Andrew Litia is our colleague from Zambia who joined our Department of Economic and Development of FTA, CZU, in October 2021. His research topic is the Adoption of Technologies to Increase the Resilience of Smallholder Farmers in Zambia. This research study investigates the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers to climate change. The study will delve into crop diversification, barriers to the adoption of improved and certified seeds and the food security situation in the districts of southern and Copperbelt provinces of Zambia. Andrew’s research will analyse and investigate how crop diversification and its interconnectivity to the adoption of certified seed varieties are enhancing and shaping farming households to be resilient, sustainable, and food secure.
As part of the study, Andrew conducted field data collection in four districts in Zambia, namely Kalomo, Sinazongwe, Mazabuka (Southern province lying in agro-ecological zone 1) and district (Copperbelt province lying in agroecological zone 3). The data was collected in deep rural parts of the districts about 50-80 km from the main tarred roads. The team observed a strong power play between men not receiving the program, with women who were beneficiaries of the project.
Data were collected using questionnaires on the Kobo toolbox using mobile phones by the trained agriculture field officers in the local camps. Data was collected from July to early September 2024. The target was 400 small-scale farming households, but due to the power/electricity crisis exacerbated by drought, the field team couldn’t manage. Power would be available 3 hrs of the day. Hence, uploading data to the Kobo server was also a challenging process. In the end, the study succeeded in collecting data from 272 small-scale farming households. The preliminary result of the study indicated that farmers who receive inputs such as seeds are less crop-diversified and subsequently less food secure.
