Assessing climate change sensitivity and technology adoption in Muda River Basin farming communities

The Muda River Basin (MRB), Malaysia’s main rice region, is increasingly vulnerable to climate change. This study examines how economic, political, cultural, and institutional sensitivities influence farmers’ adoption of climate adaptation technologies. Despite MRB’s agricultural importance, empirical research on these social dimensions remains limited. A quantitative survey involving 382 farmers across five districts in Kedah was conducted using homogeneous convenience sampling. Data were collected through validated questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive, correlation, and regression techniques. On a five-point Likert scale (1 to 5), the results showed that farmers had moderately high levels of technology adoption (3.68), economic (3.46), and political (3.10) sensitivity, and moderately low levels of cultural (2.04) and institutional (2.52) sensitivity. Correlation analysis indicates that technology adoption was positively related to economic, political, and institutional sensitivity, but negatively related to cultural sensitivity. Regression results indicated that economic and institutional factors encouraged technology adoption, while cultural factors hindered it, and political influences were minimal. Among the sensitivity dimensions, cultural sensitivity exerted the strongest influence on technology adoption, followed by institutional and economic sensitivity. Although the model’s explanatory power was modest (R² = 0.295), findings underscore the need for stronger institutional support, culturally sensitive extension services, and financial incentives to build farmers’ adaptive capacity and resilience. Findings suggest that policymakers should promote technology adoption by fostering cultural integration, strengthening institutions, offering economic incentives, diversifying communication, and prioritizing institutional over political support for climate adaptation.

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