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Author
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Muchena, Fidelis T.
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Title
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An investigation on the effectiveness of drought resilience strategies employed in rural Zimbabwe. The case of Munyarari ward, Mutare District.
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Abstract
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Droughts are one of the worst disasters from which most rural people experience immense anguish. It still remains a National Policy agenda and a problem in most developing countries like Zimbabwe. Due to climate change, the impacts of droughts are expected to deepen where the capacity to adapt is low. Though it remains a challenge in communities, local people have devised different coping mechanisms based on the resources that are locally available but the effectiveness of these mechanisms are questionable. Therefore, using both qualitative and quantitative research methods this study aims at identifying and analyzing the effectiveness of the drought resilience strategies that are employed by households in Munyarari Ward 20 in Mutare District, examining the challenges faced during attempts to implement them and the socio-economic and cultural factors that influence the adoption and success of these DRSs. Findings revealed that a wide range of DRSs which include crop diversification, cultivation of drought resilient crops, conservation agriculture, irrigation and engaging in off-farm income generating activities are employed in Munyarari Ward. The findings also highlighted that the strategies that are employed are not fully effective in enhancing resilience of households. More than half of participants 53% highlighted that the DRSs are not effective. Adding on, the results of the Chi-square test of association between application of DRSs and improved resilience showed that there was no significant association between applying DRSs and resilience. The majority of respondents involved in DRSs are not able to produce yields above 500 kg. A number of challenges which include poverty, increasing frequency and periodicity of droughts, lack of resources and techno-science adaptive capacity, lack of markets and the remoteness of the geographical location of the study area, among others, were revealed by the findings of the study as contributors to the ineffectiveness of DRSs strategies. Moreover, the study was also determined to explore the socio-economic and cultural factors that influence the adoption and success of DRSs among households and findings revealed that age of the household head, level of income of household, level of education of household head and gender were some of them. The study recommended the construction of more dams and necessary infrastructure for irrigation, adoption of local knowledge into resilience strategies, improving access to agricultural inputs and enhanced provision of technical assistance to farmers in the study area.
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Date
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June 2025
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Publisher
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BUSE
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Keywords
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Drought Resilience Strategies
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Supervisor
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Dr. P. Chinyanganya
Muchena, Fidelis T..pdf