289
© The Author(s) 2019
T. S. Rosenstock et al. (eds.), The Climate-Smart Agriculture Papers,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92798-5_25
Chapter 25
Innovative Partnerships to Scale Up
Climate- Smart Agriculture for Smallholder
Farmers in Southern Africa
Mariam A. T. J. Kadzamira and Oluyede C. Ajayi
25.1 Introduction
Southern Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change because smallholder
subsistence farmers, a majority in the region, rely almost entirely on rain-fed farming (Nhemachena et al. 2010). Weather patterns such as droughts, floods and erratic
rainfall impact rural households’ food security, nutrition and income, which is significant in a region where the majority of the population are poor and have the lowest adaptive capacity (Beegle et al. 2016; Nhemachena and Hassan 2007). Amongst
the most vulnerable are smallholders, especially female farmers who have the least
capacity to adapt, and are thus disproportionally impacted by climate change compared to their male counterparts (UN 2009). This high vulnerability to climate
change causes food insecurity (recurrent swings between food scarcity and surplus)
for up to six million people annually. For example, in the 2015–2016 agricultural
season, countries including Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia and
Zimbabwe declared national emergencies because of drought (WFP 2016). There is
an increasing call from farmers, development practitioners and policymakers to recognise drought as the “new normal” in the region, and to respond appropriately
(Ajayi et al. 2007a, b). Part of the response is to shift from “relief efforts” (giving
food aid to farmers after crop failure) to “production relief”––helping farmers to
adopt practices that make them resilient, so they can continue to produce food
despite climate change uncertainties.
Innovative partnerships are increasingly recognised as essential for addressing
the negative consequences of climate change, however there is limited literature
about the practicalities of putting into use innovative partnerships to scale up climateresilient agricultural solutions in southern Africa (Surminski and Leck 2016;
M. A. T. J. Kadzamira (*) · O. C. Ajayi
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA (ACP-EU)),
Wageningen, The Netherlands
e-mail: kadzamira@cta.int
© The Author(s) 2019
T. S. Rosenstock et al. (eds.), The Climate-Smart Agriculture Papers,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92798-5_25
Chapter 25
Innovative Partnerships to Scale Up
Climate- Smart Agriculture for Smallholder
Farmers in Southern Africa
Mariam A. T. J. Kadzamira and Oluyede C. Ajayi
25.1 Introduction
Southern Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change because smallholder
subsistence farmers, a majority in the region, rely almost entirely on rain-fed farming (Nhemachena et al. 2010). Weather patterns such as droughts, floods and erratic
rainfall impact rural households’ food security, nutrition and income, which is significant in a region where the majority of the population are poor and have the lowest adaptive capacity (Beegle et al. 2016; Nhemachena and Hassan 2007). Amongst
the most vulnerable are smallholders, especially female farmers who have the least
capacity to adapt, and are thus disproportionally impacted by climate change compared to their male counterparts (UN 2009). This high vulnerability to climate
change causes food insecurity (recurrent swings between food scarcity and surplus)
for up to six million people annually. For example, in the 2015–2016 agricultural
season, countries including Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia and
Zimbabwe declared national emergencies because of drought (WFP 2016). There is
an increasing call from farmers, development practitioners and policymakers to recognise drought as the “new normal” in the region, and to respond appropriately
(Ajayi et al. 2007a, b). Part of the response is to shift from “relief efforts” (giving
food aid to farmers after crop failure) to “production relief”––helping farmers to
adopt practices that make them resilient, so they can continue to produce food
despite climate change uncertainties.
Innovative partnerships are increasingly recognised as essential for addressing
the negative consequences of climate change, however there is limited literature
about the practicalities of putting into use innovative partnerships to scale up climateresilient agricultural solutions in southern Africa (Surminski and Leck 2016;
M. A. T. J. Kadzamira (*) · O. C. Ajayi
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA (ACP-EU)),
Wageningen, The Netherlands
e-mail: kadzamira@cta.int