Assessing the impact of access to climate services on smallholder farmers cropping decisions and household food security in Elundini Municipality, Eastern Cape province
- Authors: Nocezo, Yanga-Inkosi
- Date: 2023-11
- Subjects: Food security -- Climatic factors , Vegetation and climate , Crops and climate
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/28882 , vital:75366
- Description: Climate variability has significant implications for crop production and overall food security. Climate services which provide tailored and localised climate information have the potential to enhance farmers understanding of climate patterns and support informed decision making. The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of climate services on smallholder farmers cropping decisions and household food security. The study adopted a cross sectional household survey on 217 smallholder crop farming households from Elundini Municipality. Structured questionnaires and face to face interviews were used to collect the required data from the farmers. Descriptive analysis was used to identify the types of climate service accessed by smallholder crop farmers in the study area. The probit model was used to examine factors influencing smallholder crop farmers access to specific climate services. The household dietary diversity score was used to measure household food security among smallholder crop farmers. The propensity score matching model was used to assess the impact of accessing specific climate services on cropping decisions and household food security. The results indicated that most farmers 77 percent in the study area had access to climate services. The results further showed that many farmers had access to short term weather forecast 79 percent with very few accessing seasonal forecast 22 percent. The results also revealed that access to both short term weather and seasonal forecasts is positively influenced by ownership of mobile phones and access to extension services. Similarly access to short term weather forecasts is positively influenced by age monthly income ownership of radio timely climate information and perceiving that climate change has negative effects on crop production. Land size knowledge of climate change and climate services accuracy are positive and significant factors influencing access to seasonal forecasts. Most of the smallholder farming households in the study area had higher dietary diversity scores 66 percent. Moreover access to short term weather and seasonal forecasts has a positive and significant impact on cropping decisions and household dietary diversity scores. The study concludes that climate services improve cropping decisions and household food security among smallholder crop farmers in Elundini Municipality. The study recommends that there should be investments in awareness programmes that will educate farmers about the importance of climate services and how to acquire and interpret both weather and seasonal forecasts. Stakeholders interested in improving smallholder farmers access to climate services should consider whether farmers own smart phones and have access to extension services arable land knowledge of climate change and if the climate services are accurate for smallholder farmers. In addition to improve crop production and household food security in the face of climate change access to climate services by smallholder farmers should be considered. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2023-11
Effects of climatic variability on maize productivity in South Africa from 1937-2018
- Authors: Awum Awum, Rudin https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-8740-6163
- Date: 2022-03
- Subjects: Crops and climate , Climatic changes
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21410 , vital:48576
- Description: Climate is an important factor in agricultural production. The world is facing climate change and variability, which result in high temperatures, low rainfall patterns, shortage of water and persistent droughts. Climate change poses a significant threat to South Africa’s water resources, food security, health, infrastructure, ecosystem services and biodiversity. Negative impacts of climate variability on agriculture, especially on maize the staple crop, will worsen the food security status of the nation as most of South Africa’s maize crop is produced in summer and highly depends on rainfall. This study attempted to assess the impact of climate on maize production in South Africa using secondary time series data for the period 1937 to 2018. Rainfall and temperature were used as proxies for climate variability. The Granger Causality Model was used to examine the causal linkages between climatic variables (temperature or rainfall) and maize output in South Africa for the study period. The major outcome of the analysis was that there is a two-way causal relationship between maize production and temperature. The results also indicated that there is uni-directional causality between maize yield and rainfall. Furthermore, the Variance Decomposition Model was used to forecast the relationship between climatic elements and maize production in South Africa. The result showed that all variables have an effect on maize yield, with temperature having the least effect. The last objective of the study was to profile the maize output trend for the period from 1937 to 2018. The main findings from the analysis indicate that maize production in South Africa has a general upward slope. The study recommends that the government should intensify the provision of irrigation systems for the farmers in the most vulnerable areas to mitigate the climate change. Government should also embark on massive campaigns using a variety of media to create the needed public awareness on climate change and its impact on food security. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-03