Climate Change Impacts on Fruit Farm Operations in Chile and Tunisia: Farmer Perspectives

Farmer insights into how climate change impacts orchards are currently limited. This study seeks to fill this gap by investigating the experiences of cherry and peach farmers in Chile and Tunisia regarding climatic effects on their farm operations. The research involved 801 face-to-face interviews conducted across four distinct geographical areas in these countries. The approach offered a unique, farmer-driven perspective on climate related issues. The results reveal a nuanced picture: climate change is a major concern for cherry farmers in Chile, whereas financial and social issues are more pressing for peach farmers in Tunisia. Nevertheless, all farmers, regardless of their location, experienced changes in the climate and crop damage. Farmers highlighted several climate-related challenges, including hotter summers, changes in precipitation patterns, and extreme, unpredictable weather events such as frosts and hail. Despite these challenges, crop damage did not always translate into significant financial losses for the farms, and only some of the climatic changes were linked to financial damage. Looking ahead, Chilean and Northern Tunisian farmers are most concerned about water availability and access, while farmers in Central Tunisia worry primarily about extreme weather events. Most farmers view the future impacts of climate change as harmful or very harmful to their farm operations. Notably, 83% of Chilean farmers but only 70% of Tunisian farmers plan to implement adaptive measures to mitigate these impacts. Effective adaptive policies and strategies must consider these regional differences to enable farmers to focus on the most appropriate interventions that maximize returns on investments.