Table 1 Characteristics of landscapes, farmers, and farming systems where the impacts of climate change were studied

Landscape characteristics

Municipalities

Turrialba

Dota, Tarrazú, León Cortés

Acatenango, Alotenango, San Pedro Yepocapa

Quetzaltepeque, San Jacinto, San Juan Ermita

El Triunfo, Concepción de María

Yoro, Yorito, Victoria

–

–

Area (ha)

158,800

82,000

42,600

39,600

47,500

325,900

–

–

Holdridge life zone

Premontane Tropical Wet Forest, Premontane Rainforest

Lower Montane Wet Forest, Premontane Rainforest

Subtropical Wet Forest

Subtropical Moist Forest

Tropical Dry Forest

Subtropical Wet Forest Subtropical Moist forest

–

–

Mean annual temperature (°C)

19.1

17.5

19.5

22.2

27.0

22.2

–

–

Mean annual rainfall (mm)

2813

3371

2288

1210

1855

1389

–

–

Elevational range (masl)

41–3733

76–3368

471–3680

452–1779

4–775

73–2191*

–

–

Farmer and household characteristics

n (all farmers surveyed)

144

151

149

115

155

146

860

–

# (and %) who were men

122 (84.7)

136 (90.1)

114 (76.5)

85 (73.9)

110 (71.0)

107 (73.3)

674 (78.4)

–

Mean (± SE) age of household head

58.2 ± 1.2a

51.9 ± 1.2b

48.2 ± 1.2cd

46.0 ± 1.4d

49.8 ± 1.2bc

48.1 ± 1.2cd

50.5 ± 05

F = 11.8

p < 0.0001

Mean household size (± SE)

3.4 ± 0.2b

3.7 ± 0.2 b

5.0 ± 0.2a

5.4 ± 0.2a

5.4 ± 0.2a

5.5 ± 0.2a

4.7 ± 0.03

F = 30.4

p < 0.0001

Mean number of years of farming experience (± SE)

29.0 ± 1.4c

29.3 ± 1.3c

29.7 ± 1.5c

32.2 ± 1.3bc

34.7 ± 1.3b

39.6 ± 1.4a

32.5 ± 0.1

F = 11.8

p < 0.0001

# (and  %) of farmers with at least one family member older than 18 years old that has migrated to another community

51 (35.4)

32 (21.2)

16 (10.7)

15 (13.0)

53 (34.2)

45 (30.8)

212 (24.7)

–

Education levels

# (and %) who have not completed primary school

54 (37.5)

33 (21.9)

103 (69.1)

79 (68.7)

102 (65.8)

99 (67.8)

470 (54.7)

–

% who only have a primary school education

68 (47.2)

83 (55)

28 (18.8)

27 (23.5)

45 (29)

33 (22.6)

284 (33.0)

–

# (and  %) who have more than a primary education

22 (15.3)

35 (23.2)

18 (12.1)

9 (7.8)

8 (5.2)

14 (9.6)

106 (12.3)

–

Access to services

# (and  %) with access to electricity

139 (96.5)

149 (98.7)

138 (92.6)

98 (85.2)

68 (43.9)

55 (37.7)

647 (75.2)

–

# (and  %) with access to tap water

137 (95.1)

140 (92.7)

139 (93.3)

92 (80.0)

62 (40.0)

115 (78.8)

685 (79.7)

–

# (and  %) that own cell phone

126 (87.5)

143 (94.7)

114 (76.5)

95 (82.6)

115 (74.2)

92 (63.0)

685 (79.7)

–

# (and %) that have received at least on agronomic training in the past 2 years

18 (12.5)

68 (45.0)

27 (18.1)

17 (14.8)

23 (14.8)

33 (22.6)

186 (21.6)

–

# (and %) that have received a visit from an agronomist in past 2 years

32 (22.2)

83 (55.0)

22 (14.8)

5 (4.3)

20 (12.9)

29 (19.9)

191 (22.2)

–

Household living conditions and assets

# (and %) of farmers living in a cement block and/or prefabricated house

102 (70.8)

127 (84.1)

97 (65.1)

53 (46.1)

26 (16.8)

21 (14.4)

426 (49.5)

–

# (and %) of farmers living in a house with dirt floor only

0

0

38 (25.5)

47 (40.9)

61 (39.4)

63 (43.2)

209 (24.3)

# (and %) that own a car or motorcycle

71 (49.31)

136 (90.07)

38 (25.5)

25 (21.74)

25 (16.13)

27 (18.49)

322 (37.44)

–

# (and %) having enough food throughout the year

138 (95.8)

147 (97.4)

97 (65.1)

56 (48.7)

56 (36.1)

56 (38.6)

550 (64)

–

Farm characteristics

Mean farm size (ha)

2.02 ± 0.05b

3.20 ± 0.05a

0.93 ± 0.05c

1.12 ± 0.06c

1.90 ± 0.05b

2.16 ± 0.05b

1.83 ± 0.01

F = 32.22

p < 0.0001

# (and %) of farmers who own land

133 (92.4)

145 (96.0)

93 (62.4)

43 (37.4)

68 (43.9)

98 (67.1)

580 (67.4)

–

# (and %) of farmers who rent land

1 (0.7)

0

18 (12.1)

37 (32.2)

45 (29.0)

14 (9.6)

115 (13.4)

–

# (and %) of farmers who own and rent land

2 (1.4)

0

26 (17.4)

16 (13.9)

10 (6.5)

8 (5.5)

62 (7.2)

–

# (and %) with at least one piece of land under a different land tenure system (e.g., shared, communal or lent)

8 (5.6)

6 (4.0)

12 (8.1)

19 (16.5)

32 (20.6)

26 (17.8)

103 (12.0)

–

Coffee production

# (and %) of farmers who grow coffee

144 (100)

151 (100)

112 (75.2)

26 (22.6)

–

81 (55.5)

514 (59.8)

–

# (and %) of coffee farmers who sell coffee

144 (100)

151 (100)

112 (100)

17 (65.4)

–

61 (75.3)

485 (94.4)

–

Mean area (± SE) under coffee production (ha)

1.13 ± 0.05b

2.52 ± 0.05a

0.75 ± 0.05c

0.50 ± 0.14c

–

1.47 ± 0.07b

1.41 ± 0.01

F = 32.1

p < 0.0001

Maize production

# (and %) of farmers who grow maize

8 (5.6)

4 (2.7)

89 (59.7)

114 (99.1)

155 (100)

120 (82.2)

490 (57)

–

# (and %) of maize farmers who sell maize

3 (37.5)

2 (50.0)

20 (22.5)

23 (20.2)

51 (32.9)

23 (19.2)

122 (24.9)

–

Mean area (± SD) per farmer under maize production (ha)

–

–

0.48 ± 0.04c

0.98 ± 0.03 b

1.20 ± 0.03a

0.88 ± 0.03b

0.92 ± 0.01

F = 25.35

p < 0.0001

Bean production

# (and %) who grow beans

10 (6.9)

3 (2.0)

64 (43.0)

108 (94.0)

98 (63.2)

100 (68.5)

383 (44.5)

–

# (and %) of bean farmers who sell beans

1 (10)

2 (66.7)

20 (31.3)

31 (28.7)

17 (17.4)

24 (24.0)

95 (24.8)

–

Mean area (± SE) per under bean production (ha)

–

–

0.26 ± 0.04c

0.45 ± 0.03 b

0.55 ± 0.03b

0.95 ± 0.03a

0.57 ± 0.01

F = 34.23

p < 0.0001

Mixed systems

# (and %) who grow both maize and beans

5 (3.5)

3 (2.0)

60 (40.3)

108 (93.9)

98 (63.2)

95 (65.1)

369 (42.9)

–

# (and %) who grow both coffee and basic grains (maize and/or beans)

13 (9)

4 (2.6)

56 (37.6)

16 (13.9)

–

40 (27.4)

129 (15)

–