Birzeit University Faculty of Graduate Studies Institute of Environmental and Water Studies Socio-Economic Aspects of Climate Change Impacts on Rainfed Agriculture in the Jenin District, Palestine الجوانب اﻻتجماعية ااﻻقمصعدي لمأثةرات تغةر الانعخ يلى الزراي البعلة في محعفظ تجنةن، فلسطةن M.Sc. Thesis By Yala Ibrahim Aboushi Supervisors Dr. Maher Abu-Madi Dr. Gül Özerol Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Master's Degree in Water and Environmental Science at Birzeit University, Palestine. Birzeit University 2017 I Socio-Economic Aspects of Climate Change Impacts on Rainfed Agriculture in the Jenin District, Palestine الجوانب اﻻتجماعية ااﻻقمصعدي لمأثةرات تغةر الانعخ يلى الزراي البعلة في محعفظ تجنةن، فلسطةن Master’s Thesis Submitted By Yala Ibrahim Aboushi (1135285) Supervisors Dr. Maher Abu-Madi & Dr. Gül Özerol This thesis was successfully defended on 15 / 3 /2017 Examining Committee Signature Dr. Maher Abu-Madi …..………….. Supervisor Dr. Gül Özerol …..………….. Co-supervisor Dr. Rashed Al-Sa‘ed …..………….. Member Dr. Ziad Mimi …..………….. Member The findings, interpretations and the conclusions expressed in this study do not necessarily express the views of Birzeit University, the views of the individual members of the M.Sc. Committee or the views of their respective employers. II Dedication Every hard work needs self-effort as well as guidance of people who are very close to our heart. I dedicate my humble effort to gentle souls, to my sweet and loving Father, Mother, husband, mother in law, sisters, and brothers For their affection, love, encouragement, prayers and support in achieving this success and honor. And to my respected teachers III Abstract Agriculture is a crucial sector in Palestine, yet it is vulnerable to climate change. This is particularly the case for rainfed agriculture. Since Jenin is one of the largest agricultural cities in the West Bank, it has been chosen as the study area. Jenin includes the largest variety of rain-fed crops and the high amount of agricultural production imply that families in Jenin can depend on farming to live especially on rainfed, since it provides family needs of food all the year. They can also sell part of the production to provide cash for other needs. The social and economic effects of climate change on rainfed farming in Jenin are examined in this thesis. Earlier studies have shown that rainfed farming in Jenin faces great challenges due to climate change. This is reflected in the amounts and variety of agricultural production and the income generated from agriculture. Recently, it was noticed that some agricultural varieties decreased and other crops’ prices increased. Data was collected using multiple methods such as surveys, interviews, meetings, and field visits. A questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 120 rainfed farmers in Jenin covering diverse backgrounds. Data from the questionnaire was analyzed using SPSS20. The results indicate that about 95.5% of the rainfed farmers realize that there is a change in the climate and they have already adapted to this change by supplementary irrigation, changing the type of crops or the planting date. The study revealed that the majority of farmers are university degree holders, and agriculture is the only livelihood source for 65% of farmers. Agriculture is also considered a social standing for 44.3% of farmers. Therefore, it is concluded that climate change significantly affects the rainfed farmers both socially and economically. Based on the findings from the questionnaire, there is also a need to improve the information about climate systems and more support for adaptation of agriculture and farmers to climate change. IV Farmers recommend that the policy-makers of the agricultural sector should increase their support for rainfed agriculture. Besides, they also recommend developing new varieties that can bear varying climate conditions, improve water management and adjust insurance programs to help the farmers adapt to climate change. There was a meeting in Gaba'a and Anza resulted in giving farmers some suggestions to avoid climate change effects and how to adapt with. This is what specialists with climate change indicated during the meetings. V ملخص تعد الزراعة قطاعا مهما في فلسطين و لكنه حساس تجاه التغير المناخي وخاصة الزراعة البعلية. بما ان جنين هي واحدة من اكبر المدن الزراعية في الضفة الغربية لقد تم اختيارها لتكون منطقة الدراسة حيث انها تتضمن اكبر تنوع من المحاصيل البعلية و اكبر كمية لﻻنتاج الزراعي. باﻻضافة الى ان العائﻻت في مدينة جنين تستطيع اﻻعتماد على الزراعة و خصوصا البعلية للحصول على الدخل, حيث ان الزراعة البعلية توفر احتياجات اﻻسرة من الطعام على مدى العام و يتم بيع جزء من المحصول للحصول على النقود ﻻحتياجات اخرى . لقد تم دراسة اﻻثار اﻻجتماعية و اﻻقتصادية للتغير المناخي على الزراعة البعلة في مدينة جنين في ههه اﻻرروحة. فقد بينت الدراسات السابقة ان الزراعة البعلية في مدينة جنين تواجه العديد من التحديات نتيجة لتغير المناخ, وهها ينعكس على كمية و نوعية اﻻنتاج الزراعي والدخل الهي توفره ههه الزراعة, فقد لوحظ مؤخرا بان بعض اﻻصناف الزراعية تناقصت و اسعار محاصيل اخرى ارتفعت. لقد تم جمع المعلومات باستخدام ررق متعددة كالبحوث و اللقاءات و الزيارات الميدانية. لقد تم توزيع استبيان على عينة عشوائية تتكون من 021 مزارع يقومون بزراعة المحاصيل البعلية في مدينة جنين يشمل خلفيات متعددة. لقد تم تحليل المعلومات التي تم جمعها من خﻻل اﻻستبيان باستخدتم برنامج SPSS 21 .اشارت النتائج الى ان حوالي 59.9% من المزارعين البعليين ادركوا بان هناك تغير في المناخ وقد تكيفوا مسبقا مع هها التغير عن رريق الري التكميلي و تغيير نوع المحاصيل او موعد الزراعة. كشفت الدراسة بان اغلبية المزارعين هم حاملي شهادات جامعية وان الزراعة هي المصدر الرئيسي للعيش بالنسبة ل 59% من المزارعين. و تعتبر الزراعة ايضا مكانة اجتماعية بالنسبة ل 4...% من المزارعين. لخصت الدراسة ايضا بان التغير المناخي يؤثر بشكل كبير على المزارعين البعليين اجتماعيا و اقتصاديا. بناء على نتائج اﻻستبيان, كان هناك حاجة لتحسين المعلومات عن النظام المناخي و دعم اكثر لتكيف الزراعة و المزارعين للتغير المناخي. يوصي المزارعون بان يزيد صناع القرار دعمهم للزراعة البعلية و ان يطوروا محاصيل تستطيع تحمل ظروف المناخ المتنوعة و تطوير ادارة المياه و تعديل نظام التامين لمساعدة المزارعين على التكيف مع التغير المناخي. اما بالنسبة لﻻجماعات التي تمت في قرية جبع و عنزة , فقد اسفرت عن اعطاء المزارعين بعض النصائح لتجنب اثار التغير المناخي و كيفية التكيف معه. و هها ما اوصى به الخبراء في التغير المناخي خﻻل اللقاء. VI Acknowledgment This work has been done as a requirement for the master thesis which was funded by the Netherlands Representative Office through the Palestinian-Dutch Academic Cooperation Program on Water (PADUCO). I extend my sincere thanks and appreciations to PADUCO researchers, the Ministry of Agriculture and everyone that helped me to achieve this work, especially my supervisors Dr. Maher Abu-Madi and Dr. Gül Özerol. Thanks are also extended to Dr. Margôt Kuttschreuter from the University of Twente for her support in designing the questionnaire. Special thanks to the members of the examination committee Dr. Rashed Al-Sa’ed and Dr. Ziad Mimi for the valuable remarks and comments they made to improve the quality of my thesis. VII Contents ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................................... IV VI ............................................................................................................................................................ ملخص ACKNOWLEDGMENT ..................................................................................................................................... VII CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................... VIII TABLES ............................................................................................................................................................ X FIGURES AND CHARTS .................................................................................................................................. XII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................................................................. XIV CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 RESEARCH PROBLEM .......................................................................................................................................... 2 1.4 AIM AND OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................................................................... 3 1.5 THESIS OUTLINE ................................................................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................................. 5 2.1 CLIMATE CHANGE .............................................................................................................................................. 5 2.2 ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE ..................................................................................................................... 11 2.2.1 Climate adaptation in the agricultural sector ....................................................................................