The data archived here were collected as part of a household survey of smallholder coffee and basic farmers’ perceptions and adaptations to climate change. The data includes information from 860 smallholder coffee and maize/bean farmers in Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica. The main objective of the household survey was to explore how smallholder farmers are being affected by climate change and whether (and how) they are adapting their farm management strategies in response to climate change. The specific objectives of the household survey were: (1) To document smallholder farmer perceptions of whether (and how) the climate has changed over the past decade and to document the perceived impacts of climate change household livelihoods and production systems. (2) To characterise whether and how smallholder farmers have changed their farm management practices in response to climate change (with a special emphasis on the use of Ecosystem-based Adaptation practices). (3) To understand the reasons why agricultural households implemented particular adaptation practices and identify barriers to the use of different adaptation practices. (4) To explore the role of organisations and institutions in promoting the use of Ecosystem-based Adaptation practices; and (5) To identify opportunities for the use of EbA practices to help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change. In addition to collecting information related to the five objectives outlined above, the survey also collected basic information on smallholder farmer household demographics, socioeconomic conditions, livelihood strategies, farm and crop characteristics, and farm management strategies. The EbA practices documented in the study included the use of shade and manual weeding in coffee plots, the use of dispersed trees, mulching, fallows and minimum tillage in maize or bean fields, the use of live fences, home gardens, contour planting, windbreaks and cover crops, and the conservation of riparian forests and forest patches. In addition, we collected information on why farmers did- or did not- use certain EbA practices, the year in which they began to use individual EbA practices, and any changes they had made in these practices over the last 10 years. All surveys were conducted in person with the head of the household (in Spanish). Surveys were conducted in the field between April and September 2014. The archived dataset ‘Household survey of climate change perception and adaptation strategies of smallholder coffee and basic grain farmers in Central America’ was collected as part of the CASCADE project (Ecosystem‐based Adaptation for Smallholder Coffee and Subsistence Farmers in Central America). The CASCADE project was an interdisciplinary research project led by Conservation International and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), implemented in coordination with CIRAD, and funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) from the German Government. The overall goal of the CASCADE project was to help vulnerable smallholder farming communities adapt to climate change by identifying and testing Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) strategies that can help farmers and building local capacity to support the implementation of these strategies in smallholder farming communities. The project was developed from 2012 to 2017 in three Central American countries (Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala) and focused on subsistence farmers (cultivating maize and beans) and smallholder coffee farmers. Activities were conducted at regional and national scales, and in six individual landscapes (Turrialba and Los Santos in Costa Rica, Chiquimula and Acatenango in Guatemala, and Choluteca and Yoro in Honduras). The data archived here were collected as part of a household survey of smallholder coffee and basic farmers’ perceptions and adaptations to climate change. The data includes information from 860 smallholder coffee and maize/bean farmers in Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica.

Study landscapes: The study was conducted with small coffee and basic grain farmers in 6 Central American landscapes: Turrialba and Los Santos in Costa Rica, Choluteca and Yoro in Honduras, and Chiquimula and Acatenango in Guatemala. Landscapes were selected based on the following requirements: a) they were dominated by small-scale farming systems, b) they had coffee and/or basic grain production (beans and maize) as main crop, and c) they had farming communities with low adaptive capacity to climate change. We focused our study on smallholder farmers who had either coffee or basic grain production as these are the most important crops for smallholder farmers: coffee is the main cash crop in the region, and basic grains are staple crops that are key for food security. We used expert mapping interviews, validation workshops and expert on‐line surveys to assess adaptive capacity in farming landscapes of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras, based on 20 variables (representing natural, human, social, physical and financial capital) that contributed to farmer adaptive capacity, and then used this information to inform landscapes selection. Selection of smallholder farmers for household survey: In each of the six landscapes, we randomly selected smallholder farmers to be interviewed about changes perceived in local climate during the last decade, climate change impacts on their crops and livelihoods, responses implemented in response to perceived changes in climate, and adaptation needs. The sampling method varied across countries due to differences in the availability of secondary information on farmer populations and their distribution in each country, but in all cases, the selection of farmers was random. To ensure our sample size consisted of only smallholder farmers, we deleted observations of smallholder farmers whose farm area was within two standard deviations of the mean of the sampled population (calculated per landscape and farm type). The final sample consisted of 860 randomly-selected farmers (115-155 farmers per landscape), of whom 674 were men. Additional details of the selection criteria, study sites and methodology can be found in Harvey et al. (2018) Household survey: The household survey was designed to address five research key questions (see the 'methodology' document for details). The survey collected information on farmer and farm characteristics, farmer perception of climate change, farmer perceptions of the impacts of climate change on farming systems and local livelihoods, implementation of changes in farm management (and use of EbA practices) in response to climate change, and key adaptation needs of smallholder farmers. The survey was structured in 11 main sections. The survey was piloted in the field prior to data collection and underwent a full formal review process by the Internal Review Committee of Conservation International (approved March 26th, 2014). All key personnel also completed a Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) course prior to data collection. All potential participants in the survey were informed about the advantages and inconveniences of participating, the type of data to be collected, and the confidentiality and privacy of the data collected, and were asked for their consent to participate. They were also informed they could withdraw from the survey at any point if they wished to do so. Participants signed a form indicating that they had agreed freely to participate (illiterate participants provided oral consent in the presence of witnesses). Surveys were administered in the field by a team of enumerators who underwent formal training before implementing the surveys. Surveys were conducted with the household head or family member in charge of the farm at the farmer’s house or on the farm. Surveys took approximately one hour to complete. All surveys were conducted between April and September 2014.