Climate change awareness and adaptation strategies by smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe
Agricultural production, food, nutrition and income security of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are threatened by extreme weather events, such as increased frequency of mid-season dry spells and increased temperatures. Their impacts are exacerbated by the prevalence of sandy soils, charact...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2024-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/14735903.2023.2293588 |
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| author | Sandra Makaita Madamombe Stanley Karanja Ng’ang’a Ingrid Öborn George Nyamadzawo Ngonidzashe Chirinda Job Kihara Libère Nkurunziza |
| author_facet | Sandra Makaita Madamombe Stanley Karanja Ng’ang’a Ingrid Öborn George Nyamadzawo Ngonidzashe Chirinda Job Kihara Libère Nkurunziza |
| author_sort | Sandra Makaita Madamombe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Agricultural production, food, nutrition and income security of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are threatened by extreme weather events, such as increased frequency of mid-season dry spells and increased temperatures. Their impacts are exacerbated by the prevalence of sandy soils, characterized by limited water and nutrient retention capacity leading to low crop productivity. In this study, we aimed at assessing farmers' awareness of extreme weather events, identify adaptation strategies and evaluate maize yield from different soil fertility and water management practices. A household survey including 245 smallholder farmers in Marange, Zimbabwe was carried out. The results revealed that farmers were aware of and had experienced extreme weather events. Among adaptation strategies used were soil water-harvesting, use of improved varieties, mulching and planting trees. Maize yield remains significantly low, averaging 0.62 t ha−1 among farmers using some forms of soil fertility and water management strategies. To further understand the reason for low maize yields and improve climate change related adaptation strategies, more research is needed to quantify and confirm management practices applied by farmers, such as fertilizer use and rates, water and nutrient management, use of improved varieties as well as socio-economic factors. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-519a4d947a9e450eb009a25ff01e3943 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1473-5903 1747-762X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj-art-519a4d947a9e450eb009a25ff01e39432025-01-06T14:27:41ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Agricultural Sustainability1473-59031747-762X2024-12-0122110.1080/14735903.2023.2293588Climate change awareness and adaptation strategies by smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas of ZimbabweSandra Makaita Madamombe0Stanley Karanja Ng’ang’a1Ingrid Öborn2George Nyamadzawo3Ngonidzashe Chirinda4Job Kihara5Libère Nkurunziza6Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, SwedenAlliance of Bioversity International and International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, National Agricultural Research Laboratories - Kawanda, Kampala, UgandaDepartment of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, SwedenFaculty of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Bindura University of Science Education, Bindura, ZimbabweMohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), AgroBioSciences (AgBS), Agricultural Innovations and Technology Transfer Centre (AITTC), Benguerir, MoroccoAlliance of Bioversity International and International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, Nairobi, KenyaDepartment of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, SwedenAgricultural production, food, nutrition and income security of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are threatened by extreme weather events, such as increased frequency of mid-season dry spells and increased temperatures. Their impacts are exacerbated by the prevalence of sandy soils, characterized by limited water and nutrient retention capacity leading to low crop productivity. In this study, we aimed at assessing farmers' awareness of extreme weather events, identify adaptation strategies and evaluate maize yield from different soil fertility and water management practices. A household survey including 245 smallholder farmers in Marange, Zimbabwe was carried out. The results revealed that farmers were aware of and had experienced extreme weather events. Among adaptation strategies used were soil water-harvesting, use of improved varieties, mulching and planting trees. Maize yield remains significantly low, averaging 0.62 t ha−1 among farmers using some forms of soil fertility and water management strategies. To further understand the reason for low maize yields and improve climate change related adaptation strategies, more research is needed to quantify and confirm management practices applied by farmers, such as fertilizer use and rates, water and nutrient management, use of improved varieties as well as socio-economic factors.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/14735903.2023.2293588Extreme weathermaizesoil and water management |
| spellingShingle | Sandra Makaita Madamombe Stanley Karanja Ng’ang’a Ingrid Öborn George Nyamadzawo Ngonidzashe Chirinda Job Kihara Libère Nkurunziza Climate change awareness and adaptation strategies by smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability Extreme weather maize soil and water management |
| title | Climate change awareness and adaptation strategies by smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe |
| title_full | Climate change awareness and adaptation strategies by smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe |
| title_fullStr | Climate change awareness and adaptation strategies by smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe |
| title_full_unstemmed | Climate change awareness and adaptation strategies by smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe |
| title_short | Climate change awareness and adaptation strategies by smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe |
| title_sort | climate change awareness and adaptation strategies by smallholder farmers in semi arid areas of zimbabwe |
| topic | Extreme weather maize soil and water management |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/14735903.2023.2293588 |
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