Impacts of social capital on climate change adaptations of banana farmers in Southern China

Climate change has caused several significant risks to agro-economy in developing regions. Adaptations to climate change can improve farmers' resilience in agricultural production. Several studies revealed that farmers' adaptations are not based purely on farmers' individual competencies. This study attempts to contribute to the existing literature by exploring the relationship between social capital and farmers' climate change adaptations (CCA). We specified social capital into two components including social networks and training participation. Based on the primary data collected from 422 banana farmers in Southern China, poisson endogenous treatment effect model (PET) was used to estimate the effect of social capital on farmers' adoption intensity of CCA and examine the determinants of farmers' participation in social capital. The results reveal that social capital through both components significantly increased farmers' adoption intensity of CCA, highlighting the importance of social capital to boost farmers' intensity adoption of CCA in rural areas. Furthermore, education, political participation, land fertility, membership in farmer-based organizations, and income were significant incentives influencing farmers' participation in social capital. Policymakers are suggested to better understand farmers' adaptation decisions under weather variability and consider social capital in promoting adaptation strategies to enhance farmers' resilience in farming activities under climate change.