiliser use raised concerns about soil degradation, while implementing irrigation systems reduced perceived vulnerability to extreme weather. Information from training courses influenced farmers’ risk awareness. These subjective nature-related risk perceptions may differ from the objective risks mapped by spatial models, but they strongly influence farmers’ adaptation intentions. Nature-related risks can ripple through entire agrifood value chains from the farm to the customer. Engaging smallholders directly in nature-related risk assessments could better capture local risks and inform sustainable value chain management for value chains that depend on smallholders, such as tea, cocoa, and coffee.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
NATURE-RELATED RISKS, CLIMATIC RISKS, FUTURE CLIMATIC RISKS' PERCEPTION, AGRICULTURE
