82 research outputs found
Vulnerability and adaptation to climate variability and change in smallholder farming systems in Zimbabwe
No full text Keywords: Climate change; Increased climate variability; Vulnerability; Smallholder farmers; Adaptation Climate change and increased climate variability are currently seen as the major constraints to the already stressed smallholder farming livelihood system in southern Africa. The main objectives of this study were first to understand the nature and sources of vulnerability of smallholder farmers to climate variability and change, and second to use this knowledge to evaluate possible farm-level management options that can enhance the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers in the face of increased climate variability and long-term change in climate. The study was conducted in Makoni and Hwedza districts in eastern Zimbabwe. Local famers’ and expert empirical knowledge were combined using research tools that mainly included detailed field observations and surveys, systems analysis and field experimentation, and simulation modelling (the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM)). To understand the nature and sources of vulnerability, long term climate data were analysed and farmers were interviewed individually and in groups. On-farm experimentation and simulation modelling were conducted to evaluate the impacts and interactions of adaptation options namely maize cultivar choice, staggered planting dates, and variable fertilizer rates, on maize yield under both short-term climate variability and long-term climate change. Another on-farm experiment was conducted to assess whether small grains (finger millet and sorghum) perform as well as maize under variable soil and rainfall conditions. The long-term rainfall and temperature analyses closely supports farmers’ perceptions that the total annual rainfall has so far not changed, but variability in the rainfall distribution within seasons has increased. The number of rain days has decreased, and the frequency of dry spells within season increased. The mean daily minimum temperature increased by 0.2°C per decade in Makoni, and by 0.5°C per decade in Hwedza, over the period from 1962 to 2000. The surface air temperature is further projected to increase significantly in Makoni and Hwedza, by 2100. The impacts of rising temperatures and increased rainfall variability among smallholder households were highly differentiated because different households depend on varied farming livelihood sub-systems, which were exposed uniquely to aspects of climatic risk. For example, livestock production was sensitive to drought due to lack of feed, affecting resource-endowed farmers, who often own relatively large herds of cattle. Crop production was more sensitive to increased rainfall variability, affecting especially farmers with intermediate resource endowment. Availability of wild fruits and social safety nets were affected directly and indirectly by extreme temperatures and increased rainfall variability, impacting the livelihoods of poorer farmers. Farmers have also access to different biophysical and socioeconomic resources such as fertilizer and farm labour inputs, and as a result they respond variedly to impacts of a changing climate. Thus, alongside climate variability and change, farmers also faced biophysical and socioeconomic challenges, and these challenges had strong interactions with adaptation options to climate change. Experimentation in this studydemonstrated that the maize cultivars currently on the market in Zimbabwe, and in many parts of southern Africa, exhibit narrow differences in maturity time such that they do not respond differently to prolonged dry spells. The yield performance for all three cultivars is projected to be similar in future change in climates, consistent with results from the experiments.In the current cropping system farmers can select any cultivar available on the market without a yield penalty. However, with climate change none of the available cultivars will be able to compensate for the decline in yield. Greater maize grain yields were obtained with both the early (25 October – 20 November) and normal (21 November – 15 December) plantings, with no significant differences between these planting windows(e.g. on average 5 t ha-1 in Makoni, and 3 t ha-1 in Hwedza for the high fertilization rate).Contrary to previous research findings, there is a reasonably wide planting window in which good yields can be obtained if the rains start on time, but if the start of the rains is delayed until after the beginning of December planting should be done as soon as possible. Regardless of the amount of fertilizer applied, yields were reduced strongly when planting was substantially delayed by four weeks after the start of the rainy season. Maize yielded more than finger millet and sorghum even when rainfall was poor in the 2010/2011 season. For example, maize yielded 2.4 t ha-1 compared with 1.6 t ha-1 for finger millet and 0.4 t ha-1 for sorghum in the 2010/2011 rainfall season in Makoni. Finger millet and sorghum failed to emerge unless fertilizer was applied. Application of manure alone failed to address this challenge of poor emergence until fertilizer was added. Sorghum suffered critical yield losses due to bird damage. The better performance of maize over finger millet and sorghum suggested that the recommendation to substitute small grains for maize as a viable adaptation option to a changing climate, will neither be the best option for robust adaptation nor attractive for farmers in southern Africa. Alternatively spreading crops across the farm and in time can be a viable strategy to spread climatic risk as well as improve human nutrition. Poor soil fertility constrained yield more strongly than rainfall and late planting, as demonstrated by the large yield gap (> 1.2 t ha-1) between the unfertilized and fertilized cultivars even in the poor rainfall season (2010/2011). Fertilization increased yield significantly under both the baseline and future climates particularly when planting before mid-December.The maize response to mineral nitrogen is, however, projected to decline as climate changes, although effects only become substantial towards the end of the 21st Century. Soil fertility management is therefore likely to be a major entry point for increasing the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers to climate change and increased climate variability. However, management of factors related to both nutrient resource access and farmers decisions to enhance resource use efficiencies are critical if agriculture is to be used as robust adaptation options to climate change by smallholder in Southern Africa.</p
School counsellors' perceptions of headmasters' attitudes towards guidance and counselling in Zimbabwe secondary schoolsskills in secondary school agriculture
No full textThe study sought to find out school counsellors' perceptions of headmasters' attitudes towards the guidance and counselling programme in Zimbabwe secondary schools. Two hundred and six (N=206) school counsellors participated in the study. A questionnaire was developed to collect the data. The SPSS 7.5 version was used to analyze the data. A t-test for independent samples was used. The results revealed that headmasters were perceived as having negative attitudes towards the guidance and councelling programme. There was no significant difference between male and female counsellors' perceptions of headmasters' attitudes towards the guidance and counselling programme. Recommendations for improving headmasters' attitudes were made.Zimbabwe Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 17 (1) March 2005: pp. 19-2
Managing soil fertility diversity to enhance resource use efficiencies in smallholder farming systems: a case from Murewa District, Zimbabwe
No full textSmallholder farms in sub-Saharan African exhibit substantial heterogeneity in soil fertility, and nutrient resource allocation strategies that address this variability are required to increase nutrient use efficiencies. We applied the Field-scale resource Interactions, use Efficiencies and Long-term soil fertility Development (FIELD) model to explore consequences of various manure and fertilizer application strategies on crop productivity and soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics on farms varying in resource endowment in a case study village in Murewa District, Zimbabwe. FIELD simulated a rapid decline in SOC and maize yields when native woodlands were cleared for maize cultivation without fertilizer inputs coupled with removal of crop residues. Applications of 10 t manure ha-1 year-1 for 10 years were required to restore maize productivity to the yields attainable under native woodland. Long-term application of manure at 5 and 3 t ha-1 resulted in SOC contents comparable to zones of high and medium soil fertility observed on farms of wealthy cattle owners. Targeting manure application to restore SOC to 50–60% of contents under native woodlands was sufficient to increase productivity to 90% of attainable yields. Short-term increases in crop productivity achieved by reallocating manure to less fertile fields were short-lived on sandy soils. Preventing degradation of the soils under intensive cultivation is difficult, particularly in low input farming systems, and attention should be paid to judicious use of the limited nutrient resources to maintain a degree of soil fertility that supports good crop response to fertilizer applicatio
Managing the Expectations between the regulatory authority and consultants in the environmental impact assessment system in Zimbabwe
No full textLong-term annual climate trends around the Breton Plots area, Alberta: is there any evidence of local climate change?
No full textThe objective of this research was to investigate the long-term trends in historical climate variables using the data collected near the classical Breton Plots (Alberta, Canada) and to determine if the data show any evidence of local climate change. The climate data used for the study were obtained from the Alberta Climate Information Service (ACIS) for the years 1901 to 2020. Various parametric statistical analyses were conducted to determine if monotonic trends occurred in the climate variables over time, and the analyses were conducted on the annual data as well as the 30-year climate normals. Large fluctuations in annual climate variables occurred, but a positive linear trend was observed in the average annual and growing season minimum air temperatures over time. Between 1901 and 2020 the annual minimum air temperature average increased at a rate of 0.3The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the pdf file of the accepted manuscript may differ slightly from what is displayed on the item page. The information in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript reflects the original submission by the author
An Exploratory Study of Factors Affecting Stress Levels Among Teachers in Zimbabwe
No full textCurrent research shows that stress levels among the teaching personnel has become a concern and most studies have found that stress is caused by physiological, psychological and environmental demands. This study seeks to determine: (1) factors that affect stress levels of teachers in primary school as a whole, and how these stress levels are related to experience and gender of teachers; (2) coping strategies that are used by these teachers to resist or adapt to stress, and (3) possible school system changes that could be adopted to combat stress among teachers. A purposive sample comprising 30 male and 20 female teachers from three primary schools in Bikita district in south–east Zimbabwe was used to obtain roughly comparable numbers of participants under the different levels of experience. It was not possible to obtain the ideal ten women in any of the schools studied. The result shows that the most stressful factors for both male and female teachers are: working on unnecessary tasks; taking work home after hours; unreasonable demands
for work quality; unmanageable number of projects; more work than can be done in one day; and having no time for a break. Implications for these findings are discussed in detail in this paper. Keywords: stress levels, teachers, factors, experience, coping strategies, ZimbabweNigerian Journal of Guidance and Counselling Vol. 13 (1) 2008: pp. 25-4
Sexual relationships among students in higher education in Zimbabwe: Implications for HIV/AIDS
No full textNo Abstract
Participatory Technology Development and Transfer: The Key to Soil Fertility and Water Management Technology Adoption in Zimbabwe. Report No. 2
No full textThere are few non-farm engines of growth and poverty alleviation in most sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. This implies that smallholder agriculture is likely to remain the major source of rural growth and livelihood improvement for a long time to come, as well as the center of individual nation’s economic growth (World Bank 1997). Many sources continue to establish that the persisting impoverishment of rural SSA is due to declining land productivity under an increasing population that uses low input farming methods (IFAD 1994; World Bank 1996; Woodhouse 2002). In addition, farmers have invested little in soil fertility management and crop yield despite decades of research (Ryan and Spencer 2001; Mapfumo and Giller 2001; Scoones 2001). The consequence of this is widespread accelerated erosion, degradation of soils, and deforestation (Hoffman and Ashwell 2001). As the natural resource base is degraded, it is becoming increasingly difficult for resource-poor farmers to maintain their livelihoods and quality of life
Soil organic carbon dynamics of improved fallow-maize rotation systems under conventional and no-tillage in Central Zimbabwe
No full textFallowing increases soil organic carbon (SOC) during the fallowing phase. However, this benefit is lost quickly during the cropping phase. The objective of this study was to evaluate SOC dynamics of an improved fallow-maize rotation under no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) from time of fallow termination, through the next two cropping seasons. The treatments studied were improved fallows of Acacia angustissima (A. angustissima) and Sesbania sesban (S. sesban), natural fallow and continuous maize. Our hypothesis is that fallowing maintained higher SOC and lower soil bulk densities through the cropping phase when compared with continuous maize system and that NT maintained higher SOC when compared with CT. Soil organic carbon was significantly greater under fallows than under continuous maize from fallow termination to the end of the second cropping season. Soil organic carbon for the 0¿5 cm depths was 11.0, 10.0, 9.4 and 6.6 g kg¿1 for A. angustissima, S. sesban, natural fallow and continuous maize, respectively at fallow termination. After two cropping seasons SOC for the same depth was 8.0, 7.0, 6.1, 5.9 g kg¿1 under CT and 9.1, 9.0, 8.0, 6.0 g kg¿1 under NT for A. angustissima, S. sesban, natural fallow and continuous maize, respectively. Total SOC stocks were also higher under fallows when compared with continuous maize at fallow termination and after two cropping seasons. Soil bulk densities were lower under fallows when compared with continuous maize during the period of study. We concluded that fallows maintained greater SOC and NT sequestered more SOC than CT. Acacia angustissima was the better tree legume fallow for SOC sequestration when compared with S. sesban or natural fallow because it maintained higher SOC and lower bulk densities after two seasons of maize cropping
Historic climate change trends and impacts on crop yields in key agricultural areas of the prairie provinces in Canada: a literature review
No full textThe objective of this literature review was to compile research findings on climate change and its impacts on crop production in Prairie Provinces of Canada. Our search strategy included finding primary literature articles from various databases. Seven articles reported increases in average and minimum air temperature over time in the Prairie Provinces of Canada. Increases in maximum air temperature were smaller than that for minimum air temperature. Growing degree days (GDD) and corn heat units (CHU) also increased over time, which has allowed for potential expansion of corn growth northwards. While overall increases in average annual precipitation and growing season precipitation have occurred in Canada between1900 and 2021, western Canada showed increases in some regions but decreases in others. Off-season precipitation and snow cover duration in Canada have decreased since 1950. The number of frost-free days has increased across Canada, on the Prairies and southern Saskatchewan since 1900. Annual snowfall has decreased since 1950 and across Canada the annual maximum snow depth has also decreased. Overall, studies focusing on the Prairie Provinces in Canada have shown accelerated changes in several climate parameters over time, affecting cropping areas and crop yields.The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the pdf file of the accepted manuscript may differ slightly from what is displayed on the item page. The information in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript reflects the original submission by the author
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