Coping Strategies Against Food Insecurity By Agricultural Food Security Pack Programme Beneficiaries: The Case of Mpulungu District, Zambia

Abstract

Climate variability, programming gaps and poor agricultural extension services hinder small-scale farmers' agricultural productivity in Southern Africa, Zambia inclusive. These agricultural challenges have not spared Zambia's food security pack programme beneficiaries. Using a mixed method design, this study investigated other economic activities that the 147 vulnerable farming households pursued, besides relying on the food security pack programme in the Mpulungu district. The study established that unpredictable rainfall, late delivery of farming inputs, and poor agriculture extension services were the major challenges that affected the productivity of the beneficiary households. To mitigate these challenges, the findings revealed that the beneficiaries grew crops other than those provided under the programme. Also, most respondents pursued other livelihood strategies such as receiving remittances from migrant relatives, petty trading, safety nets, and wage labour. The study concludes that the beneficiaries pursued other economic activities to enhance household food security apart from relying on what the programme provided. The study recommends investment intensification in agricultural research to produce pro-poor drought-resistant crop varieties, timeous distribution of farming inputs to beneficiaries, increasing extension staffing levels to bridge the staff-farmer ratio gap, and introducing in-service refresher training for agriculture extension staff.