Impact of Climate Change on Rice and Beans Value Chains in Zambia

By Happy Mulolani

CALLS has been at the core of agriculture production to support the growth of various value chains to transform the agriculture sector. This is to increase productivity, volumes and sales of farmers’ agricultural produce, which is also in tandem with the country’s national development plans of ensuring food security and income is achieved in the agriculture sector.

To support the growth of the agriculture sector, the Government, through the Enhanced Smallholder Agribusiness Promotion Programme (E-SAPP) with support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has been promoting four commodities of focus which include; aquaculture, rice, legumes and small livestock.

Some strides have been made where agronomic and management practises have been promoted in crops such as legumes and rice to boost the volumes and sales, particularly in Nsenga Hill and Mungwi districts in Northern province, which are E-SAPP’s supported focal districts. However, this year the varying climatic conditions have negatively affected these districts, thereby witnessing very low rainfall, resulting in poor crop growth and ultimately low crop yields.

For example, farmers in the Nsenga Hill district in the Northern province witnessed a slump in the farmers’ beans production the past season. Nsenga Hill Camp Extension Officer Memory Kombe revealed that since the inception of E-SAPP, the farmers have undergone training in their Farming As A Business Schools (FaaBS), which has seen increased yields as they have gained better skills and management practises in their farming practises. Sadly, the decrease in beans production this year has meant farmers have been unable to meet the market demand.

A beans farmer under Mutende FaaBS, Gift Simbao, explains that prolonged dry spells affected crop yields.

“Previously, I would harvest between 10 -12 bags of beans by 25 kilograms, but this year, it has reduced to a paltry 8 bags of beans by 25 kilograms,” Mr Simbao.

Similarly, Rice is another value chain that recorded low production in Mungwi in the Northern province. Located 29 kilometres from Kasama, the provincial administrative capital, Mungwi is one of the major rice producers.

According to Agriculture Today 2020, the district productivity was 1.6 tonnes per hectare compared to the optimum productivity of three tonnes per hectare for rain-fed lowland rice production.

A rice farmer, Mwamba Mwalula, narrated that despite cultivating a 50 lima rice field along the plains in the Chambeshi river, the harvest was lower than expected due to poor rainfall.

“Ï did not record a good harvest as I only managed five bags of rice by 50 kilograms compared to 10 bags I usually harvest,” Mr Mwalula said.

This plummeted production of rice means that farmers were not able to supply the growing demand for rice adequately, nor did they position themselves in view of the climatic shocks which are inherent in specific regions. Thus, it is key for farmers to be wary of climatic changes peculiar to a particular region.

One of the established service providers, Nannette Investment, embarked on an out-grower scheme in the rice value chain to complement the government’s offering of an alternative market.

Nannette Investment Managing Partner, Boyd Mtonga said embarking on an out-grower scheme was the first step in intervening in the rice value chain, which was a milestone achievement in providing a market and selling to other established markets.

“As an out-grower, we provided pure rice seed, planters and fertilisers to the farmers we identified to work with,” Mr Mtonga said.

He stated that in 2020/2021, Nannette Investment bought 1,106 metric tonnes, whereas this year, only 800 metric tonnes were bought due to the low rains received.

Mr Mtonga explained that the decline in rice production was due to the varying climatic changes, which reduced the rainfall distribution.

This year climate change has affected rice production in the district. This typically shows that farmers ought to enforce mechanisms to address the effects of climate change to avoid recording low yields, as evidenced.

According to a Climate Vulnerability Assessment on Selected Value Chains in Zambia Report, 2020 indicates “drought is the most significant climatic hazard for all the selected value chains…moisture stress is the second most significant hazard for legumes…negative impacts of climate change occur in the north and north-west of the country, towards the semi-humid areas, and hence these areas show greatest sensitivity across crops. The extent of suitable crop areas is projected to decrease, with rice being the most negatively impacted crops.”

Aside from building strategic alliances to overcome climate change, farmers must adopt climatic adaptation options according to region to avoid crop losses in value chains.

The foregoing climatic shocks encountered this farming season is testimony that as farmers engage in their value chains, they must always consider the climatic risks and put mitigation measures in place to avoid massive crop losses.

The author works as a Principal Agricultural Information Officer at  the National Agricultural Information Services(NAIS)