title: Strengthening resilience to climate change of smallholder farming households through climate services: a multidimensional poverty based analysis in East &amp; Southern Africa
Creators: name: Minjauw, Fanny
Publisher: name: University of Reading
Year: 2024

description: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of 
climate change due to a high dependence on rain-fed agriculture and a low capacity to adapt 
to the ongoing changes. The last decade has seen increasing attention to new strategies and 
policies that encourage and support adaptive practices to enhance resilience, one of which is 
the development and provision of climate information. 
This research investigates the access to and use of climate information by smallholder 
farmers in five countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Tanzania and 
Zimbabwe) focusing on the associations between household characteristics, the use of 
climate information, and its effectiveness in increasing resilience to climate-induced shocks 
and stresses. This thesis ultimately aims to advocate for actions and research-for-development that fosters differentiated and context-appropriate rural adaptation pathways.
Data were collected in Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Tanzania and Zimbabwe using the 
Multidimensional Poverty Assessment Tool (MPAT) to answer several key questions: What 
is the current access and use of climate information by smallholder farmers in five SSA 
countries? What are the associations between household characteristics and the likelihood of 
accessing and using climate information? Is there an association between climate information 
access and use with increased levels of household resilience and wellbeing? Additionally, this 
research explores how the research tool, MPAT, reconciles the need for in-depth context-specific data with generalizable data and compares MPAT with other widely used indices and 
indicators (e.g., HDI, GNI, GHI, GII). 
The findings indicate significant inequity in access to climate information within and 
across the countries in the sample. Households that are generally better off, with higher levels 
of food security, credit, land ownership, water quality, education, and health, have greater 
access to climate information. The use of climate information, particularly temperature
forecasts and climate change projections, is associated with higher household resilience. In 
addition, the majority of households adopt coping strategies, such as relying on aid 
organizations, national governments, or selling livestock, rather than adaptive strategies like 
income diversification and off-farm work as their primary response to shocks. 
This research confirms the importance of climate information and demonstrates the 
need to increase the outreach and effectiveness of extension services, making them more 
farmer-oriented, consultative, inclusive, and collaborative. Climate adaptation strategies 
should be tailored to meet varying profiles of households, considering their specific needs 
and characteristics. Strengthening formal sources of support and public safety nets is crucial 
for enhancing household resilience.