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Improving Livelihoods of Resettled Farmers Through Development of a Knowledge Base on Climate Change in Mhondoro – Ngezi District, Zimbabwe

Received: 30 May 2017     Accepted: 29 June 2017     Published: 3 August 2017
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Abstract

Climate induced famine has had adverse effects and has been the worst disaster from which most resettled farmers experience and suffer from. It remains a topical agenda and a bone of contention in most countries of the global south. Despite remaining a challenge in most farming areas, the small holder farmers have struggled to come up with alternative livelihoods emanating from effective understanding of climate change. Hence using data from interviews, questionnaires and focused group discussions, this paper aimed at unravelling rural livelihoods which enhance local people’s understanding and grasping of the effects of climate change induced disasters in Mhondoro- Ngezi district. The study noted that smallholder farmers are applying conservation farming (CF), small livestock production, irrigation schemes like gardening, agro-forestry, gold panning and fishing. The research also pointed out that 62% of the local farmers were not satisfied with the level knowledge base they have concerning climate change. The snail pace development of a knowledge base on climate change is being held back by challenges which include poor service delivery by government departments, lack of resources, unclear selection of beneficiaries, extreme reliance on Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and policy inconsistency. The study recommended that agricultural extension officers need to be capacitated so that they train farmers on the importance of seasonal climate change forecast information. There is need for increased participation in the realm of development agencies (NGOs and government) and be more sincere with the participation of communities through the development of a knowledge base on climate change adaptation programmes.

Published in International Journal of Sustainable Development Research (Volume 3, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20170302.12
Page(s) 18-26
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), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Adaptation, Climate Change, Food Security, Livelihood, Resilience, Strategies

References
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  • APA Style

    Tinashe Mitchell Mashizha, Monica Monga, Munyaradzi Admire Dzvimbo. (2017). Improving Livelihoods of Resettled Farmers Through Development of a Knowledge Base on Climate Change in Mhondoro – Ngezi District, Zimbabwe. International Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 3(2), 18-26. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20170302.12

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    ACS Style

    Tinashe Mitchell Mashizha; Monica Monga; Munyaradzi Admire Dzvimbo. Improving Livelihoods of Resettled Farmers Through Development of a Knowledge Base on Climate Change in Mhondoro – Ngezi District, Zimbabwe. Int. J. Sustain. Dev. Res. 2017, 3(2), 18-26. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20170302.12

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    AMA Style

    Tinashe Mitchell Mashizha, Monica Monga, Munyaradzi Admire Dzvimbo. Improving Livelihoods of Resettled Farmers Through Development of a Knowledge Base on Climate Change in Mhondoro – Ngezi District, Zimbabwe. Int J Sustain Dev Res. 2017;3(2):18-26. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20170302.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijsdr.20170302.12,
      author = {Tinashe Mitchell Mashizha and Monica Monga and Munyaradzi Admire Dzvimbo},
      title = {Improving Livelihoods of Resettled Farmers Through Development of a Knowledge Base on Climate Change in Mhondoro – Ngezi District, Zimbabwe},
      journal = {International Journal of Sustainable Development Research},
      volume = {3},
      number = {2},
      pages = {18-26},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijsdr.20170302.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20170302.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsdr.20170302.12},
      abstract = {Climate induced famine has had adverse effects and has been the worst disaster from which most resettled farmers experience and suffer from. It remains a topical agenda and a bone of contention in most countries of the global south. Despite remaining a challenge in most farming areas, the small holder farmers have struggled to come up with alternative livelihoods emanating from effective understanding of climate change. Hence using data from interviews, questionnaires and focused group discussions, this paper aimed at unravelling rural livelihoods which enhance local people’s understanding and grasping of the effects of climate change induced disasters in Mhondoro- Ngezi district. The study noted that smallholder farmers are applying conservation farming (CF), small livestock production, irrigation schemes like gardening, agro-forestry, gold panning and fishing. The research also pointed out that 62% of the local farmers were not satisfied with the level knowledge base they have concerning climate change. The snail pace development of a knowledge base on climate change is being held back by challenges which include poor service delivery by government departments, lack of resources, unclear selection of beneficiaries, extreme reliance on Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and policy inconsistency. The study recommended that agricultural extension officers need to be capacitated so that they train farmers on the importance of seasonal climate change forecast information. There is need for increased participation in the realm of development agencies (NGOs and government) and be more sincere with the participation of communities through the development of a knowledge base on climate change adaptation programmes.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Improving Livelihoods of Resettled Farmers Through Development of a Knowledge Base on Climate Change in Mhondoro – Ngezi District, Zimbabwe
    AU  - Tinashe Mitchell Mashizha
    AU  - Monica Monga
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    T2  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
    JF  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
    JO  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
    SP  - 18
    EP  - 26
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-1832
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20170302.12
    AB  - Climate induced famine has had adverse effects and has been the worst disaster from which most resettled farmers experience and suffer from. It remains a topical agenda and a bone of contention in most countries of the global south. Despite remaining a challenge in most farming areas, the small holder farmers have struggled to come up with alternative livelihoods emanating from effective understanding of climate change. Hence using data from interviews, questionnaires and focused group discussions, this paper aimed at unravelling rural livelihoods which enhance local people’s understanding and grasping of the effects of climate change induced disasters in Mhondoro- Ngezi district. The study noted that smallholder farmers are applying conservation farming (CF), small livestock production, irrigation schemes like gardening, agro-forestry, gold panning and fishing. The research also pointed out that 62% of the local farmers were not satisfied with the level knowledge base they have concerning climate change. The snail pace development of a knowledge base on climate change is being held back by challenges which include poor service delivery by government departments, lack of resources, unclear selection of beneficiaries, extreme reliance on Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and policy inconsistency. The study recommended that agricultural extension officers need to be capacitated so that they train farmers on the importance of seasonal climate change forecast information. There is need for increased participation in the realm of development agencies (NGOs and government) and be more sincere with the participation of communities through the development of a knowledge base on climate change adaptation programmes.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Community Capacity Building Initiative Centre for Africa, RTG Centre, Kadoma, Zimbabwe

  • Department of Development Studies, Lupane State University, Lupane, Zimbabwe

  • Department of Development Studies, Lupane State University, Lupane, Zimbabwe

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