Over the last few decades, some agricultural areas in the Okavango Delta have experienced reduced rainfall resulting in drying up of streambeds. These same areas have also been subjected to inundations from heavy rainfall events that occur upstream in the headwaters of the Limpopo and Okavango Rivers. This study will examine the link between climate variability, agricultural production and farmers’ livelihoods, and it will identify opportunities for and hurdles to integrating local and traditional knowledge with scientific knowledge around the issue of seasonal climate forecasts and other measures to address adaptation needs.

This report, Engaging Farmers and Climatologists in Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change in the Okavango Delta of Botswana, will generate data and establish a base to integrate knowledge of farmers and climatologists for weather forecasting and adaptation to climate change in the Ngamiland of northwestern Botswana. The goal is to build a farmer-scientist-extension working relationship to mitigate climate change risks to farmer livelihoods. The in-depth paper produced as part of the project specifically addresses the questions of how local farmers and weather scientists can work together in order to mitigate climate change and variability in the Okavango Delta of Botswana.

Further reading:

This project and publication has been produced as part of the START call for research on the theme of ‘Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security’ in Africa, with an emphasis on the sustainability of ecosystem services in Africa. Objectives of this call are to commission high quality, independent, policy-relevant and credible research to support policy making for sustainable development in the region, to build the capacities of regional research partners to conduct high level research and to create a platform for knowledge sharing at the regional level. The funding has been provided by US National Science Foundation, Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and CDKN.

START homepage: START
Research call information: Regional Research Call – Africa

START projects:

• Safety Nets Simplified: Simulated Decision-Making in Volatile Developing Economies
• Management of Ecosystem Services of the Forests of Southwest Nigeria in Support of Rural livelihoods and Food Security
• Reducing tropical deforestation and the Protection of Ecosystem Services to support food security in Southwest Cameroon
• Sustainable Farmland management in the context of climate change in inland valleys of Southern Benin
• Changes in Tree Reproductive Phenology: Causes and Implications in and around Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda
• Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources, Agriculture and Food Security in the Ethiopian Rift Valley: Risk Assessment and Adaptation Strategies for Sustainable Ecosystem Services
• Improving Seasonal Forecast Information for Managing On-farm Decisions
• Integrating Indigenous Knowledge and Scientific Methods for Flood Risk Analyses, Responses and Adaptation in Rural Coastal Communities in Nigeria
• Community-based management of ecosystems and natural resources for the improvement of rural livelihoods and food security in the Nigerian Savannah
• The role of Urban and peri-urban agriculture in enhancing food security and climate change resilience in East and West African Cities
• Assessing Adaptation Responses by Smallholder Farmers in Northern Ghana to Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss
• The Impact of Climate Change on Food Security Among Coastal Communities of Keiskamma, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
• Sensitivity of Coastal Lagoon Ecosystems to Climate and Related Global Changes: Developing a North African Lagoons Network