Climate change perception-impact-adaptation pathways among farmers: evidence from seven major agricultural governorates in Egypt.

Climate change poses growing challenges to Egyptian agriculture, yet farmers' adaptive responses remain uneven. This study examines perceptions of climate change, its impacts, and adaptation pathways among 2953 farmers across seven major agricultural governorates in Egypt. Utilizing composite indices, this study captures the multidimensionality of climate awareness, perceived impacts, adaptation practices, barriers, and institutional support. The findings reveal a clear mismatch between high levels of climate awareness and the limited uptake of technical adaptation measures. Farmers' responses are largely concentrated on low-cost, incremental practices, while capital-intensive technologies, such as modern irrigation systems and digital tools, are rarely adopted. Traditional irrigation methods continue to dominate, despite widespread reports of climate-related impacts on agriculture, including severe productivity declines in key crops. Statistical analyses show a strong positive association between adaptation practices and reported changes in productivity, whereas the perceived severity of climate impacts is not significantly associated with adaptation levels. These results indicate that farmers' adaptation decisions are primarily reactive-shaped by tangible production outcomes and structural constraints rather than by awareness alone. These findings underscore the importance of complementing awareness-focused interventions with targeted financial, market, and extension support to enable effective, transformative climate adaptation in Egyptian agriculture.