Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Building Among Smallholder Rural Women Farmers in Chiredzi District, Zimbabwe.

Climate change is real and its occurrence in Zimbabwe is no longer debatable. Zimbabwe lies in a semi-arid belt of Southern Africa with 80% of farming relying on rain-fed agriculture. This increases the vulnerability status of the country as agricultural productivity trends and other economic indicators such as gross domestic product has been observed to follow annual rainfall patterns. Climate change effects are having a profound impact on smallholder rural women farmers’ livelihoods and transformation of these livelihoods has been difficult. The agricultural sector, which is the backbone of rural communities and their food security, is at the forefront of climate change shocks. Most rural women farmers have limited capacity to adapt to climate-related shocks resulting in a vicious cycle of food insecurity, malnutrition, and environmental degradation. The objective of the study is to establish how climate change has affected the livelihoods of smallholder rural women farmers and assess the resilience strategies used to adapt to climate change. Theoretical concepts underpinning the study include the 2012 Resilience Conceptual Framework (RCF), Liberal feminism, Radical feminism, and Standpoint feminism. The study adopted an interpretivism research paradigm. Inductive reasoning is the approach of theory development . The study used qualitative research design. The researcher used qualitative interviews and focus group discussions. Smallholder rural women farmers in Chiredzi have observed that there are changes in weather patterns in terms of rainfall patterns and increases in temperatures. These occurrences are affecting smallholder women farmers’ livelihood activities. This has affected quality and quantity of farmers produce in both crop and animal production. The results showed that women are more vulnerable to climate change effects than men. To adapt and build resilience against climate change, farmers depend on various strategies such as climate-smart agricultural practices, VSLSs, Migration and Remittances, and Selling other Livestock to Sustain Others.