Social vulnerability of smallholder farmers to climate change in Zambia: the applicability of social vulnerability index
- For policymakers
- Summary created: 2022
The study assessed the social vulnerability levels of smallholder famers in Zambia.
This summary, including its recommendations and ideas, was created by Dr William Dumenu and is based on original research. The original research itself was conducted in collaboration with the following researcher.
The reason for targeting social vulnerability was that much of the work done around climate change vulnerability focuses on the biophysical aspects but not the underlying factors. The underlying factors are mostly things that relate to the social, economic and demographic factors of the people who are exposed to climate change effects. We looked at how these factors influence the level of vulnerability of such people.
In Zambia, the government was interested in appraising the climate change situation in the country and looking at its impact on various groups. However, unfortunately they did not pay attention to the social vulnerability aspect. We felt this was a big gap in trying to address the needs of the people.
The research also provides practitioners with a tool to help them to do a multi-dimensional assessment of the vulnerability levels of people who are faced with climate change.
A comparative analysis was carried out between two districts in Zambia: Chirundu and Masaiti.
Insights
We were able to determine the vulnerability levels of these districts and show that the Chirundu district was most vulnerable.
We were also able to show some of the coping measures that the local people had already engaged with.
There were two broad categories of coping measures: on-farm strategy and off-farm strategy. Their on-farm strategies consisted of planting different varieties of crops, particularly varieties that were drought tolerant, trying to plant crops at different times than they traditionally would, and varying their cropping or planting schedule.
These strategies were due to the delay in the onsets of rains.
Their off-farm strategies consisted of engaging in off-farm jobs to supplement income, engaging the sales of non-farm assets and also receiving government assistance.
What it means
We identified that the two broad factors that influenced the vulnerability of the most vulnerable district were economic and social factors. For economic factors, we looked at the income level and diversified sources of income. The district that was most vulnerable had a very low average household income, and they were mostly dependent on one kind of economic activity. This was the case because the region was not economically well-developed, the social infrastructure was very poor, the region was semi-arid and they were mostly dependent on rain-fed agriculture. As a result of the region already being very dry, this negatively affected their yield.
The indicators used to assess the social factors were access to climate change information and ownership of devices used for communication and information received. It was prominent from our results that there was no level of ownership of these devices, due to not being able to afford them. As a result, they did not have access to information on climate change issues, adaptation and impending events. There was also a lack of environmental NGO activities going on in the area in terms of organising seminars and workshops to educate the farmers on how to adapt to climate change impacts. Agricultural extension services were also very low in that region, as well as generally in Zambia.
This research would be useful for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). They do high level reporting by looking at global circulation models, however they should also try to incorporate social vulnerability issues into their reporting.
Proposed action
Environmental NGOs and development aid practitioners should come together to work on improving the socioeconomic situations of people, rather than working in isolation
Should adopt the use of the social vulnerability index in trying to understand the multiple factors that underline the community’s or people’s vulnerability to climate change
Pay attention to the underlying factors that influence people’s vulnerability to climate change, rather than always focusing on the biophysical aspects
Across many African countries, there is a need for adoption of conservation or climate-smart agricultural practices
The government should look at and improve the socioeconomic profiles of smallholder farmers
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Acknowledgements
Thank you to iDE Global
These insights were made available thanks to the support of iDE Global, who are committed to the dissemination of knowledge for all.
Special thanks to Jasmyn Spanswick for preparation assistance
We would like to extend a special thank you to Jasmyn Spanswick, for their invaluable contribution in assisting the preparation of this research summary.
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