Interdependent adoption of climate change adaptation strategies among rice farmers in northwest Bangladesh

Climate variability poses serious threats to agricultural productivity and food security, particularly for smallholder rice farmers in climate-vulnerable regions such as northwest Bangladesh. This study examines the adoption of multiple climate change adaptation strategies among smallholder rice farmers in this region. Using a multistage sampling technique, data were collected from 498 farmers. A multivariate probit model and a fractional response model were applied to analyze both the determinants and intensity of adoption of key strategies, including adjusting planting dates, integrated pest management, tolerant rice varieties, improved rice varieties, and rice straw mulching. This joint modeling framework captures interdependence among strategies and provides deeper insights than single-strategy approaches. Robustness was checked using a multinomial logistic regression model. The results indicate that socio-economic factors such as farming experience, access to credit, and membership in farmer groups significantly influence adoption behavior. Strong complementarities among adaptation strategies are also observed, suggesting that farmers tend to adopt these practices in bundles rather than individually. The findings contribute to the literature by highlighting the effectiveness of bundled adaptation strategies in enhancing resilience. They offer important policy implications for designing integrated and context-specific interventions to strengthen adaptive capacity and promote resilient agricultural systems in climate-exposed regions.