The objective of the study was to assess the impacts of climate change faced by rural households in the lowveld of Swaziland, using Malindza as a case study area, and further identify adaptation and coping strategies employed by households. A questionnaire was developed and used to conduct interviews from 160 households randomly selected in four rural communities of the study area. Data were analysed with SPSS software, and reported in forms of tables and figures. More or less all the respondents (99%) were aware of climate change and climate change variability, Sources of information included radios (92.5%), television (5.6%) and agricultural extension officers (2%). The information was however considered inadequate and of short term remedy as it was in the form of daily weather forecast. The perceived effects of climate change included crop failure (99%), loss of livestock (99%) and drying of surface water (99%). Only 9% of the households harvested enough maize to last for a year, and the rest (91%) had to rely on buying maize, exchanging it for labour or receiving food aid. The climate change adaptation strategies practiced included contour ploughing (49%), use of organic fertilisers (29%) and crop rotation (20%). Thirty two percent of the households planted hybrid maize seeds and 15% planted open pollinated maize seeds. Another 26% planted both hybrid maize and open pollinated maize seeds. On the other hand, coping strategies practiced included selling or consuming small livestock and chicken (97%), consuming maize left for seeds (93%) and reducing food intake (23%). It was clear that the effects of climate change in rural areas were severe and needed to be addressed before critical damages like loss of human life manifest. The government should ensure that farmer's knowledge on climate change and variability is increased through education to improve their adaptive capacity.

Post-harvest technology forms an important component of any agricultural system. It is vital in all circumstances, whether there is surplus or deficit. A lot has been done on the dissemination of postharvest loss reduction technologies in Swaziland, but very little has been done to evaluate the adoption of such technologies. This study evaluated the adoption of post-harvest technologies by smallholder farmers. The objectives were to describe the existing post-harvest technologies in Swaziland and identify factors that influence adoption. Face-to-face interviews, using an interview schedule, were conducted targeting 70,850 smallholder farmers with a sample size of 382 selected from all ecological zones. The technologies identified were traditional in nature and those that were imported. Imported technologies were highly adopted (61.8%) as compared to traditional (38.2%) and this was due to the effort of the Ministry of Agriculture in promoting such technologies. Technology adoption was influenced by farmer oriented and technology based factors. Amongst the farmer oriented factors, females adopted more (57.3%) technologies than males (42.7%). Technology factors that were ranked highly in terms of adoption rates were; faster crop drying rate (46.1%), safety of crop (27.3%), and better crop protection (16.2%). Research should be conducted over time to determine crop losses within both traditional and imported technologies at farm level at all the ecological zones to come out with the best option.

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Climate change predictions reflect that temperatures in Swaziland will increase by 2.5°C and annual rainfall could decrease by 100 mm by 2050. Drought frequency and intensity is likely to increase in future and its occurrence could not be divorced from climate change. A descriptive research using questionnaire survey procedures and personal interviews was designed to determine drought coping strategies at Lonhlupheko, a semi-arid area in Swaziland. The target population was 150 households with a sample size of 108 households. The data collected was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. Quantitative data were presented as percentages following analysis by Statistical Package for Social Sciences computer software. Results reflected the drought coping strategies practiced by households as vegetables marketing and selling (19.4%), labour for food and money (5.6%), brewing and selling traditional brew (9.3%). External and institutional support obtained by households included food rations and farming inputs from non governmental organizations (32.4%), free primary education and feeding schemes (8.3%). Adaptation measures proposed by households included provision of irrigation water (56.5%), construction of dams and structures for rainwater harvesting (23.1%), agricultural extension services revival (13.0%), access to loans for small and medium enterprises (5.5%) and drought tolerant crops promotion (1.9%).

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