Thesis (BS Agribusiness Economics) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, May 2017

Climate change has been a pressing issue of the world today. It has affected even the agriculture sector including the production of export crops like Cavendish banana. Because of this, adaptation has become unavoidable. Thus, the study aimed to examined how Cavendish banana farmers in Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte adapt to climate change and what factors are affecting their choice of adaptation strategies. A focus group discussion, which was attended by 10 farmers, was conducted prior to the actual data gathering in the field to obtain information about the situation in the area. A total of 283 farmers were interviewed using a survey questionnaire. The respondents were determined through Stratified Random Sampling. The main econometric tool used for the study was Multivariate Probir Regression (MVP) and the data collected were analyzed through SPSS and Stata softwares. Cluster analysis was also done through SPSS. The results of the study show that most farmers are averagely adaptive. Among all the adaptation strategies, the top five farm strategies are establishment or improvement of drainage canal, frequent watering, increase use of fertilizer, and transition to organic/sustainable farming. The factors that significantly affect the decision to adopt these adaptation strategies include annual income, farm size and presence of drought and excessive rain. Findings also show that farmer adopt non-farm strategies such as shifting to wage employment, increasing of family labor, livestock raising, applying for loans, and selling of livestock. The factors that significantly affect the decision to adopt these non-farm adaptation strategies include age, and other sources of income such as salary. Key result also shows that for the last three years, drought, ground water depletion, and excessive rain were observed by the farmers in Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte. The study also revealed the aging population of the Cavendish banana farmers. Investments on agriculture and improvement of agriculture programs in school are among the highly recommended intervention.