Conservation agriculture is promoted as a green technology that enhances the productivity and food security of farmers. However, there is limited evidence from practising farmers regarding these expected outcomes. This study evaluates the... more
Conservation agriculture is promoted as a green technology that enhances the productivity and food security of farmers. However, there is limited evidence from practising farmers regarding these expected outcomes. This study evaluates the impact of conservation agriculture on the productivity of maize and food security outcomes among smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. The propensity score-matching approach was used to estimate the impact. The data is based on a 2013 survey of 488 households. Conservation agriculture, largely defined by the use of planting basins, had a positive and significant (p < 0.05) impact on maize grain yield (ATT = 473 kgha-1), with the magnitude more pronounced among female-headed households (ATT = 515.53 kgha-1). The increased grain production extended the households' grain self-provision period by 1.14 months for the pooled sample, and by a slightly longer period of 2.89 months for the female-headed sample. The study concludes that conservation agricu...
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Climate change is a major development challenge affecting developing countries that rely on rain-fed agricultural production for food and income. Smallholder farmers in these countries are using multiple adaptation practices to manage the... more
Climate change is a major development challenge affecting developing countries that rely on rain-fed agricultural production for food and income. Smallholder farmers in these countries are using multiple adaptation practices to manage the effects of climate change. This chapter examines household and community-level factors that influence smallholder farmers’ level of adaptation to climate change in the Hwedza District in Zimbabwe. Data for this study were collected from 400 randomly selected smallholder farmers, using a structured questionnaire, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. The study used a multilevel modeling approach to examine the factors that influence smallholder farmers’ level of adaptation to climate change. Results from the study show that smallholder farmers’ level of adaptation to climate change is conditioned by access to extension services, access to remittances, family labor, household education (household level factors), and linking capital (...
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ABSTRACT
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Socio economic and biophysical heterogeneity has an important impact on collective conformity to resource management measures. Within the kapenta fishery of lake kariba, there are several types of heterogeneity. These include differences... more
Socio economic and biophysical heterogeneity has an important impact on collective conformity to resource management measures. Within the kapenta fishery of lake kariba, there are several types of heterogeneity. These include differences in appropriation skills, political influence, initial endowment and local resource endowments. Kapenta operators have somewhat different preferences regarding resource management, assign different priorities to various objectives of resource management and have different access negotiating capacities. The differences in personal objectives regarding resource management and the differences in degree of control and access over the fishery have led to situations where users have varying incentive structures. This study shows that the social political and economic situation of users leads to variations on how different users relate with the kapenta resource.
The study sought to establish factors that contribute towards food security among elderly headed households and then seek ways of enhancing them. The study was conducted in Mudzi District in Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe. Data was... more
The study sought to establish factors that contribute towards food security among elderly headed households and then seek ways of enhancing them. The study was conducted in Mudzi District in Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe. Data was collected from wards 11, 12 and 16. The study used cross sectional household data collected using a structured questionnaire. Two measures of food security are used; namely household food insecurity access score and household dietary diversity score. The results showed that food insecurity access score was statistically higher for elderly headed household when compared to those headed by younger people. The study revealed that social capital, remittances, and off farm income generating projects can increase the elderly headed household’s likelihood of being food secure. The study also showed that public assistance is not making a positive contribution towards food security of elderly headed household. This paper argues that it is important for gove...
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The pelagic fishery of Lake Kariba is shared between Zimbabwe and Zambia. The fishery exploits the freshwater sardine, the ‘kapenta’ (Limnothrissa miodori). In 1999, the governments of the two countries established a protocol for... more
The pelagic fishery of Lake Kariba is shared between Zimbabwe and Zambia. The fishery exploits the freshwater sardine, the ‘kapenta’ (Limnothrissa miodori). In 1999, the governments of the two countries established a protocol for joint management of the fishery. The protocol sets the agenda for what each country does in the management of kapenta within its jurisdiction. The management objective of the protocol is to ensure that the yield from kapenta is ecologically sustainable and economically viable within an equitable framework. To achieve this objective each country is supposed to develop a management plan, within the framework of the protocol, which takes the historical and political context of each country into consideration. The Zambian government adopted a community-based integrated management system that encompasses both the inshore and the kapenta fishery. In Zimbabwe, the colonial era left a depressing legacy of an extremely unequal distribution of resources between b...
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This study explores the influence of personal and institutional factors towards adherence to tuberculosis treatment among patients receiving treatment at Wilkins hospital and its catchment area. A qualitative research design was employed... more
This study explores the influence of personal and institutional factors towards adherence to tuberculosis treatment among patients receiving treatment at Wilkins hospital and its catchment area. A qualitative research design was employed and information was elicited from respondents using focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and key informant interviews. Results from the study show that adherence to tuberculosis treatment is a function of institutional support and personal economic security. Fear of stigmatisation and the possibility of losing employment among employed patients negatively affects their adherence to treatment. In addition, availability of drugs, affordability of treatment, professional work commitment, acceptance and empathy promotes treatment adherence. The study concluded that medical institutions must address the software side of treatment developing professionals within the curing industry to professionally and confidentially handle those presenting them...
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Climate change is a major development challenge affecting developing countries that rely on rain-fed agricultural production for food and income. Smallholder farmers in these countries are using multiple adaptation practices to manage the... more
Climate change is a major development challenge affecting developing countries that rely on rain-fed agricultural production for food and income. Smallholder farmers in these countries are using multiple adaptation practices to manage the effects of climate change. This chapter examines household and community-level factors that influence smallholder farmers’ level of adaptation to climate change in the Hwedza District in Zimbabwe. Data for this study were collected from 400 randomly selected smallholder farmers, using a structured questionnaire, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. The study used a multilevel modeling approach to examine the factors that influence smallholder farmers’ level of adaptation to climate change. Results from the study show that smallholder farmers’ level of adaptation to climate change is conditioned by access to extension services, access to remittances, family labor, household education (household level factors), and linking capital (...
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This paper examines factors influencing behavioural change among smallholder farmers towards adaptation to climate change in transitional climatic zones of Africa, specifically, Hwedza District in Zimbabwe. Data for this study were... more
This paper examines factors influencing behavioural change among smallholder farmers towards adaptation to climate change in transitional climatic zones of Africa, specifically, Hwedza District in Zimbabwe. Data for this study were collected from 400 randomly-selected smallholder farmers, using a structured questionnaire, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The study used an ordered logit model to examine the factors that influence smallholder farmers' behavioural intention towards adaptation to climate change. Results from the study show that the gender of the household head, access to extension services on crop and livestock production, access to climate information, membership to social groups and experiencing a drought have a positive influence on farmers' attitude towards adaptation to climate change and variability. The study concluded that although the majority of smallholder farmers perceive that the climate is changing, they continue to habour nega...
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The effects of climate change are largely felt by smallholder farmers in southernAfricawhorely on rain-fed agricultural production. This study used data from a cross-sectional household to investigate the factors that influence a... more
The effects of climate change are largely felt by smallholder farmers in southernAfricawhorely on rain-fed agricultural production. This study used data from a cross-sectional household to investigate the factors that influence a household’s adaptive capacity. Results show that there is a positive and statistically significant correlation between receiving information on crop production (p&lt;.01), access to earlywarning information (p&lt;.01 and adaptive capacity. Without adaptation, it is impossible for smallholder farmers to enhance food security. The study recommends that there is need to improve farmers’ knowledge of climate change adaptation technologies and access to earlywarning information.
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The study sought to establish factors that contribute towards food security among elderly headed households and then seek ways of enhancing them. The study was conducted in Mudzi District in Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe. Data was... more
The study sought to establish factors that contribute towards food security among elderly headed households and then seek ways of enhancing them. The study was conducted in Mudzi District in Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe. Data was collected from wards 11, 12 and 16. The study used cross sectional household data collected using a structured questionnaire. Two measures of food security are used; namely household food insecurity access score and household dietary diversity score. The results showed that food insecurity access score was statistically higher for elderly headed household when compared to those headed by younger people. The study revealed that social capital, remittances, and off farm income generating projects can increase the elderly headed household’s likelihood of being food secure. The study also showed that public assistance is not making a positive contribution towards food security of elderly headed household. This paper argues that it is important for gove...
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Markets have been recognised for their potential to unlock economic growth and development. In the 1980s, there was a widespread promotion of market liberalisation policies across sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions following... more
Markets have been recognised for their potential to unlock economic growth and development. In the 1980s, there was a widespread promotion of market liberalisation policies across sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions following the embracing ...
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ABSTRACT Biological considerations have dominated the management of the Kapenta fishery since its inception. State fisheries&#39; managers employed the traditional scientific models that proved useful in managing temperate fisheries.... more
ABSTRACT Biological considerations have dominated the management of the Kapenta fishery since its inception. State fisheries&#39; managers employed the traditional scientific models that proved useful in managing temperate fisheries. This study uses both secondary and primary data to discuss the problems of using scientific models to manage tropical river-fed lakes. Where fish stock size fluctuates in response to environmental factors such as river flows and lake level (which influence the level of nutrients in the water body), the concepts of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and maximum economic yield (MEY) become problematic. This study demonstrated that, in an unstable environment, and where the target species is resilient to high levels of fishing effort, biological models lose their predictive power, allowing the state to determine the proportion of the resource to be distributed among its nationals. The redistribution of access rights or fishing licences (as a way of redressing a legacy of an unequal distribution of resources between emerging local entrepreneurs and companies established during the colonial era) is a major management issue in Zimbabwe. This study uses historical appraisal to illustrate how biological growth models failed to determine the optimal level of fishery exploitation upon which informed decisions could be made regarding whether to redistribute fish access rights or to broaden participation (or just recruit more fishers into the industry). This study also investigates tensions between the industry (advocating for broadening of access) and the state (seeking to redistribute existing resource use rights). Each stakeholder group has evoked institutions and discourses supporting their positions in influencing the strategies to eliminate the existing imbalances.
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This study sought to investigate the drivers of adaptation to climate change by smallholder farmers, using Hwedza District in Zimbabwe as a case study. The study used cross-sectional household data from 400 randomly sampled smallholder... more
This study sought to investigate the drivers of adaptation to climate change by smallholder farmers, using Hwedza District in Zimbabwe as a case study. The study used cross-sectional household data from 400 randomly sampled smallholder farmers from Dendenyore and Ushe wards in Hwedza District in Zimbabwe. A logistic regression was used to establish the determinants of adaptation to climate change. The results show that adaptation is positively influenced by head age (p<5%), family remittance (p<5%), small livestock (p<1%) and family labor (p<10%). However, perceived food security status (p<5%) and head age squared negatively influence adaptation. Basing on the results obtained from the case study, the present article argues that to promote adaptation to climate change by smallholder farmers, the government should target younger farmers that are food insecure. These younger farmers should be targeted with labor-saving technologies and small livestock ownership schemes. Tax concessions can also be given to those that are formally employed to facilitate the transfer of remittances to communal farmers.
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This article demonstrates how Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) impacts on collective marketing among smallholder farmers of southern Africa through increased crop productivity, yields and income. We use a... more
This article demonstrates how Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) impacts on collective marketing among smallholder farmers of southern Africa through increased crop productivity, yields and income. We use a quasi-experimental design to compare outcomes under IAR4D and under two other states namely conventional approach and non-intervention. The study relies on primary data collected from 665 households during baseline and
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ABSTRACT
This article addresses the impact of Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) on food security among smallholder farmers in three countries of southern Africa (Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi). Southern Africa has suffered... more
This article addresses the impact of Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) on food security among smallholder farmers in three countries of southern Africa (Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi). Southern Africa
has suffered continued hunger despite a myriad of technological interventions that have been introduced in agriculture to address issues of food security, as well
as poverty alleviation. IAR4D is a new approach that was recently introduced by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa through the sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme as an alternative strategy to address the challenges that the conventional Agricultural Research and Development (ARD) approach has been facing. Data for this article has been derived from two sources: baseline and endline surveys of the sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme that were
implemented in southern Africa.The findings of the study showed reduced food insecurity in the intervention sites when compared with counterfactual (clean and conventional) sites. This is a clear evidence that IAR4D has had some impact, as
food insecurity has been reduced in the intervention villages where the programme was implemented, unlike the control villages where the programme was not implemented. The results also show that IAR4D has improved the quality of food
dietary diversity and smallholders’ coping strategies when compared with control sites. However, these results are not robust across sites. Given the positive impact, this article recommends the adoption of IAR4D over ARD as an alternative approach to addressing household food security by increasing agricultural production.
has suffered continued hunger despite a myriad of technological interventions that have been introduced in agriculture to address issues of food security, as well
as poverty alleviation. IAR4D is a new approach that was recently introduced by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa through the sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme as an alternative strategy to address the challenges that the conventional Agricultural Research and Development (ARD) approach has been facing. Data for this article has been derived from two sources: baseline and endline surveys of the sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme that were
implemented in southern Africa.The findings of the study showed reduced food insecurity in the intervention sites when compared with counterfactual (clean and conventional) sites. This is a clear evidence that IAR4D has had some impact, as
food insecurity has been reduced in the intervention villages where the programme was implemented, unlike the control villages where the programme was not implemented. The results also show that IAR4D has improved the quality of food
dietary diversity and smallholders’ coping strategies when compared with control sites. However, these results are not robust across sites. Given the positive impact, this article recommends the adoption of IAR4D over ARD as an alternative approach to addressing household food security by increasing agricultural production.
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This article demonstrates how Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) impacts on collective marketing among smallholder farmers of southern Africa through increased crop productivity, yields and income. We use a... more
This article demonstrates how Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) impacts on collective marketing among smallholder farmers of southern Africa through increased crop productivity, yields and income. We use a quasi-experimental design to compare outcomes under IAR4D and under two other states namely conventional approach and non-intervention. The study relies on primary data collected from 665 households during baseline and
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ABSTRACT The failure of the linear and non-participatory Agricultural Research and Development (ARD) approaches to increase food security among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa has prompted researchers to introduce an Integrated... more
ABSTRACT The failure of the linear and non-participatory Agricultural Research and Development (ARD) approaches to increase food security among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa has prompted researchers to introduce an Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) concept. The IAR4D concept uses Innovation Platforms (IPs) to embed agricultural research and development organizations in a network to undertake multidisciplinary and participatory research. This paper uses Zimbabwe as a case study to analyze the relevance of the technologies and innovations that are being promoted by IPs in Zimbabwe to improve food security. Using data collected through the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme, the paper shows that access to inputs, social capital, productivity enhancing technologies and market information are critical in addressing food security issues among smallholder farmers. The multi-stakeholder partnership forged through IPs should adopt a coordinated approach to provide smallholders with access to these prerequisites for food security. The paper argues that more emphasis should be put on these issues rather than on farm research initiatives whose contribution to food security appears to be less significant.
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... Michelsen Institute, Bergen; 6. JUL-LARSEN, E, KOLDING, J, OVERÅ, R, RAAKJÆR NIELSEN, J and ZWIETEN, P. Management, co-management, or no management? ... 1982. “Fisheries andfish production on the ... Zambia−Zimbabwe SADC Fisheries... more
... Michelsen Institute, Bergen; 6. JUL-LARSEN, E, KOLDING, J, OVERÅ, R, RAAKJÆR NIELSEN, J and ZWIETEN, P. Management, co-management, or no management? ... 1982. “Fisheries andfish production on the ... Zambia−Zimbabwe SADC Fisheries Project, Report No. ...
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This Policy Brief is based on synthetic studies undertaken by participants in the Cross Sectoral Commons Governance in Southern Africa (CROSCOG) project between 2007 and 2009, funded by the European Commission (European Commission:... more
This Policy Brief is based on synthetic studies undertaken by participants in the Cross Sectoral Commons Governance in Southern Africa (CROSCOG) project between 2007 and 2009, funded by the European Commission (European Commission: FP6-2002-INCO-DEV/SSA-1, contract no. 043982). The objective of the project was to share existing research and experience in the governance of large-scale natural resource commons across various ecosystem types in southern Africa.
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This article is on the political economy of transformation and governance reform in industrial fisheries in Southern African states undergoing political and socio-economic transformation. Specifically, it focuses on the experiences of... more
This article is on the political economy of transformation and governance reform in industrial fisheries in Southern African states undergoing political and socio-economic transformation. Specifically, it focuses on the experiences of transformation and reform of governance in the pelagic fisheries of South Africa and Zimbabwe. A democratic South Africa and independent Zimbabwe each inherited a dual socio-economic system characterised by racially based inequitable distribution of political and economic powers, ...