Key stakeholders’ perceptions of extreme weather impacts on tropical fruit businesses in Central Queensland, Australia

Extreme weather events (EWEs) such as heatwaves, droughts, cyclones, severe storms, floods, hail and frosts have detrimental impacts on tropical fruits, disrupting supply chains and business systems. The central east parts of Queensland are vulnerable to EWEs due to their subtropical coastal climate; yet this region produces most of Australia’s tropical fruits. This paper examines key stakeholders’ perceptions about the business impacts of EWEs on tropical fruits in Central Queensland as well as their proposed adaptation strategies. This study adopted an exploratory qualitative research approach, through in-depth interviews with nine key stakeholders supported by open ended questions added in the farmer’s survey. The interview data have been primarily analysed by both thematic and narrative methods. The research found that tropical fruit production was affected by extreme weather, and EWEs have consequences at all levels of the supply chain, as well as directly impacting individual fruit farming businesses. Almost all the participating stakeholders suggested that functional collaboration among the key stakeholders could help to reduce the negative impacts of EWEs.