About this research
This research received external funding from:
Local/indigenous methods for climate adaptation in agriculture are overlooked by policymakers and practitioners. Local people should be involved in decision making and understand their experiences and include their knowledge.
This research received external funding from:
The main purpose of this research study is to identify and document effective LEK adaptation practices in agriculture that are relevant for resilience-building and sustainability. The goal of this research is to advance the significant role that LEK can play in enhancing adaptation, resilience-building, and sustainability in the agriculture sector with a case study of central and southern Zambia
The purpose of the paper is to encourage policymakers not only to focus on scientific knowledge for adaptation to climate change but to bring in local and traditional knowledge. For generations and centuries, local and indigenous people have been using their knowledge to adapt to changes in their environment. These people should be used in policymaking, and their knowledge should be built upon & integrated with scientific knowledge to improve adaptation practices.
In the regions studied, the agricultural sector is greatly being impacted by climate change. Many climate-related issues are affecting the production of staple crops and the food security of the region. Using local/indigenous knowledge, farmers are striving to solve these climate related issues in their own ways:
With support from NGOs and governments, these techniques could be used on a larger scale. We know how climate change is affecting these people, and there are scientific methods being used for adaptation, but better adaptation methods could be devised by using local methods and building on them, climate change is constant and in time their current methods may not be effective, so they need to be improved upon in the long run, but these methods are proven to be viable and practical.
In this research study, purposive sampling was used for the selection of the participants. The targeted persons in this study were the rural indigenous smallholder farmers. Other participants in this study were the local indigenous leaders, extension officers, research staff, district agricultural coordinator (DACO), and NGOs found in the study locations. The sample size was 200 participants both male and female with the majority being female between the ages of 21 and 64.
Small scale study – was not able to compare/contrast between adaptive practices in other regions
Study participants did not include all demographics due to time/ funding constraints
Concept | Definition |
---|---|
Resilience concept in agriculture | These are actions that are aimed at increasing the adaptive capacity of the agroecological system. They are aimed at enhancing the adaptive capacity of the agroecological system to moderate climate effects and to return to a healthy condition after a disturbance either through natural process or with minimal management interventions. |
Sustainability of agriculture | Good farming practices that are environmentally and ecologically friendly and maintain fragile ecological systems today and for the future generations.. |
Indigenous/local knowledge adaptation techniques in agriculture | Techniques local and indigenous people use to adapt to climate change in agriculture. Indigenous knowledge- knowledge passed down through generations. Local knowledge- less regionally specific, known to people in a larger region. |
Sakapaji, Stephen Chitengi. 2021. “Advancing Local Ecological Knowledge-Based Practices for Climate Change Adaptation, Resilience-Building, and Sustainability in Agriculture: A Case Study of Central and Southern Zambia.” The International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses 13 (2): 61-83.
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