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Climate resilience in rural Zambia: evaluating farmers’ response to El Niño-induced drought

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2021

Federica Alfani Open the ORCID record for Federica Alfani [Opens in a new window] ,
Aslihan Arslan Open the ORCID record for Aslihan Arslan [Opens in a new window] ,
Nancy McCarthy Open the ORCID record for Nancy McCarthy [Opens in a new window] ,
Romina Cavatassi  and
Nicholas Sitko Open the ORCID record for Nicholas Sitko [Opens in a new window]
Federica Alfani
Affiliation:
World Bank, Poverty and Equity Global Practice, Tunis, Tunisia
Aslihan Arslan*
Affiliation:
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Research and Impact Assessment Division (RIA), Strategy and Knowledge Department, Rome, Italy
Nancy McCarthy
Affiliation:
LEAD Analytics, Inc., Washington, DC, USA
Romina Cavatassi
Affiliation:
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Research and Impact Assessment Division (RIA), Strategy and Knowledge Department, Rome, Italy
Nicholas Sitko
Affiliation:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equity (ESP), Rome, Italy
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: a.arslan@ifad.org
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Abstract

This paper aims at identifying whether and how sustainable land management practices and livelihood diversification strategies have contributed to moderating the impacts of the El Niño-related drought in Zambia. This is done using a specifically designed survey called the El Niño Impact Assessment Survey, which is combined with the Rural Agricultural Livelihoods Surveys, as well as high resolution rainfall data at the ward level over 34 years. This unique panel data set allows us to control for the time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity to understand the impacts of shocks like El Niño, which are expected to become more frequent and severe as a result of climate change. We find that maize yields were substantially reduced and that household incomes were only partially protected from the shock thanks to diversification strategies. Mechanical erosion control measures and livestock diversification emerge as the only strategies that provided yield and income benefits under weather shock.

Keywords

climate shockscrop productivityincomesustainable land managementZambia

JEL classification

O13: Agriculture • Natural Resources • Energy • Environment • Other Primary Products Q12: Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets R11: Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 26 , Special Issue 5-6: Weather and Climate Impacts in Developing Countries , October 2021 , pp. 582 - 604
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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