Agroecological location of farms and choice of drought coping strategies of smallholder farmers in Swaziland
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Date
2023
Authors
Khumalo, Temndeni Amnestantia
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research Consortium
Abstract
This study uses data from Swaziland to test whether variations in local agro-ecological
regions levels of drought susceptibility and other socioeconomic factors significantly
determine farmer selected drought coping and adaptation strategies. This was in response to
the policy need to understand how livelihoods of poor, rural, smallholder farming
communities can be made more resilient in the face of recurrent droughts. Swaziland’s agro ecological regions were divided into those that were highly susceptible (Lubombo and
Lowveld) and those that were relatively less susceptible (Highveld and Middleveld) to
drought. Using structured questionnaires and face-to-face interviews, the study compared
115 randomly selected farmers from the former and 50 farmers from the latter region based
on the following household level indicators: behavioural responses to perceived long-term
changes in temperature and precipitation; the impact and behavioural responses to the most
recent drought event; how farmers would have responded if they had ex ante information on
the most recent drought event; ex ante private investment in anticipation of future drought
events; and finally farmer preferences for ex ante public investments in anticipation of future
drought events.
Description
Keywords
Drought coping and adaptation, factors influencing selection, probit analysis, small-scale farmers, Swaziland, agro-ecological zones.