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Research Article

Access to Agro-Meteorological Information Among Smallholder Farmers in Chongwe District: A Demographic and Socio-Economic Analysis

Authors

  • Alubi, Tobias University of Zambia, Department of Plant Science, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia

    tobias.alubi@unza.zm

  • Tembo, Allan National Institute of Public Administration, Plot Number 4810, Dushambe Road, P.O Box 31990, Lusaka, Zambia
  • Daka Alfred National Institute of Public Administration, Plot Number 4810, Dushambe Road, P.O Box 31990, Lusaka, Zambia

Abstract

Zambia’s agriculture is vital for economic growth but it is recently threatened by the effects of climate change and climate variability. One major problem faced by smallholder farmers is access to agro-meteorological information for farm decision-making and adapting to good agricultural practices. This paper presents the findings of a chi-square and logistic regression analysis exploring the demographic and socio-economic factors associated with the accessibility of agro-meteorological information among smallholder farmers in the Chongwe District of Lusaka province. Questionnaires were administered to 142 smallholder farmers between June and August of 2022. Chi-square Test revealed that there was no association between age (p=0.565), sex (p=0.696), and household size (p=0.063) in accessing agro-meteorological information. However, there is a significant association in accessing agro-meteorological information by smallholder farmers among marital status (p=0.001), household Income (p=0.001), education attainment (p=0.000), and Land size acquisition (p=0.000) at 5% level of significance. The significant associations that existed were further modeled employing odds ratios at 95% confidence intervals to quantify the influence using multi-stage logistic regression analysis. The results showed that education attainment (OR=12.13: CI=1.048-140.384) and land acquisition (OR=13.136: CI=0.564-314.401) influence access to agro-meteorological information for farm decision-making for smallholder farmers. However, marital status, household income, household size and land size did not influence access to climatic information. The results suggest valuable guidance for targeted interventions to enhance agricultural resilience for smallholder farmers in the Chongwe district. It underscores the importance of education in improving access to agro-meteorological information.

Article information

Journal

Journal of Environment, Climate, and Ecology

Volume (Issue)

1 (1)

Pages

38-45

Published

26-08-2024

How to Cite

Alubi, T., Tembo, A., & Daka, A. (2024). Access to Agro-Meteorological Information Among Smallholder Farmers in Chongwe District: A Demographic and Socio-Economic Analysis. Journal of Environment, Climate, and Ecology, 1(1), 38-45. https://journals.stecab.com/index.php/jece/article/view/81

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Keywords:

Agro-Meteorological Information Agricultural Resilience Climate Change Adaptation