One important problem of the world today is how to deal with climate change which is caused by human activities such as industry, energy generation, food production and agriculture. In the past, climate change and environmental concerns were as top-down issues responsible by only nations’ leaders and seemed very far from people in the local and community levels.
Nowadays, facing with increasing impacts of climate variation in forms of disaster and extreme events, everyone including small-holder farmers, millers or businessmen needs to participate in climate change solutions.
The obvious impact on rice production, which is the country’s prominent business, is a decline in wellbeing of farmers. The rising temperature has impacts on paddy rice yield. Farmers lose some of their income due to the reduction of their products as well as direct impacts of climate change on their farming, such as drought and flood.
Changes in rice value chain also has effects on farmers. Markets for Thailand’s rice exports are turning toward sustainable agriculture products which are based on low emission, wellbeing of farmers and social responsibility. These demands for sustainable rice will result in changes in the balance of rice products’ price.
The important question is how farmers can respond well to these climate change’s impacts. The answer is to make a change from everyday life and be willing to adopt the more sustainable farming practices. Changes in everyday farming, such as reducing chemical use and shifting the water management system, will contribute to both in reducing emission and adapting to climate change impacts.
The fascinating thing in climate change actions is that a small change can create big impacts. If farmers adapt to climate change impacts by some practices, such as reducing water consumption in farming, they will become more resilient and get less impacts and problems, which could lead to disastrous conditions, namely poverty and hunger. Besides, adopting low-carbon farming practices will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and will as a consequence sustain rice productivity in a long term as well as reduce impacts from agricultural activities on the natural environment.