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Building adaptive capacity: Reducing the climate vulnerability of smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe
Author(s) -
Mashizha Tinashe Mitchell
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
business strategy and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.488
H-Index - 7
ISSN - 2572-3170
DOI - 10.1002/bsd2.50
Subject(s) - vulnerability (computing) , adaptive capacity , business , agriculture , climate change , adaptation (eye) , investment (military) , work (physics) , natural resource economics , government (linguistics) , capacity building , environmental planning , production (economics) , environmental resource management , economic growth , economics , geography , political science , philosophy , computer security , law , macroeconomics , ecology , linguistics , optics , biology , mechanical engineering , physics , politics , archaeology , computer science , engineering
Climate change is affecting agricultural production, particularly in Africa, where agriculture forms the backbone of rural economies. Smallholder farmers in rural areas are vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to their marginalised location, low levels of technology, and reliance on rain‐fed agriculture. This conceptual paper finds that adaptation is cross cutting in nature and complex. Hence, it requires an approach that incorporates both policy and investment issues into its planning. This research not only contributes to literature on adaptation strategies but will also provide relevant insight for capacity building on smallholder farmers to avert the ongoing and future climate crisis. Furthermore, it contributes to hitherto limited work on understanding how adaptive capacity is shaped and be sustainable in Zimbabwe. This paper recommends that the government and private sector should disseminate technology that helps farmers adapt to climate change and access to irrigation technology must be a priority.