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Effects of Climate-Smart Agriculture on Smallholder Farmers in the Eastern Province of Zambia

Received: 4 May 2024     Accepted: 20 May 2024     Published: 30 May 2024
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Abstract

Climate change is one of the distressful environmental challenges the world has been grappling with in recent times as it affects crop production, among other economic activities. The Eastern Province of Zambia has not been spared by crop failure resulting from climate-induced effects. As a result, the Zambia Integrated Forest Landscape Project (ZIFLP) implemented climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in the Eastern Province, from the first quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2024, which aimed to improve smallholder farmers' resilience to the effects of climate change on crop productivity. However, the effects of the CSA techniques on crop productivity were scientifically unclear. Therefore, this study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the effects of CSA on crop productivity of the 106 smallholder farmers as questionnaire respondents and five District Agriculture Co-ordinators as key informants for interviews. The results revealed that all the respondents (100%) were aware of CSA in their communities, and about two-fifths (42%) of them, who formed the majority, practised crop rotation the most. Almost all the respondents (96%) viewed CSA as an important agricultural intervention in their communities in light of the adverse effects of climate change. Two-thirds (66%) of the respondents, who were the majority, acknowledge that the CSA techniques increased crop yield. The maize crop tonnage Mean (M = 7.70) after the respondents’ implementation of CSA was statistically significantly higher than the maize crop tonnage Mean (M = 3.82) before the respondents implemented CSA, signifying that the respondents produced more tonnage of maize crops after they implemented CSA than before. The study concludes that CSA in the Eastern Province of Zambia is an intervention through which smallholder farmers were helped to enhance their crop productivity in light of the devastating effects of climate change. Therefore, the study recommends continuity of financial and technical support of CSA by the Zambian government or cooperating partners or both; refresher training for smallholder farmers in CSA; and improvement in the agricultural extension system.

Published in International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences (Volume 10, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijaas.20241003.12
Page(s) 83-99
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Smallholder Farmers, Climate Adaptation, Climate-Smart Agriculture, Climate Change

References
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    Nanyangwe, V., Tembo, R. (2024). Effects of Climate-Smart Agriculture on Smallholder Farmers in the Eastern Province of Zambia. International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences, 10(3), 83-99. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20241003.12

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    ACS Style

    Nanyangwe, V.; Tembo, R. Effects of Climate-Smart Agriculture on Smallholder Farmers in the Eastern Province of Zambia. Int. J. Appl. Agric. Sci. 2024, 10(3), 83-99. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaas.20241003.12

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    AMA Style

    Nanyangwe V, Tembo R. Effects of Climate-Smart Agriculture on Smallholder Farmers in the Eastern Province of Zambia. Int J Appl Agric Sci. 2024;10(3):83-99. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaas.20241003.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijaas.20241003.12,
      author = {Veronica Nanyangwe and Royd Tembo},
      title = {Effects of Climate-Smart Agriculture on Smallholder Farmers in the Eastern Province of Zambia
    },
      journal = {International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences},
      volume = {10},
      number = {3},
      pages = {83-99},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijaas.20241003.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20241003.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijaas.20241003.12},
      abstract = {Climate change is one of the distressful environmental challenges the world has been grappling with in recent times as it affects crop production, among other economic activities. The Eastern Province of Zambia has not been spared by crop failure resulting from climate-induced effects. As a result, the Zambia Integrated Forest Landscape Project (ZIFLP) implemented climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in the Eastern Province, from the first quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2024, which aimed to improve smallholder farmers' resilience to the effects of climate change on crop productivity. However, the effects of the CSA techniques on crop productivity were scientifically unclear. Therefore, this study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the effects of CSA on crop productivity of the 106 smallholder farmers as questionnaire respondents and five District Agriculture Co-ordinators as key informants for interviews. The results revealed that all the respondents (100%) were aware of CSA in their communities, and about two-fifths (42%) of them, who formed the majority, practised crop rotation the most. Almost all the respondents (96%) viewed CSA as an important agricultural intervention in their communities in light of the adverse effects of climate change. Two-thirds (66%) of the respondents, who were the majority, acknowledge that the CSA techniques increased crop yield. The maize crop tonnage Mean (M = 7.70) after the respondents’ implementation of CSA was statistically significantly higher than the maize crop tonnage Mean (M = 3.82) before the respondents implemented CSA, signifying that the respondents produced more tonnage of maize crops after they implemented CSA than before. The study concludes that CSA in the Eastern Province of Zambia is an intervention through which smallholder farmers were helped to enhance their crop productivity in light of the devastating effects of climate change. Therefore, the study recommends continuity of financial and technical support of CSA by the Zambian government or cooperating partners or both; refresher training for smallholder farmers in CSA; and improvement in the agricultural extension system.
    },
     year = {2024}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Effects of Climate-Smart Agriculture on Smallholder Farmers in the Eastern Province of Zambia
    
    AU  - Veronica Nanyangwe
    AU  - Royd Tembo
    Y1  - 2024/05/30
    PY  - 2024
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20241003.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijaas.20241003.12
    T2  - International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences
    JF  - International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences
    JO  - International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences
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    EP  - 99
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2469-7885
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20241003.12
    AB  - Climate change is one of the distressful environmental challenges the world has been grappling with in recent times as it affects crop production, among other economic activities. The Eastern Province of Zambia has not been spared by crop failure resulting from climate-induced effects. As a result, the Zambia Integrated Forest Landscape Project (ZIFLP) implemented climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in the Eastern Province, from the first quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2024, which aimed to improve smallholder farmers' resilience to the effects of climate change on crop productivity. However, the effects of the CSA techniques on crop productivity were scientifically unclear. Therefore, this study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the effects of CSA on crop productivity of the 106 smallholder farmers as questionnaire respondents and five District Agriculture Co-ordinators as key informants for interviews. The results revealed that all the respondents (100%) were aware of CSA in their communities, and about two-fifths (42%) of them, who formed the majority, practised crop rotation the most. Almost all the respondents (96%) viewed CSA as an important agricultural intervention in their communities in light of the adverse effects of climate change. Two-thirds (66%) of the respondents, who were the majority, acknowledge that the CSA techniques increased crop yield. The maize crop tonnage Mean (M = 7.70) after the respondents’ implementation of CSA was statistically significantly higher than the maize crop tonnage Mean (M = 3.82) before the respondents implemented CSA, signifying that the respondents produced more tonnage of maize crops after they implemented CSA than before. The study concludes that CSA in the Eastern Province of Zambia is an intervention through which smallholder farmers were helped to enhance their crop productivity in light of the devastating effects of climate change. Therefore, the study recommends continuity of financial and technical support of CSA by the Zambian government or cooperating partners or both; refresher training for smallholder farmers in CSA; and improvement in the agricultural extension system.
    
    VL  - 10
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