Climate change adaptation benefits from rejuvenated irrigation farming systems in Mozambique

Abstract

Smallholder irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa suffers from the impacts of flooding and droughts, which are predicted to increase in frequency and severity. This increases the need to improve farmers’ adaptive capacity to climate change. This paper explores how agricultural innovation platforms and nutrient monitoring tools impact farmers’ adaptive capacity in a smallholder irrigation scheme in Mozambique. Through qualitative and quantitative data, we assess the impacts across four domains of adaptation: farm, household, community/scheme and markets. The multi-faceted interventions improved farmers’ productivity, irrigation practices, scheme maintenance and livelihoods, thereby enhancing resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change in all assessed domains.