Perceptions towards climate change, water scarcity and adaptation strategies: Case of the Zerafshan River Basin in Uzbekistan

Adapting to climate change under different agro-ecologies of Central Asian countries still remains a matter of debate. The present study aimed to explore the perceptions and key factors influencing adaptation strategies through the stepwise appraisal framework in upstream zones of the Zerafshan River Basin in Uzbekistan. First, a Severity Index (SI) was calculated to evaluate the perceptions of farmers towards climate change and water scarcity. Then, determinants of adaptation practices were investigated using a binary Logistic regression model with comprehensive farm-level survey data collected from 307 farmers. The highest value of the SI coefficient was attained for the perception “Water resource is getting scarce”, which implies that most farmers already have worries about the potential risk of water shortages although they have been operating with an adequate water supply. Education of household head, extension, and farmer’s perceptions on climate change and water were found to be positive determinants but land size and membership in agro-clusters were found to be negatively influenced factors to climate adaptation strategies. Therefore, we suggest policy implications to consider the land size, cooperation of farmers with clusters, extension, and water management systems to increase the resilience of farmers against climate change at national level.