Department of Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology

Adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices by smallholder dairy farmers in Chipinge and Mutasa Districts of the Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe

2026-08-14T00:00:00Z

Adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices by smallholder dairy farmers in Chipinge and Mutasa Districts of the Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe Chavhunduka, Tinashe Climate change poses significant constraints on smallholder dairy production systems in Zimbabwe, particularly in drought-prone regions such as Manicaland Province. This study analysed farmers’ perceptions of climate change and their influence on the adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices among smallholder dairy farmers in Chipinge and Mutasa districts. It further quantified the extent of adoption of adaptation- and mitigation-based CSA practices and identified socio-economic and institutional determinants shaping adoption decisions. Guided by the Climate-Smart Agriculture framework of the Food and Agriculture Organization, which integrates productivity, resilience, and greenhouse gas mitigation objectives, the study employed a cross-sectional survey design. Primary data were collected from 154 smallholder dairy households using structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics indicated that feed shortages (59.6%) and water scarcity (55.0%) were the most severe climate-related constraints, while 84.7% of respondents reported high awareness of the impacts of climate change on dairy production. Inferential analysis revealed a statistically significant association between climate change perception and CSA adoption (χ², p < 0.05), indicating that perception significantly shapes adoption behaviour. Binary logistic regression results showed that CSA adoption was significantly influenced by household size, education level, herd size, farming experience, access to finance, and perception of climate variability (p < 0.05), confirming that both human capital and resource endowments are key adoption drivers. Further, multinomial logistic regression results demonstrated that district location significantly influenced farmers’ choice among adaptation-only, mitigation-only, and integrated CSA strategies (p < 0.05), highlighting spatial heterogeneity in adoption behaviour. The model exhibited acceptable explanatory power, confirming robustness in predicting CSA adoption categories. Despite high awareness levels (84.7%), CSA adoption remains constrained by structural socio-economic and institutional barriers. Adaptation practices are widely adopted but predominantly reactive and short-term coping strategies, while mitigation practices remain limited and are primarily motivated by productivity gains rather than by emission-reduction objectives. Agroforestry demonstrated moderate adoption (34%) and provided synergistic adaptation–mitigation benefits. v The study concludes that although smallholder dairy farmers exhibit adaptive capacity, their responses remain largely survivalist rather than transformative. Strengthening access to finance, enhancing extension services, and providing targeted incentives for mitigation-oriented technologies are critical to promoting integrated and sustainable climate-smart dairy systems in Zimbabwe

Impact of climate change adaptation strategies on food security of groundnut farming households in Yirol East County South Sudan

2026-06-01T00:00:00Z

Impact of climate change adaptation strategies on food security of groundnut farming households in Yirol East County South Sudan Achuoth, Makur James With projected temperatures rising higher than the rest of the world – and an increase in the occurrence of droughts, floods, and other natural disasters – the people, economy, and ecosystems of Africa are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. South Sudan is experiencing substantially warmer and drier weather, and the combination of these effects leads to increasing evapotranspiration and more droughts. The main purpose of this study was to identify adaptation strategies used by groundnut farmers in Yirol East County (District), assess the factors influencing the adoption of these adaptation strategies as well as evaluate the impact of adopted climate adaptation strategies on the household food security of groundnut farmers. Four payams (sub-districts) in Yirol East County namely; Adior, Malek, Pagarau, and Yali were targeted for data collection. A sample of 481 respondents was drawn from the total population of 113,052 farming households in the study area. Primary data were collected using structured and semi-structured questionnaires in kobo collect software and focused group discussion (FGD). In this study, objective one used descriptive statistics while objectives two, three, four, and five used inferential analysis from the sampled data. Objective six was analysed qualitatively. Findings of the descriptive statistics show that most of the participants were female as shown by 64.4% while the rest were male as shown by 35.6%. Most of the participants were in the age category ranging from 31 – 45 years as shown by 52.8% out of which 92.9% of the participants were married. However, the majority of groundnut farmers 82.7% had not attained basic education levels. Most of the respondents have been residence in a community for more than 11 years as shown by 60.1%, of which 55.9% with farming experience in years was more than 11 years. The findings further show that there is a positive and significant relationship between good agricultural practices and distance to market (r=0.443; p=0.000), knowledge of climate change adaptation strategy (r=0.286; p=0.000) as well as access to extension services (r=0.257; p=0.000), membership to farmers’ group (r=0.294; p=0.000) as well as perceived change in droughts and floods (r=0.146; p=0.001). Other factors such as membership of the farmers’ group (r=0.136; p=0.003) and perceived change in droughts and floods (r=0.186; p=0.000) have a positive and significant relationship with farm technology adopted by groundnut farmers in Yirol East County. Nevertheless, the study established that distance to market (r=0.462; p=0.000), knowledge of climate change adaptation strategy (r=0.359; p=0.000), access to extension services (r=0.250; p=0.000) and membership to farmers’ group (r=0.432; p=0.000) have a positive and significant relationship with off-farm activities such as business, casual labour and formal employment. The study also revealed that gender of the farmer (r=0.100; p=0.028), experience in farming (r=0.098; p=0.032), length of residence in the community (r=1.000; p=0.000), access to climate and weather information (r=0.117; p=0.01) and perceived change in prevalence of diseases and pests (0.275; p=0.000) have a positive and significant relationship with livestock farming as climate change adaptation strategy. The research further shows that the decision to adopt climate change adaptation strategies (CCAS) is determined by farmers’ age, sex, farming experience, farm size, farmers’ income, and knowledge level. In addition, the findings showed that climate change adaptation strategies (CCAS) adoption has a significant relationship with food secure status and food insecure status of groundnut farming households. The research has found that four major socio-economic sectors (SES) which include livestock, water, agriculture, environment/forestry, and health care services in the study area are highly sensitive to the impacts of climate change due to high risks of extreme weather conditions. In light of the findings of this study, a functional climate change adaptation framework was developed for groundnut farming households in Yirol East County but, could as well be used as a reference tool by the government of the Republic of South Sudan, United Nations (UN) agencies, national and international non-governmental organizations (NNGOs/INGOs) in the country. Abstract and text in English

Prevalence of mites and associated risk factors in village chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) of Libode in Nyandeni Local Municipality, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

2026-08-25T00:00:00Z

Prevalence of mites and associated risk factors in village chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) of Libode in Nyandeni Local Municipality, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa Ngombane, Mvelisi Background: Farming poultry chicken sustains the livelihoods in rural areas where chickens are used as source of proteins and to generate extra income. However, there is an increase of chicken-related health problems in rural poultry which are mostly caused by ectoparasite. Hence, there is a critical need to conduct comparative studies in rural villages to manage the spread of ectoparasite in backyard poultry systems. The study was conducted at six villages located in the Nyandeni Local Municipality (Nyandeni LM), which is part of the OR Tambo District Municipality. These villages are Coza, Ethumbeni, Luthubeni, Mjobeni, Mhlanganisweni-B and Phezukwamawa. Methodology: A cross-sectional epidemiological questionnaire was done to assess the farmers’ chicken farming system, knowledge of ectoparasite infestation and their remedies to treat mites and lice. Screening for mites and lice involved a thorough examination of the chicken’s visible affected areas. Samples were identified following standard parasitological methods and examined under stereo microscope. Results: About 197 chickens (70 males and 127 females) were examined from six Nyandeni villages in the Eastern Cape Province. The overall prevalence of mites recorded was 14.7% (95% Cl =39-46) among 197 poultry farmers examined. More than 15.7% of chickens were infested with lice while 14.7% infestation was due to mites. Of the insecticide used to control the mites and lice, 21% was Madubula followed by Bulala Zonke (15.5%), Blue Death (11%), and Karbadust (8%), and about 90% of farmers agreed that these remedies are reliable with no side effect. The lowest prevalence of mite infestation was in Mjobeni with the prevalence of 7.1% (95% CI = 0-23). The highest prevalence of mite infestation was in Coza with 25.0% (95% CI = 6-47). The difference in overall prevalence between male and female chickens was statistically significant (p ˂ 0.05). In addition, the prevalence of mites and lice infestation was higher in female chickens (mites,18%; lice,18.7%) while male had lower mites (14.4%) and lice (10%) infestations. About 49 chicken farmers participated in the survey with male contributing to 73% and 27% were female. At the time of survey, 14% chicken farmers that were employed and 86% unemployed farmers were fully depending on farming chicken for sustenance and extra cash. Chicken farmers had clear knowledge of mites and lice and the use of alternative method to control the spread of ectoparasite. Conclusion: The prevalence of these mites and lice in the rural villages is the confirmation of poor parasite control and management practices. This suggests the need to develop relevant VII control strategies and train chicken farmers on how to prevent ectoparasite infestations in rural village chickens.

A model to achieve continuous improvement and innovation in the freshwater production of the sharptooth catfish, clarias gariepinus, in South Africa

2022-08-22T00:00:00Z

A model to achieve continuous improvement and innovation in the freshwater production of the sharptooth catfish, clarias gariepinus, in South Africa Moroasui, Yvonne Matebo Global population is ever - increasing and demand for animal nutrition is also on the rise. Fish is considered to be the healthiest food on the planet and less harmful to the environment. People rely on the oceans for their daily protein intake. Capture fisheries is near extinction and aquaculture is identified as a solution to address this gab. Aquaculture has played a critical role in global food security and has grown ever – since 1970 by 7.5% yearly. Aquaculture businesses in South Africa are producing less than 1% of global production. Aquaculture small businesses are not profitable and „business as usual approach‟ is not enough to develop viable businesses. New innovative ways of producing more food and improving nutrition are essential. Continuous Improvement and Innovation (C I& I) is a business management strategy that concentrates thinking and action on the things that makes the real difference and was identified as a solution to disrupt businesses with the aim of achieving improvement and innovation and acquire profit. The study was conducted in five provinces of South Africa using mixed-method research methodology underpinned by paradigms, methodology, core methods and CI & I tools. Focus groups, in - depth - interviews, field notes, questionnaire and experiment were used as data collection instruments. The CI & I model is made of eight steps which are focus, situation analysis, impact and influence, action design, action implementation, performance assessment, creation & synthesis and refocus. The results showed that 30 projects were interested in the study and the opportunity of being involved in the study was high with mean score of 9 articulating that CI & I was a teaching and guiding process and it gave hope. Cycle 1 revealed that 87% partners focused on owning viable and sustainable businesses that generated income and created employment. In situational analysis, 93% of partners needed to secure market; 70% articulated lack of water; 13% reported lack of electricity. Impact and Influence revealed that 68% projects reported securing market access and improving water access as opportunities with high impact and influence. A total of 64% reported improving feed supply as critical; 54% increase number of ponds; 50% obtain equipments; 43% improve skills; 39% reported preventing predation and increasing number of fish; 36% obtain funding; 32% improving security; 21% establish accredited processing facility and improve electrical works. According to the profit driver tree the strongest drivers in the study were marketing, genetics, nutrition and management. In action design: the action was to secure local market via a questionnaire, to secure off- takes at a required price, branding, design business cards and posters and advertise on radio, shops and billboards. The action to have water access was to drill boreholes and obtain water licenses. The action for improving feed supply was to determine the effect of locally available food such as live earthworms and tilapia fish on the growth of catfish and demonstrate the applicability of the model in real life researches. The action for improving technical skills was attending practical training. The action for improving security was to install security fencing and also purchase equipments for fish harvesting and processing. The action to obtain funding was to apply to government, banks and other private businesses (sponsors). Action implementation: Business stickers were designed and a date on local radio station was secured, social media page was created. The site where experiment was conducted was prepared and experimental materials were out-sourced and the experiment was conducted. Dates were secured for the training venue and the trainer. Quotations were obtained for the fencing and some partners were designing a trapping machine. Communication was not received on the progress of the construction of fish processing plant. In performance assessment: market access, signed orders for potential customers were secured. Signed orders for market liaison to fit product to market was also achieved. Small- scale partners had a secured market due to the newly completed processing plant. The results from earthworm experiment were analyzed. Creation & Synthesis revealed that 22% of the project were not registered and lacked funding; and they needed to obtain funding and develop a business plan. 27% of partners required funding to realize businesses growth. Refocus was to obtain funding and be involved in the development of a business plan. The study contributed to real life experiences of farmers in catfish farming who worked on a rigorous and spiraling CI & I model. Issues such as market, funding, nutrition, management and electricity were strongest drivers that required attention for small business to become profitable and sustainable. The outcomes would contribute significantly to aquaculture policy makers and managers in South Africa for improved development of the sector.