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This study explored the use of conservation agriculture (CA) as a climate adaptation strategy among smallholder farmers in Eastern Zambia. Using 761 household interviews and 33 focus group discussions (FGDs) with smallholder farmers from six districts, data was collected on how smallholder farmers in the region experience climate change, what CA pr...
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... study was conducted in the rural parts of six out of 11 districts of the Eastern Province in Zambia (Figure 1). The Eastern Province experiences seasonal rainfall of between 800 and 1000 mm and a crop-growing period of 100-140 days. ...
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... CA benefits for women, all the women's FGDs agreed that basins retaining moisture and higher yields in the basins helped them (Figure 10). ...
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... Men and Women Farmers Face in the of Practice of CA All the women's FGDs complained about the high weed pressure and high labor intensity required to make basins (Figure 11). In the words of one discussant in Mambwe, "basins are hard to make. ...
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... reflects fundamental challenges that characterize smallholder farmers in Zambia, and are not limited to CA. The men's FGDs highlighted the high labor requirements and drudgery associated with making basins and basins getting water logged as challenges for women more frequently than any other challenges (Figure 11). Less than half of the men's FGDs observed that weeds were a problem for women. ...
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... women FGDs thought men were equally afflicted by the high labor demands and weed pressure associated with basins (Figure 12). Overall, women identified twice as many challenges faced by men as the men themselves did. ...
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... getting waterlogged and being hard to make were prioritized as challenges men face, by the men's FGDs (Figure 12). A representative view from the men's FGDs in Mambwe is this, "it is very hard to do one Lima. ...
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... study was conducted in the rural parts of six out of 11 districts of the Eastern Province in Zambia (Figure 1). The Eastern Province experiences seasonal rainfall of between 800 and 1000 mm and a crop-growing period of 100-140 days. ...
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... CA benefits for women, all the women's FGDs agreed that basins retaining moisture and higher yields in the basins helped them (Figure 10). ...
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... Men and Women Farmers Face in the of Practice of CA All the women's FGDs complained about the high weed pressure and high labor intensity required to make basins (Figure 11). In the words of one discussant in Mambwe, "basins are hard to make. ...
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... reflects fundamental challenges that characterize smallholder farmers in Zambia, and are not limited to CA. The men's FGDs highlighted the high labor requirements and drudgery associated with making basins and basins getting water logged as challenges for women more frequently than any other challenges (Figure 11). Less than half of the men's FGDs observed that weeds were a problem for women. ...
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... women FGDs thought men were equally afflicted by the high labor demands and weed pressure associated with basins (Figure 12). Overall, women identified twice as many challenges faced by men as the men themselves did. ...
Citations
... This includes mulching to maintain moisture, contouring and terracing farming to control soil erosion, and planting trees in farm plots. Conservation agriculture is becoming effectively adopted by small-scale farmers in SSA to minimize CV & C impact, as observed by FAO (2015) and Jug et al. (2018) in Tanzania and Ghana, respectively, and also by Umar (2021) in Zambia. ...
... This reduces the growing season's length, so effectively producing it requires early maturing varieties. Rodenburg et al. (2020) and Umar (2021) found similar results in SSA. ...
Farmers’ adaptation strategies against climate variability and change impact are fundamental in abating the effects in this epoch. Previous studies have confirmed the presence of context-specific farmers’ adaptation strategies in Tanzania. However, it is not clear what factors influence farmers to select specific adaptation strategies. This study contributes to filling this knowledge gap. We used the cross-sectional research design in survey of a random sample of 330 small-scale farmers. The multivariate probit was used to model the factors determining the choice of adaptation strategies. Farmers adapted a number of strategies, nonetheless, there were four key adaptation strategies: drought-resistant varieties, use of early maturing varieties, resistant livestock breeds, and conservation agriculture. Farmers used more than one strategy, and the choice was determined by multiple factors that showed a statistically significant impact at 5 %. We categorize the factors into four groups:(i) individual farmer and or household characteristics covering age, farming experience of the household head; household size; and household wealth, especially livestock ownership (ii) farm characteristics like location of the farm and farm size (iii) institutional factors that include access to extension services, technology, and provision of title deeds for land ownership to the farmers; and (iv) knowledge of manifestation of CV & C like shifting of rain seasons, and awareness of using meteorological information in decision making. These factors should be considered in policy development to heighten the effectiveness of the adaptation strategies in cushioning climate variability and change impact in the study area and central Tanzania at large.
... In Zambia, through minimum tillage, crop rotation, and soil cover practices, conservation agriculture (CA) has improved soil health, water retention, and crop yields. The adoption of CA has led to improved food availability, increased income for farmers, and reduced vulnerability to climate change impacts (Umar, 2021). ...
This article explores the fundamental right to food, examining its legal framework, its relationship with other human rights, and the efforts being made globally to improve this right. It begins by looking at international and national laws that protect the right to food and examining their importance in ensuring food security and sovereignty. It then explores how food rights intersect with other rights, such as health, education, and labor, revealing the interrelated web of human rights. The article further highlights how the right to food is closely tied to the objectives of reducing poverty and promoting social justice, which are crucial components in the collective effort to achieve food security for all. Additionally, it evaluates the effectiveness of current policies and strategies in promoting the right to food, particularly in sub‐Saharan Africa. The novelty of the article is that it brings into perspective, the encumbrance of food sovereignty in sub‐Saharan Africa and concludes with potential solutions.
... The screening process outlined above resulted in 21 included articles. [18,[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68] Of these, 18 resulted from the first database search and 3 were identified through supplementary hand searches. General characteristics of the articles are summarised in Table 1, and detailed information for each article is available in S2 Table. ...
... Several studies appeared to be of high overall quality, characterised by strong internal cohesion between research questions, study design, and reporting of findings; detailed descriptions of qualitative methods; and evident reflexivity of the authors. [50,54,55,63,66,67] At the other end of the spectrum, two mixed-methods studies exhibited significant inconsistencies between their objectives, study design and implementation of qualitative methodologies. [58,59] Specifically, in the article by Tambulasi et al., there appeared to be a disconnect between the mixed-methods study design and the research objectives, which were phrased in a quantitative manner. ...
... [52,53,57,[60][61][62]64] This issue was present in mixed-methods and purely qualitative studies alike. Remarkably, even studies that were perceived as of high overall quality tended to lack information regarding ethical considerations, [50,66,67] risk of bias and other limitations [50,54,63]. ...
Background: Climatic changes are threatening rural livelihoods in East Africa. Evidence suggests that climate change adaptation in this context might reproduce inequitable intra-household gender relations and that adaptation may be more effective when women are involved in meaningful ways. Hence, a nuanced understanding of the gendered nature of intra-household adaptation decision-making is essential for gender-responsive research, policy-making and practice. This qualitative systematic review aimed to investigate how gender relations influence decision-making concerning climate change adaptation in rural East African households and how decisions about climate change adaptation influence intra-household gender dynamics, in turn. Applying qualitative meta-synthesis principles, systematic searches were conducted in 8 databases and supplemented with comprehensive hand searches. 3,662 unique hits were screened using predetermined inclusion criteria, leading to a final sample of 21 papers. Relevant findings of these studies were synthesised using inductive thematic coding, memoing and thematic analysis. While men tended to be the primary decision-makers, women exercised some decision-making power in traditionally female domains and in female-headed households. Women’s and men’s roles in intra-household adaptation decision-making appeared to be influenced by a plethora of interconnected factors, including gender norms, gendered divisions of labour and access, ownership and control over resources. Intra-household adaptation seemed to impact the dynamics between male and female household members. The pathways of this influence were complex, and the ultimate outcomes for men and women remained unclear. We discuss our findings with reference to theoretical literature on gender-transformative approaches in development and adaptation and previous research concerning the gendered nature of climate change adaptation in East Africa. We then discuss implications for gender-responsive adaptation interventions.
... Given the profitability of cocoa farming, women may be seeking to initiate and implement projects. Moreover, these results are consistent with those of [38][39][40][41][42] , who found a strong male dominance in agricultural production. The average age of the farmers ranged from 32.7 to 47 years. ...
... This information sheds light on the livelihoods and economic well-being of Batchenga farmers. These findings are consistent with those of Hauwa et al. (2022); Tafida et al. (2024); Umar (2021);andUmar et al. (2020, 2023), who found strong male dominance in agricultural production. However, it makes sense to explore factors such as local policies, market access and social dynamics to inform targeted interventions and sustainable development in the region. ...
... For example, a study in Eastern Zambia explored the use of conservation agriculture as a climate adaptation strategy among smallholder farmers. The study found that conservation agriculture practices helped farmers to cope with the effects of climate change, such as drought and soil erosion, and also helped to reduce greenhouse gas emissions [22] . Another case study in Illinois found that placing a farm under an agricultural conservation easement can avoid an estimated 19,541 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents and 8 tonnes of non-greenhouse gas air pollutant emissions in the first 30 years [23] . ...
Conservation agriculture practices, such as integrated pest management, agroforestry, and agroecology, can contribute to sustainable and resilient food systems by reducing reliance on chemical pesticides, improving soil health, increasing biodiversity, and minimizing environmental impact. Continued investment in research and development is crucial for the advancement of conservation agriculture practices and the development of innovative solutions to address global challenges. Governments and international organizations play a key role in promoting and supporting the adoption of these practices through policy incentives, funding, and capacity building. Collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and policymakers is essential for knowledge sharing, capacity building, and the development of training programs to empower farmers and extension workers. Integration of conservation agriculture with other sustainable agriculture practices, such as organic farming, can maximize its benefits and contribute to a more resilient and sustainable food system.
... These climatic changes are projected to reduce resilience and increase vulnerability of agro-based livelihoods that rely on rain-fed production (Matata et al., 2023;Ngoma et al., 2021). The effects are gendered such that female-headed households tend to be the most vulnerable and least resilient in Eastern and Southern Africa, and Zambia (Rahut et al., 2021;Umar, 2021) Other studies demonstrate the linkages between climate shocks and livelihoods. For example, in a cross-country study, Al Mamun et al. (2018) found that the El Niño weather phenomenon 7 worsened poverty in Eastern and Southern Africa, noting that a 10% reduction in maize yields increases the national poverty rate by 1 percentage point and the poverty gap by 1.9 percentage points in Zambia. ...
... These findings are in line with Umar (2021) who found that female-headed households are most vulnerable and least resilient. While understanding why women led households are more vulnerable and less resilient is beyond the scope of this paper, we can speculate that this could related to the fact that women do not have access to the similar productive resources as do their male counterparts (FAO, 2011). ...
... Our results suggesting that the gender of the household head affects household vulnerability and resilience in Zambia bring to the fore the gendered effects of climate shocks: female-headed households and adult-female only households are significantly more likely to be vulnerable and less resilient. These findings are in line with Umar (2021) who suggests that female-headed households are most vulnerable and least resilient. One reason this could be the case is because female-headed households do not always have access to similarly productive resources and land as do males (FAO, 2011). ...
Climate and weather shocks pose risks to livelihoods in Southern Africa. We assess the extent to which smallholders are exposed to climate shocks in Zambia and how behavioural choices influence the negative effects of these shocks on vulnerability and resilience. We use household data from the nationally representative Rural Agricultural Livelihoods Survey and employ an instrumental variable probit regression model to control for the endogeneity of key choice variables. There are four main findings. First, droughts are the most prevalent climate shock faced by rural smallholder farmers in Zambia, but the extent of exposure differs spatially, with the Southern and Western Provinces being the hardest hit. Nationally, 76% of all smallholder farmers are vulnerable and only 24% are resilient, with female households most vulnerable. Second, increased climate shocks correlate with both increased vulnerability and reduced resilience, with short-and long-term deviations in seasonal rainfall worsening vulnerability and resilience. Third, higher asset endowments and education are correlated with reduced vulnerability and increased resilience. And last, climate-smart agricultural practices significantly improve household resilience. These findings imply a need to support scaling of climate-smart agricultural technologies and to invest in risk mitigation strategies such as weather-indexed insurance and targeted social cash transfers. ARTICLE HISTORY
... After the questionnaire survey, two 3-in-1 focus group discussions (FGDs) (March et al., 1999;Umar, 2021) were conducted in the two study sites. The discussants were recruited from the pool of respondents, on the basis of having extensive knowledge of the land titling process. ...
... Figure 3 highlights that all of the respondents interviewed indicated that they had experienced extremely high temperatures. This concurs with climate change studies on Zambia that noted that Zambia has over the past few decades experienced increased temperature variations [29,30] and this trend is predicted to continue into the future [31,32]. In her study of fishers (n=90) in Siavonga, Kabisa [33] reported that almost half of her respondents perceived a decrease in rainfall but could not say if temperatures had decreased. ...
Crop production, fish farming and goat production are promoted among women as empowerment projects by both governmental and non-governmental development actors implementing Women Empowerment Programmes (WEPs). The aim of this study was to ascertain how agricultural WEPs' activities are affected by climate variability in Siavonga. Data was collected through questionnaires administered to 49 WEP participants and from eight key informants. The data was analysed using thematic analysis, descriptive statistics and Climate Smart Agriculture Indicators.All the respondents (n=16) engaged in crop production reported prolonged droughts while 87.5 percent mentioned extremely high temperatures, leading to lower crop yields. For fish farming, 50 percent of the respondents(n=18) reported that prolonged droughts and high temperatures led to high mortalities of fingerlings and low fish production. The study revealed that lack of irrigation systems, water storage facilities, fish coolers, inadequate financial capital in the fish WEP contributed to the programme not being climate smart. For goat farming WEP, all the respondents(n=15) reported that prolonged droughts very severely affected their project while 53-60 percent cited extremely high temperatures, late onset and early offset of rainy season. The goat empowerment project was quite climate smart as it exhibited resilience to the effects of climate variability despite suffering from poor access to fodder and water during the dry season. The crop production and fish farming WEPs were arguably not climate smart. The study recommends that agricultural WEPs implementation should emphasise enhancement of agency and self-reliance among project participants, which would drive the participants to increase collective action efforts around accessing finances and knowledge and skills in climate smart agricultural activities
... Studies have shown that men are more likely to have access to resources and climatesmart technologies and to possess the skills to use them and therefore may be better equipped to adapt to climate change than women [63]. Archer [11] discovered in South African farming communities that women did not have the same access as men to climate forecast information. ...
... Umar [63] recently reported that male and female smallholder farmers in six districts of Eastern Province (including Chipata) had similar experiences of climate change, namely late onset of a shortened rainy season, intra-seasonal drought and higher temperatures. The late onset of a shortened rainy season characterised by intra-seasonal droughts is common to both studies. ...
... "Women feel obliged to ensure household food security even when they have not discussed with their husbands," observed one member. Scholars reporting on gendered effects of climate change among smallholder farmers generally note that male and female farmers have different abilities to adapt to climate change due to their varied access to resources and differentiated exposure to vulnerabilities [63,91]. Further, women seem to suffer more negative impacts of climate change because of socio-cultural norms regarding gender roles [92]. ...
This study explored legume production by female and men smallholder farmers in Chipata, in a changing climate context. The study objectives were to (i) find out how men and women smallholder legume farmers in Chipata understand climate variability, (ii) investigate how climate variability affects smallholder legume farmers and (iii) identify the different challenges faced by womenfemale and men legume farmers in Chipata. Interviews were conducted with 86 male and 86 female legume farmers selected using stratified random sampling. Purposive sampling was used to select nine key informants and focus group discussants. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis, while quantitative data were analysed through statistical tests. About half the men and women perceived that climate change in Chipata manifested through a shorter rainy season, late start of rainy season, intra-seasonal droughts and heavy downpours. Some men (34.9%) and women (23.3%) reported that heavy downpours caused common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) flowers to drop off. About 41% of the men farmers interviewed and 23.3% of the women reported witch weed (Striga asiaticapa) on their groundnuts (Arachis hypogaea) fields after periods of heavy rainfall. The men discussants complained that soya bean (Glycine max) fields became waterlogged after prolonged heavy rains, which delayed weeding. Women farmers had challenges accessing hybrid legume seed, inoculants and marketing legumes. Men’s challenges were low market prices for soya beans. The study recommends agricultural interventions should focus on climate-smart legume seed multiplication and certification among legume farmers and promotion of local seed-sharing networks to enhance seed diversity.
