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Responding to Crop Failure: Understanding Farmers’ Coping Strategies in Southern Malawi

Author

Listed:
  • Jeanne Y. Coulibaly

    (World Agroforestry Center, United Nations Avenue Gigiri, P.O. Box 30677-00100, Nairobi 00100, Kenya)

  • Glwadys A. Gbetibouo

    (Center on Food Security and the Environment, University of Stanford, Energy and Environment Building, MC 4205, 473 via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305, USA)

  • Godfrey Kundhlande

    (World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Programme, Chitedze Agricultural Research Station, P.O. Box 30798, Lilongwe 3, Malawi)

  • Gudeta W. Sileshi

    (Box 5600 Lukanga Road, Kalundu, Lusaka, Zambia)

  • Tracy L. Beedy

    (Utica Street, Plainview, TX 79072, USA)

Abstract

Malawi is a country in southern Africa facing high climate variability and many agricultural challenges. This paper examines farmers’ coping strategies for crop failure and the determinants of their choices using household level data from rural southern Malawi. The results highlight that farmers are not responding directly to climate variability, but to crop failure, which is influenced by climate stress, as well as other constraints, such as poor soil fertility and lack of agricultural inputs and technologies. The coping strategies adopted by households are mostly ex-post measures, including engaging in casual labor, small businesses and the sale of forest products. The main determinants of the adoption of these coping options are education, gender of the head of household, soil fertility and frequency of crop failure. This study concludes by recommending, among other things, that policies for the more efficient communication of climate change threats should emphasize the risk of crop failure. Furthermore, initiatives to assist households to better cope with climate change should take into consideration the local context of decision-making which is shaped by multiple stressors.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeanne Y. Coulibaly & Glwadys A. Gbetibouo & Godfrey Kundhlande & Gudeta W. Sileshi & Tracy L. Beedy, 2015. "Responding to Crop Failure: Understanding Farmers’ Coping Strategies in Southern Malawi," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:2:p:1620-1636:d:45447
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Fisher, Monica, 2004. "Household welfare and forest dependence in Southern Malawi," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 135-154, May.
    6. Maddison, David, 2007. "The perception of and adaptation to climate change in Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4308, The World Bank.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Sony K. C. & Bishnu Raj Upreti, 2017. "The Political Economy of Cardamom Farming in Eastern Nepal: Crop Disease, Coping Strategies, and Institutional Innovation," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(2), pages 21582440177, May.
    3. Dumisani Chirambo, 2017. "Enhancing Climate Change Resilience Through Microfinance: Redefining the Climate Finance Paradigm to Promote Inclusive Growth in Africa," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 33(1), pages 150-173, March.
    4. Yonglin Shen & Xiuguo Liu, 2015. "Phenological Changes of Corn and Soybeans over U.S. by Bayesian Change-Point Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-23, May.
    5. Schaafsma, Marije & Ferrini, Silvia & Turner, R. Kerry, 2019. "Assessing smallholder preferences for incentivised climate-smart agriculture using a discrete choice experiment," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Mulungu, Kelvin & Kilimani, Nicholas, 2023. "Does forest access reduce reliance on costly shock-coping strategies? Evidence from Malawi," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    7. Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed & Shah Md. Atiqul Haq, 2019. "Indigenous people’s perceptions about climate change, forest resource management, and coping strategies: a comparative study in Bangladesh," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 679-708, April.

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