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Agroforestry can leverage the co-benefits of climate change adaptation and mitigation while conserving biodiversity and restoring degraded and deforested lands. The preference of relevant stakeholders regarding agroforestry practices enhances sustainable land management through strategic decision-making in Seychelles and other island states. A suitable approach for assessing stakeholders’ preferences of agroforestry is the implementation of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) approach in combination with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. The entry point of this study is an extensive literature review process, during which 28 SWOT factors were identified. These SWOT factors were deliberated on during a half-day workshop with agricultural experts who agreed on 20 SWOT factors that reflect the local realities of the Seychelles through a consensus approach. Using the SWOT-AHP approach, focus group discussions were conducted to examine the perceptions of researchers and extension workers about the adoption of agroforestry in Seychelles. The results indicated that the positive aspects of smallholder agroforestry outweigh the negative aspects. For example, increased agricultural production, control runoff and soil erosion receive the highest scores among the strength factors perceived by researchers and extension workers, respectively. The willingness of international organizations to fund agroforestry-related projects and the existence of native tree species on farmlands have the highest scores among the opportunity factors. The lack of education, information, and communication between the government and farmers, and the small land size and crop competition have the highest scores among the weakness factors. Lastly, change in government policies on land use has the highest score among the threat factors by researchers, whereas the most significant threat is climate change and variability for the extension workers. The provision for a thirty-year land lease agreement in the National Agroforestry Policy of Seychelles is viewed by both groups as an incentive that could potentially drive the adoption and acceptability of agroforestry. Furthermore, better coordination of various efforts to promote agroforestry and more substantial extension services for farmers, especially the role of technologies for optimal production on small plots of land, can enhance climate resilience in Seychelles and other small island developing states.

This study assesses climate-related risks, vulnerabilities and adaptation measures of 140 randomly selected farm households across four agricultural zones on Mahe, the largest of the Seychelles islands. Applying the composite index approach, which is based on twenty-five indicators, this study measures the three dimensions of vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Perceptions of climate-related risks and adaptation actions implemented by farm households were analyzed using descriptive statistics in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20. The majority of farmers indicated that winter temperatures (70.8%), strong winds (64.3%) and frequency of drought episodes (56.4%) have increased during the last 10 to 20 years, including severe damage on crops and farmlands caused by pest and soil erosion (61.4%). While farmers in the four agricultural zones face similar vulnerabilities across the three components, the level of intensity showed some variation. For example, farmers in agricultural zone West 1 were more exposed and vulnerable to temperature variability and saltwater intrusion, while those in the North agricultural zone suffered from rainfall variability and frequency of windstorms. Farmers in the North had greater adaptive capacity even though this group of farmers had the least access to fertilizers and pesticides. Crop diversification, changing of planting dates, planting of trees and lemon grass, use of shade houses for pest control and the development of agro-silvo-pastoral systems were identified as farm-level adaptation measures. However, land tenure issues, lack of finance, limited farm resources, insufficient information, etc. were identified as obstacles to effective adaptation among farm households. Addressing these constraints through a holistic approach has the potential to improve farm-level adaptation.