Exploring the Adaptive Capacity of Sugarcane Contract Farming Schemes in the Face of Extreme Events

Rebecka Henriksson,Katharine Vincent,Kivana Naidoo

doi:10.3389/fclim.2021.578544

Abstract

Adaptive capacity determines the extent to which exposure to natural hazards and extreme events translates into impacts. This study traces the effectiveness of adaptive capacity of two different sugarcane contract farming schemes (so-called outgrower schemes)—Phata and Kasinthula—in Chikwawa district in southern Malawi which, due to their proximity, are similarly exposed to extreme events, but have shown different impacts in terms of sugarcane production. We develop a framework to explore and compare the adaptive capacity at scheme management level, and relate the findings to the historical changes in yield, the occurrence of extreme events in the district and the lived experiences of the scheme management over the last ten years (2010–2019) using qualitative data from interviews with scheme managers. The total level and components of adaptive capacity differ in several aspects. Phata had much better prerequisites to mitigate the impacts of the extreme events (i.e., maintain production), particularly related to the Asset base, Knowledge and information, Innovation, and Forward-looking decision-making. Kasinthula on the other hand, was impacted by compound events whilst having low financial capacity, weak governance and reduced human capacity. Kasinthula had limited capacity to recover from the severe 2015 floods, the adaptive capacity thus drawn upon and were not restored when next event occurred (drought). This novel, comparative approach to assessing adaptive capacity, linking to past events, has been shown useful in order to determine the components that are missing and need to be built in order to reduce risk from extreme events and climate change. These findings are important to ensure future adaptation of sugarcane outgrowers, and relevant also to other contract farming arrangements or similar kinds of agricultural organizations.

Highlights

Extreme events cause significant economic losses and numerous deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa annually (World Bank, 2016)
The extent of the adaptive capacity of the two schemes was described in terms of how it enabled adaptation, shown as sugarcane yield over the last decade, and viewed in the light of exposure to extreme events
This approach provided an opportunity to groundtruth the assessment of adaptive capacity by highlighting the role of different components and its overall effectiveness in enabling adaptation

Summary

Introduction

Extreme events cause significant economic losses and numerous deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa annually (World Bank, 2016). The extent and frequency of these events are expected to increase in the future. Droughts have caused most weather and climate related deaths, while floods and storms have caused most economic losses [World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2014]. Adaptive Capacity of Outgrower Schemes is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and increasingly affected by extreme events, with major floods (in 2015) and a drought (in 2016) in recent years. The total costs of damages and losses of these two events were estimated at USD 335 million, and USD 366 million respectively (Government of Malawi, 2015b, 2016). The majority of the population is dependent on smallholder agriculture, which becomes increasingly challenging with climate variability, change and extreme events

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion