Browsing by Author "Mugandani, Raymond."

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Conceptual conservation agriculture adoption in Zimbabwe.
(2018) Mugandani, Raymond.; Mafongoya, Paramu L.
The adoption of conservation agriculture is increasingly becoming important in southern Africa to sustainably increase food security, manage degraded lands and increasing resilience of agricultural systems to climate change. The practices is relevant to the smallholder farming systems of Zimbabwe where productivity is constrained by lack of access to agricultural inputs, decline in soil fertility and increasing rainfall variability. However despite years of research and extension, the adoption of the practice is very limited and piecemeal in Zimbabwe. Therefore, the main objective of the research was to get an in depth understanding of the barriers to adoption of conservation agriculture in Zimbabwe with specific reference to smallholder farmers. The study employed participatory approaches to collect data in Chivi, Murehwa and Mutoko districts. A pre - tested questionnaire was administered to three selected wards in each of the three district. The questionnaire was triangulated through focus group discussions, key informant interviews and personal observations in order to enhance the richness of our findings. Household survey data was analysed using Statistical Packages for Social Scientists and Statistical Analysis Software, while information obtained during key informant interviews and focus discussions was analysed through thematic analysis. Our results revealed that despite agriculture contributing to the livelihoods of the majority of the smallholder farmers, less than 10 % of the respondents had any formal agricultural training. On the other hand, the level of knowledge on conservation agriculture was high amongst the respondents. However, the non - adopters had an indifferent perception about the technology. The significant (P < 0.05) explanatory variables of the knowledge attribute were age, gender, education, visit to demonstration centres and years of practicing the technology, while the perception attribute was explained by age, gender, education, visit to demo sites, experience in conservation agriculture and agriculture. On the other hand, we found a weak but significant correlation between knowledge and perception (Rs = 0.36, P < 0.05), knowledge and adoption (Rs = 0.484, P < 0.05) but strong and significant correlation between perception and adoption (Rs = 0.808, P < 0.05). The later points to a very important point, that adoption of conservation agriculture can be improved by increasing positive perception of the farmers towards the technology. We also found out that the respondents adopted conservation agriculture through the knowledge (mean score of 2.13; standard error = 0.043)) and compliance (mean score of 2.02; standard error = 0.043) pathways. The explanatory variables of the knowledge pathway were education, experience in agriculture, agricultural training and visit to demonstration centers while the gender of the household was the significant variable in explaining the compliance pathway. The study also investigated access to equipment by smallholder farmers. The results indicate that the respondents had low access to conservation agriculture equipment (mean score of 1.72). The respondents indicated that availability, affordability accessibility and acceptability were the main non - socio - economic constraints to accessing conservation agriculture equipment. On access to agricultural markets, we found out that farmers had low level of access to markets (mean score of 1.814). Gender of household head (β = - 1.3196) and age of household head (β = - 0.63198) all had inverse but significant relationship with access to agricultural markets by the farmers. However, access to inputs (β = 2.3893), access to extension (β = 1.21) and belonging to agricultural groups (β = 0.887) all had positive and significant relationship with access to agricultural markets by the smallholder farmers. The study recommends closing negative perception gaps, understanding appropriate adoption pathways in the promotion of conservation agriculture and providing guidelines on “true” conservation agriculture, linking farmers to markets and improved access to conservation agriculture equipment as the main drivers of adoption of the technology among smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe.
The governance-institutions nexus in water management for climate change adaptation in smallholder irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe.
(2021) Mwadzingeni, Liboster.; Mafongoya, Paramu L.; Mugandani, Raymond.
Smallholder irrigation schemes (SISs) are crucial for improving food and income security in rural communities in a changing climate. However, despite huge investments and substantial development, most of the schemes have been performing below expectations. This study synthesizes governance-institutional nexus in water management from climate change adaptation in SISs, highlighting the linkage between scheme management and climate change. This study used qualitative and quantitative surveys to collect data from 317 scheme farmers in Exchange, Insukamini and Ruchanyu irrigation schemes of Midlands province, Zimbabwe. The overall objective of this study was to explore the governance-institutions nexus in water management for climate change adaptation in SISs. The specific objectives of the study were: (1) to assess livelihood vulnerability of households in SISs to climate change, (2) to assess the impacts of institutional and governance factors on the adaptive capacity of SISs, (3) to identify gendered perception on the prevalence and management of pests in SISs given climate variability and change, and (4) to assess the water footprint and nutrient content for the crops grown in the schemes. To achieve these objectives, different studies were conducted. In the first component of the study, the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) and the Livelihood Vulnerability Index—Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (LVI-IPCC) was used to compare vulnerability to climate change in the Exchange, Insukamini, and Ruchanyu SISs in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe. Results show higher exposure and sensitivity to climate change in the Insukamini irrigation scheme despite the higher adaptive capacity. Both LVI and LVI-IPCC show that households in Insukamini irrigation scheme are more vulnerable to climate change than in Exchange and Ruchanyu irrigation schemes, attributed to water insecurity, poor social networks, and droughts. The study recommends that development and investment in Insukamini and Ruchanyu should prioritize improving social networks while Exchange should primarily focus on improving livelihood strategies. Vulnerability analysis using LVI-IPCC is crucial to better understand the vulnerability of smallholder irrigation schemes farmers to climate change. For instance, it can be used to explore the contribution of socio-economic, institutional and governance factors to the vulnerability of the SIS communities. This will contribute to improved water management for climate change adaptation. This chapter reveals factors that can be considered to increase the resilience SISs in a more variable climate. In the second component of the study, socio-demographic, governance and institutional factors that influence adaptive capacity in Exchange, Insukamini and Ruchanyu irrigation schemes were explored. Questionnaire-based interviews, group discussions and key informant interviews were used for data collection. Adaptive capacity calculated using the livelihood vulnerability model was used as the dependent variable. Ordinary least square regression was used to assess socio-demographic, institutional and governance factors influencing adaptive capacity in the smallholder irrigation schemes. We accept the hypothesis that stronger institutions positively influence the adaptive capacity of smallholder irrigation systems. The study reveals that adaptive capacity was significantly (P ≤ 5%) influenced by a margin of 0.026 for age squared, 0.073 for gender, 0.087 for education, 0.137 for household size, -0.248 for satisfaction with irrigation committee, 0.356 for participation in irrigation water scheduling, and -0.235 for participation formulation of rules. This chapter reveals factors that can be considered to adaptation to climate change in SISs. In the third component of the study, Mann-Whitney U test was employed to assess perception on the prevalence of pests between male and female farmers. Findings from this study depict that the females perceived a higher prevalence of cutworms (Agrotis Ipsilon) (P ≤ 0.01), red spider mites (Tetranychus urticae) (P ≤ 0.01), maize grain weevils (Sitophilus Zeamais) (P ≤ 0.01), and termites (Isoptera) (P ≤ 0.01) than males, while men perceive a higher prevalence of fall armyworms (Spodoptera Frugiperda) (P ≤ 0.01), bollworms (Helicoverpa armigera) (P ≤ 0.01) and whiteflies (Aleyrodidae ) (P ≤ 0.1) than females. Perception of the prevalence of pests was based on farmers' experience and shapes how they manage pests. Utilisation of gendered perception on pest in this chapter enables institutions and governance systems to consider gendered perception on climate change adaptation. Meanwhile, understanding water footprint is crucial to advise farmers to grow water use efficiency crops. Lastly, water footprint approach was used to assess the water metrics and nutrient-water matrix of food crops grown in three SISs in Midlands Province, Zimbabwe. The nutritional matrix of food crops was calculated based on the study done in Exchange, Insukamini, and Ruchanyu Irrigation Schemes in Zimbabwe. Given that the average yield ranges from 1.04 t/ha for sugar beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) to 30.60 t/ha for cucumber (Cucumis Sativus), the water footprint ranges from 278.85 m3/t for cucumber to 4762.98m3/t for sugar beans. Maize (Zea Mays) and wheat (Triticum Aestivum) are energy and carbohydrates rich crops with lower water footprints. Sugar beans have a higher protein content and water footprint, okra have high zinc content and low water footprint, while wheat has higher iron content and low water footprints. Interventions should focus on improving water footprint and opt for crops with the higher nutrient value of key nutritional elements like protein, zinc, and iron to fight hidden hunger. Climate change adaptation in SISs needs understanding of water footprint and nutrient security of the scheme communities.