- Title
- Assessing the impact of access to climate services on smallholder farmers’ cropping decisions and household food security in Elundini Municipality, Eastern Cape province
- Creator
- Yanga-Inkosi, Nocezo
- Subject
- Climatic changes
- Subject
- Food security -- Climatic factors
- Subject
- Crops and climate
- Date
- 2023-11
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/28222
- Identifier
- vital:73913
- Description
- Climate variability has significant implications for crop production and overall food security. Climate services, which provide tailored and localised climate information, have the potential to enhance farmers' understanding of climate patterns and support informed decision-making. The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of climate services on smallholder farmers’ cropping decisions and household food security. The study adopted a cross-sectional household survey on 217 smallholder crop farming households from Elundini Municipality. Structured questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were used to collect the required data from the farmers. Descriptive analysis was used to identify the types of climate service accessed by smallholder crop farmers in the study area. The probit model was used to examine factors influencing smallholder crop farmers’ access to specific climate services. The household dietary diversity score was used to measure household food security among smallholder crop farmers. The propensity score matching model was used to assess the impact of accessing specific climate services on cropping decisions and household food security. The results indicated that most farmers 77 percent in the study area had access to climate services. The results further showed that many farmers had access to short-term weather forecast 79 percent with very few accessing seasonal forecast 22 percent. The results also revealed that access to both short-term weather and seasonal forecasts is positively influenced by ownership of mobile phones and access to extension services. Similarly, access to short-term weather forecasts is positively influenced by age, monthly income, ownership of radio, timely climate information, and perceiving that climate change has negative effects on crop production. Land size, knowledge of climate change, and climate services accuracy are positive and significant factors influencing access to seasonal forecasts. Most of the smallholder farming households in the study area had higher dietary diversity scores 66 percent. Moreover, access to short-term weather and seasonal forecasts has a positive and significant impact on cropping decisions and household dietary diversity scores. The study concludes that climate services improve cropping decisions and household food security among smallholder crop farmers in Elundini Municipality. The study recommends that there should be investments in awareness programmes that will educate farmers about the importance of climate services and how to acquire and interpret both weather and seasonal forecasts. Stakeholders interested in improving smallholder farmers’ access to climate services should consider whether farmers own smart phones and have access to extension services, arable land, knowledge of climate change, and if the climate services are accurate for smallholder farmers. In addition, to improve crop production and household food security in the face of climate change, access to climate services by smallholder farmers should be considered.
- Description
- Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2023
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (xii, 126 leaves)
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Science and Agriculture
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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Collections
UFH Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | NOCEZO FINAL Dissertation.pdf | 43 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |