Abstract

Prolonged drought and floods as a result of climate change are a serious problem for households at Mpolonjeni ADP because their livelihood is mainly rainfedfarming. This is evident as there is high level of food insecurity, crop failure, poverty and hunger, which has forced many households to abandon farming and survive by food aid. The study was a descriptive survey aimed to identify private adaptation strategies to climate change and conduct a cost benefit analysis for the identified adaptation strategies. A stratified random samplingtechnique was used to select 350 households. Personal interviews were conducted using structured questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and cost benefit analysis where net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) were used as decision rules. Adaptation strategies used were; drought resistant varieties, switching crops, irrigation, crop rotation, mulching, minimum tillage, early planting, late planting and intercropping. Switching crops had the highest NPV, where maize (E14.40) should be substituted with drought tolerant crops such as cotton (E1864.40), sorghum (E283.30) and dry beans (E292.20). The study recommends that households should grow drought tolerant crops such as cotton, sorghum and dry beans instead of maize. The government should provide irrigation infrastructure, such as dams, strengthen extension services and subsidise farm inputs in order to improve crop production.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.