Several stakeholders in are now looking at how smallholder farmers are changing their methods in order to continue producing under conditions created by climate change.

National Association for Peasant and Small Scale Farmers of Zambia President Rodger Phiri wants farmers to change the way they farm and the crops they grow. The association has about 300,000 members.

“We want our farmers to grow several crops, not just one crop. We are encouraging our farmers to go into organic farming using shrubs, leaves, herbal pesticide and no chemicals involved so that we can reduce dependency on costly chemical fertilizers. We should improve our yields through applying modern farming techniques such as irrigation and water harvesting technologies” says Phiri.

According to a World Bank report released before the Bali Climate Summit last year, many African farmers are willing to adopt new crops in response to new climate conditions.

The Bank says farmers should be encouraged to grow improved varieties that are better suited to higher temperatures.

Phiri says farmers are doing exactly that. He cites the use of new drought-resistant seeds and crop varieties.
Farmers are also being taught to alternate rows of crops that complement each other in drawing nutrients from the soil or carbon from the atmosphere.

He adds, “We must diversify. We must change the methods of farming. We want to change and to achieve our desired goals in increasing household food security, increasing our yields, increasing our production. Productivity is what matters most.”

Oxfam GB says Zambian farmers are making other changes as well.

Oxfam Programmes Manager for Zambia Ann Witteveen explains, “To some extent they have been doing the same in adapting themselves. We really see now in Western Province some changes in terms of the cropping patterns. For example, we see people willing to look at cassava as a crop which is slightly more drought resistant, to consider sorghum and millet as alternatives and to experiment the different varieties of maize - short growing versus long maturing”.

Witteveen says more and more farmers in Western Province are also using foot-operated treadle pumps to irrigate their fields or pump out excess water.
The World Bank says water may also be saved by adopting smaller livestock animals, such as goats and cheap. They require less water and food. It’s thought that as the climate changes, managing livestock in Africa is likely to pay better than growing crops. Small farmers will need advice on animal husbandry that will help them plan.

The government of Zambia is inviting the foreign NGOs in to teach farmers and extension agents how to raise small livestock and benefit from new drought-resistant food crops.

But farmers still need help, for example, in forecasting the weather. Some farmers use natural methods, such as marking the calendar but the changes in weather are making it hard for them to make precise predictions. They do not have any equipment to determine the weather. They rely on government supported meteorologists and their radio broadcasts.

Zambia’s Minister of the Environment, Michael Kaingu told Parliament that the country has already started experiencing the damaging effects of climate change through floods and droughts. Kaingu says the effects of global warming may prevent the smooth implementation of the government strategies for growth, including its Fifth National Development Plan and its development guide, known as Vision 2030.

He says small and subsistence farmers must understand what is happening so they can take precautions in valleys and other flood-prone areas. Kaingu says climate change may reverse gains in several sectors of many economies, including poverty reduction efforts in most developing countries, including Zambia. He encourages the government and NGO’s to come up with solutions to what he sees as fast approaching challenges.