Abstract:
Actors involved in promoting conservation agriculture have often not taken into account perceptions of
smallholder farmers of climate change and conservation agriculture as an adaptation strategy. This study
documents smallholder farmers’ perceptions of climate change and conservation agriculture. Most farmers
attributed climate change to supernatural forces. Smallholder farmers’ perceptions related to floods and droughts
were significantly associated with adoption of conservation agriculture. The extent to which smallholder farmers
perceived conservation agriculture as a climate change adaptation strategy was very low. This suggests existence
of other important reasons for practicing conservation agriculture than adaptation to climate change. Policy
implications of the study are: conservation agriculture projects should not only focus on technical approaches to
increase adoption rates but also consider social aspects such as perceptions that are equally important in
conservation agriculture. Inclusion of climate change communication to facilitate exchange of climatic
information that could enable smallholder farmers relate to conservation agriculture as an adaptation strategy is
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