Policy Implications of Droughts and Floods Adaptation on Household Crop Production and Food Security in Southern Malawi

Abstract

Aims: This paper quantified the contribution of drought and flood related adaptation strategies on household food production and food security. Place and Duration of Study: It was conducted in lowland and highland areas of southern Malawi and data was collected from randomly sampled households using a semi-structured questionnaire. Methodology: The paper employed a Translog production function and a Tobit model to determine the effects of drought and flood related adaptation strategies on food production and food security. About 1000 households were randomly selected to participate in the household survey. Fifty percent of the respondents were from lowland areas while the remaining 50% was from highland areas of Southern Malawi. Results: Results show that households in the study area adapted through irrigation farming, income-generating activities, crop diversification and shifting planting dates. Irrigation farming significantly increased food production by 8% and 6% and improved food availability by 24% and 19% in low and highland areas, respectively (p<0.05). On the other hand, shifting crop-planting dates reduced food production by 24% and 37% and food availability by 20% and 11% at 5% level of significance in low and highland areas, respectively. Conclusion: This paper concluded that adaptation strategies have very interesting and significant policy implications on household crop production and food security. It is therefore suggested that decisions by policy/decision makers on household food production and availability should strive at mainstreaming droughts and floods related adaptation.