The perceptions and attitudes of small-scale farmers toward climate change in eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

Climate change poses substantial risks to small-scale agricultural production and rural livelihoods, yet evidence on how farmers perceive and respond to these risks remains limited in South Africa’s rural–urban–per-urban agricultural settings. This study examined small-scale farmers’ perceptions and attitudes toward climate change in withering Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, and assessed the socioeconomic and institutional factors associated with these outcomes. Using a cross-sectional quantitative design, primary data were collected through structured interviews with 296 small-scale farmers. Descriptive statistics, composite perception and attitude indices, independent-samples t-tests, and Tobit regression models were employed. Most farmers reported substantial climate-related challenges: 93% perceived negative effects of climate change on crop yields, 97% reported that changing rainfall patterns had made farming more difficult, and 87% identified water shortages as a major production challenge. Although 69.7% of farmers reported awareness of climate change and 70.3% had access to climate information, only 15.8% reported access to agricultural credit. Perceptions did not differ significantly between farmers who reported being aware of climate change and those who did not ( p  = 0.603), nor did attitudes ( p  = 0.186). In the Tobit model, marital status (β = 0.045; p  = 0.049) and access to climate information (β = 0.060; p  = 0.046) were positively associated with perception scores at the 5% significance level. Attitude scores were positively associated with farmer-organization membership (β = 0.060; p  = 0.018) and access to climate information (β = 0.066; p  = 0.022) at the 5% level, while gender (β = 0.058; p  = 0.080), farming experience (β = 0.003; p  = 0.087), and agricultural training (β = 0.021; p  = 0.100) were associated at the 10% level; extension visits were negatively associated with attitudes (β = −0.003; p  = 0.083). These findings suggest that climate-risk recognition is widespread, but awareness alone may be insufficient to support effective adaptation. Policy should therefore priorities accessible, location-specific climate information, strengthened extension and farmer-organization platforms, targeted agricultural training, and improved access to adaptation finance and climate-resilient technologies.