Climate shocks, vulnerability, resilience and livelihoods in rural Zambia

Climate and weather shocks pose risks to livelihoods in Southern Africa. We assess the extent to which smallholders are exposed to climate shocks in Zambia and how behavioural choices influence the negative effects of these shocks on vulnerability and resilience. We use household data from the natio...

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Main Authors: Ngoma, Hambulo, Finn, Arden, Kabisa, Mulako
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Informa UK Limited 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/138034
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author Ngoma, Hambulo
Finn, Arden
Kabisa, Mulako
author_browse Finn, Arden
Kabisa, Mulako
Ngoma, Hambulo
author_facet Ngoma, Hambulo
Finn, Arden
Kabisa, Mulako
author_sort Ngoma, Hambulo
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Climate and weather shocks pose risks to livelihoods in Southern Africa. We assess the extent to which smallholders are exposed to climate shocks in Zambia and how behavioural choices influence the negative effects of these shocks on vulnerability and resilience. We use household data from the nationally representative Rural Agricultural Livelihoods Survey and employ an instrumental variable probit regression model to control for the endogeneity of key choice variables. There are four main findings. First, droughts are the most prevalent climate shock faced by rural smallholder farmers in Zambia, but the extent of exposure differs spatially, with the Southern and Western Provinces being the hardest hit. Nationally, 76% of all smallholder farmers are vulnerable and only 24% are resilient, with female households most vulnerable. Second, increased climate shocks correlate with both increased vulnerability and reduced resilience, with short- and long-term deviations in seasonal rainfall worsening vulnerability and resilience. Third, higher asset endowments and education are correlated with reduced vulnerability and increased resilience. And last, climate-smart agricultural practices significantly improve household resilience. These findings imply a need to support scaling of climate-smart agricultural technologies and to invest in risk mitigation strategies such as weather-indexed insurance and targeted social cash transfers.
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spelling CGSpace1380342025-12-08T09:54:28Z Climate shocks, vulnerability, resilience and livelihoods in rural Zambia Ngoma, Hambulo Finn, Arden Kabisa, Mulako resilience vulnerability climate smallholders Climate and weather shocks pose risks to livelihoods in Southern Africa. We assess the extent to which smallholders are exposed to climate shocks in Zambia and how behavioural choices influence the negative effects of these shocks on vulnerability and resilience. We use household data from the nationally representative Rural Agricultural Livelihoods Survey and employ an instrumental variable probit regression model to control for the endogeneity of key choice variables. There are four main findings. First, droughts are the most prevalent climate shock faced by rural smallholder farmers in Zambia, but the extent of exposure differs spatially, with the Southern and Western Provinces being the hardest hit. Nationally, 76% of all smallholder farmers are vulnerable and only 24% are resilient, with female households most vulnerable. Second, increased climate shocks correlate with both increased vulnerability and reduced resilience, with short- and long-term deviations in seasonal rainfall worsening vulnerability and resilience. Third, higher asset endowments and education are correlated with reduced vulnerability and increased resilience. And last, climate-smart agricultural practices significantly improve household resilience. These findings imply a need to support scaling of climate-smart agricultural technologies and to invest in risk mitigation strategies such as weather-indexed insurance and targeted social cash transfers. 2024-07-02 2024-01-18T16:04:18Z 2024-01-18T16:04:18Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/138034 en Open Access application/pdf Informa UK Limited Ngoma, H., Finn, A., & Kabisa, M. (2023). Climate shocks, vulnerability, resilience and livelihoods in rural Zambia. Climate and Development, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2023.2246031
spellingShingle resilience
vulnerability
climate
smallholders
Ngoma, Hambulo
Finn, Arden
Kabisa, Mulako
Climate shocks, vulnerability, resilience and livelihoods in rural Zambia
title Climate shocks, vulnerability, resilience and livelihoods in rural Zambia
title_full Climate shocks, vulnerability, resilience and livelihoods in rural Zambia
title_fullStr Climate shocks, vulnerability, resilience and livelihoods in rural Zambia
title_full_unstemmed Climate shocks, vulnerability, resilience and livelihoods in rural Zambia
title_short Climate shocks, vulnerability, resilience and livelihoods in rural Zambia
title_sort climate shocks vulnerability resilience and livelihoods in rural zambia
topic resilience
vulnerability
climate
smallholders
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/138034
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AT finnarden climateshocksvulnerabilityresilienceandlivelihoodsinruralzambia
AT kabisamulako climateshocksvulnerabilityresilienceandlivelihoodsinruralzambia