Abstract
Food crop production by small-holder farmers in Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change, given high dependence on rainfall coupled with limited adaptive capacity. In Zambia, smallholder farmers contribute about 79% of national stable food requirements particularly maize. This paper attempted to establish levels of food security in each of the three agro-ecological zones of Zambia, and evaluated the current adaptive measures of rain dependent small-holder farmers against climate change risks. The challenges farmers are facing in adapting to the change risks were identified and livelihood vulnerability assessed. The findings indicate that rain dependent small-holder farmers in Zambia are highly vulnerable to weather related shocks which impact greatly on their food production; and that the levels of vulnerability vary across gender and per agro-ecological zone. After the evaluation of scenarios including staple food crop yields (maize), the authors conclude that most rain-fed small-holder farmers in Zambia (about 70%) are facing considerable hardships in adapting to the changing climate, which in turn, undermines their contribution to food security. While efforts by government have been made to assist farmers towards climate change adaptation, there still remains many challenges to achieve the desired outcomes. Most farmers (66%) are unable to afford certain alternatives, such as those of agro-forestry or conservation. Difficulties in accessing markets, poor road infrastructure, fluctuating market prices, high costs and late deliveries of farming in-puts were found to be among the major challenges that farmers are facing in Zambia. There are also no systematic early warning systems in place against natural hazards and disasters. This makes farming a difficult undertaking in Zambia.
Highlights
Zambia is a landlocked, sparsely populated sub-Saharan country with 13.8 million people [1]
Overall the results show that more women had adapted to changing climatic conditions than men
Following the evaluation of scenarios including staple food crop yields, it is correct to conclude that most rain-dependent small-holder farmers in Zambia are facing considerable hardships in adapting to the changing climate
Summary
Sparsely populated sub-Saharan country with 13.8 million people [1]. Rural livelihood in Zambia is entirely dependent directly on ecosystem services for survival, e.g. rainfall for food production; rivers for drinking water and source of protein; forests for construction materials, energy and medicine For this reason, people tend to settle in marginal lands which are prone to environmental disasters such as floods and droughts. Services (NAIS) which is a specialized information wing of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, whose main role is that of supporting the extension services of the ministry through the dissemination of agricultural technical information to the rural communities with the aim of achieving the national development agenda through rural development in general and agricultural development in particular Though some of these programmes have been successful, the Loan Schemes failed mainly due to institutional bureaucracy and failure to recover loans [11]. The project piloted alternative extension models and had a series of participatory livelihood and needs assessment exercises This included the establishment of Village Management Committees (VMCs), to implement a seed loan scheme. With the increasing participation of the private sector in agricultural extension, such projects could help demonstrate a partnership model which can be more sustainable for the future, both in Zambia and elsewhere
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