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Co-Operative Membership: A Pathway to Climate Resilience for Smallholder Farmers
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DOI：10.1002/fes3.70254.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Climate change threatens millions of Nepal's rural farmers as a consequence of a lack of institutional support and low adaptive capacity. Agricultural co-operatives have emerged as a promising solution to increase farmers' resilience; however, their role across different co-operative types remains underexplored. This study examines the driving factors of producer and multipurpose co-operatives and their influence on farmers' adoption of climate change adaptation strategies, using survey data from 400 households across three agro-ecological zones in Nepal. The results from the probit and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) model showed different patterns of participation across co-operative types. Membership in producer co-operatives is driven by household labour availability and midland agro-ecological conditions. In contrast, multipurpose co-operatives are mainly driven by higher education, access to information, and perception of climate risks. More specifically, the likelihood of adoption of adaptation strategies by producer and multipurpose co-operatives increases by approximately 0.73 and 0.77 practices, respectively, compared to non-members. These effects result from better access to inputs, climate information, financial services, and collective learning mechanisms facilitated by co-operatives. Overall, our results underscore that co-operatives function as institutional platforms that simultaneously reduce multiple constraints and enable higher adoption of climate adaptation strategies. Policies should prioritise the use of co-operatives as delivery platforms. In particular, producer co-operatives associated with labour availability and midland conditions should focus on input provision and production support, whereas multipurpose co-operatives in lowland zones should incorporate climate advisory services and training.
Keywords:
Agro-ecological gradients
climate change adaptation
farmer co-operatives
food security
institutional engagement
Nepal
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