Adoption of Small-Scale Irrigation Farming as a Climate-Smart Agriculture Practice and Its Influence on Household Income in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa

Abstract

This article concerns the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice and its influence on household income in the Chinyanja Triangle. Chinyanja Triangle is a region that experiences mid-season dry spells and an increase in occurrences of drought due to low and erratic rainfall patterns which is attributed largely to climate variability and change. This poses high agricultural production risks, which aggravate poverty and food insecurity. For this region, adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice is very important. Through a binary logistic and ordinary least squares regression, the article determines factors that influence the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice and its influence on income among smallholder farmers. The results show that off-farm employment, access to irrigation equipment, access to reliable water sources and awareness of water conservation practices, such as rainwater harvesting have a significant influence on the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming. On the other hand, the farmer’s age, distance travelled to the nearest market and nature of employment negatively influenced the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming decisions. Ordinary least squares regression results showed that the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice has a significant positive influence on agricultural income. We therefore conclude that to empower smallholder farmers to quickly respond to climate variability and change, practices that will enhance adoption of small-scale irrigation farming in the Chinyanja Triangle are critical as this will significantly impact on agricultural income.

Household survival and resilience to food insecurity through the drip irrigation scheme in dry rural areas

“…The study expands on previous studies (Mango et al 2018 ; Mhembwe, Chiunya & Dube 2019 ; Mtonga 2014 ; Peter 2011 ) which argue that plenty of financial resources and support were invested in Zimbabwean rural irrigation schemes to increase food production and consequently promote sustainable food security. Despite these efforts, household food insecurity still prevails, most prevalently from the production (availability) point of view.…”

“…Irrigation increases the capacity to produce food in severe drought conditions and expands possibilities for agriculture production and crop diversification (Narayanamoorthy & Devika 2018 ; ZimVAC 2018 ). Small-scale irrigation consisting of sprinkler/overhead irrigation, flood irrigation, furrow irrigation and drip irrigation systems has been identified as ideal for supplementing rain-fed agriculture and ensuring food security, especially in low-rainfall areas (Mango et al 2018 ; Riesgo et al 2016 ). Irrigation systems alleviate poverty by increasing production, income and nutrition.…”

Small Scale Irrigation Farming Adoption as a Climate-Smart Agriculture Practice and Its Impact on Household Income in Ethiopia. A Review Paper

“…Small-scale irrigation has key role to stabilize agricultural production, productivity and mitigate the negative impacts of variable or insufficient rainfall. It also has potential to increase both yields and cropping intensity (Abdissa et al, 2017;Mango et al, 2018).…”

“…Small-scale irrigation allows farmers to cope with the effects of climate change by increasing productivity per unit of land and increasing production volume (FAO, 2014). Adopting small-scale irrigation technologies as part of climate-smart agriculture strategies allows for the cultivation of land that would otherwise be unusable without irrigation, as well as achieving crop production stability by maintaining soil conditions, allowing some water to seep into the soil, and improving the soil to allow for more vegetation cover (Mango et al, 2018). Irrigation is, in general, one of the possible strategies of feeding the world's constantly rising population (Kalkidan et al, 2016).…”

Comparison of two Agricultural Irrigation Schemes in Eastern Cape, South Africa.

“…Agricultural activities in the region are almost completely rain-fed with irrigation presently gaining acceptance and playing a distinct role. However, only about 4% of the regions entire cultivated area is put under irrigation in comparison to 37% in Asia, and 14% in Latin America (Mango, Makate, Tamene, Mponela, and Ndengu, 2018). Increased use of the region's water resources would considerably enhance staple food production and high-value export crops.…”