Climate-Smart Agriculture, Cropland Expansion, and Deforestation in Zambia: Linkages, Processes, and Drivers

Hambulo Ngoma, Johanne Pelletier, Brian P. Mulenga and Mitelo Subakanya

No 303673, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Briefs from Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP)

Abstract: Key Findings -Between 167,000 and 300,000 hectares of forest are lost every year in Zambia, and different polices are in place or have been proposed to contain forest loss. -Agriculture land expansion is one of the major drivers of deforestation, yet increasing agricultural production is necessary to feed a growing population and meet changing diets. -This paper assesses the extent of cropland expansion among smallholder farmers and whether or not climate smart agriculture (CSA) can help reduce expansion and deforestation. -About 21 percent of rural farm households interviewed in RALS 2019 expanded cropland between the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 farming seasons, clearing on average 0.18 ha, but only 13 percent of rural smallholders expanded their cropland into forests, clearing an average of 0.10 ha of forestland per household. -Smallholder cropland expansion into forests represents about 60 percent of the average 250,000 ha of forests lost per year in Zambia. -Most households expanded cropland because of the need to meet subsistence food needs and a few others in response to market opportunities. -Much of the cropland expansion among smallholder farmers is concentrated in Luapula, Muchinga, Northern, North-Western, and Western provinces. -Using CSA had no statistically significant effects on cropland expansion in our sample, indicating that CSA alone might not avert expansion-led deforestation. -Thus, CSA-led intensification alone might not reduce deforestation unless if complemented with improved forest management policies.

Keywords: Food Security and Poverty; International Development; Land Economics/Use; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 5
Date: 2020-01-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-env
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:miffpb:303673

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.303673

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