Adaptation of Organic Vegetable Farmers to Climate Change: An Exploratory Study in the Paris City-Region

CONTEXT: Climate change is challenging vegetable production but few systemic approaches to adaptation at the farm level have been carried out in temperate climates.OBJECTIVE: We aim to answer the following questions: (i) How do vegetable farmers perceive climate change and its impacts on the farm? (ii) What strategies have they already developed to adapt to climate change? (iii) How do they foresee adaptation in the future? (iv) To what extent can adaptation strategies and perspectives be related to farmers’ profiles?METHODS:  We conducted semi-structured interviews in the Paris city-region, France, with 17 organic farmers. Interview content was processed using qualitative analysis and Multiple Correspondence Analysis.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Vegetable farmers perceive climate change in seasonal patterns (e.g. temperature, frost, wind) and in extreme events (e.g. droughts, heatwaves). They relate it to negative impacts on (i) vegetables (e.g. increased pressure from arthropods, metabolic disorders, damage to crop production and quality), (ii) farm management (e.g. increased and harder labour, increased complexity of crop planning), and (iii) profitability (e.g.  production losses, increased labour and equipment costs), despite some positive impacts (e.g. possibility to extend growing period in some cases or to grow tunnel crops outside). They combine a wide range of strategies, both low-tech (e.g. cover crops, mulching, agroforestry, diversification, modifications of crop planning) and high-tech (e.g. equipment to control or mitigate climatic conditions in tunnels, efficient irrigation systems), to adapt to climate change. They also express the need to acquire knowledge to adapt more adequately. Evolution of crop planning, change in varieties, integration of new vegetable crops or (fruit) trees, and buffering of production variability are all challenges to their marketing strategies. Adaptation strategies and perspectives differ, and correspond largely to two stereotypical profiles in the Paris-city region: older large-scale farmers vs young new entrants on small-scale farms. The former tend to relativize climate change more and  put fewer adaptation strategies into practice. By contrast, younger small-scale farmers feel that climate change will be a central element to consider throughout their career and implement or intend to develop a wider range of adaptation strategies.SIGNIFICANCE:To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate adaptation of vegetable production to climate change from farmers’ perspective in Europe, and corroborates studies in countries of the global South. A preliminary understanding of farmers’ challenges and perspectives is a solid basis to support collective action and develop adaptation plans at the city-region level.