Farmers’ Drought Risk Perception

Paper

  • Empirical Analysis of Farmers’ Drought Risk Perception: Objective Factors, Personal Circumstances, and Social Influence
  • Risk analysis, Volume 35, Issue 4, Pages 741-755, April 2015
  • Rianne van Duinen Tatiana Filatova Peter Geurts Anne van der Veen

This study investigates and compares the contribution of objective and subjective factors in explaining farmers’ drought risk perception by means of survey data analysis which collected data on risk perceptions, farm characteristics, and various other personality traits in the southwest Netherlands. 

From comparing the explanatory power of objective and subjective risk factors in separate models and a full model of risk perception, it can be concluded that farmers’ risk perceptions are shaped by both rational and emotional factors. Understanding the formation of farmers’ drought risk perceptions is a prerequisite to designing effective and efficient public drought risk management strategies.