Exploring the role of civic education in climate change awareness to enchance food security among farmers of Gwembe valley of Southern province of Zambia.
| dc.contributor.author | Sichula, Griphin | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-08-26T10:40:59Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-08-26T10:40:59Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description | Thesis of Master of Education in Civic Education. | |
| dc.description.abstract | Climate change and its negative effects have become a global concern as they impend the production capacity of farmers more especially in the developing countries like Zambia. To this effect, the study explored the role of Civic Education in climate change awareness to enhance food security among farmers of Gwembe valley. The objectives of the study were to; explore the form of Civic Education through which farmers learned about climate change to increase food security; explore the effects of climate change on food security among farmers of Gwembe valley, and to establish sustainable measures farmers would employ to ensure food security at household amidst climate change. A sample of 25 participants was used: 15 farmers who were homogenously selected and 10 informants from different government departments such as agricultural extension officers, forestry and meteorological officers as well as fisheries and livestock who were all selected using expert purposive sampling technique. Data was collected using qualitative method through semi-structured interviews and was analysed by using thematic analysis technique. The study revealed mixed views on farmer’s understanding of climate change. Positively few farmers indicated that they adequately understood climate change because they learned from the community meetings, workshops and seminars they were attending which were organized by experts from government’s institutions and NGOs. Negatively, the study found that majority of the participants had inadequate knowledge about climate change due to high illiteracy levels on Climate Change issues which led to high engagement in unconventional farming as well as non application of initiatives aimed at building resilience and food security. The study also unveiled that climate change had negative effects on agricultural production like crop farming, livestock and fish farming which resulted into food insecurity. The study found that increased food insecurity caused vulnerability of farmer’s livelihood as it increased crime rate, high levels of pupils dropping out of school, increased sexually transmitted diseases, drug abuse, gender violence and divorce as well as high cost of food. The study also established that some farmers employed some sustainable measures such as crop diversification, irrigation and livestock rearing, planting drought resistant crops and practicing conservation agriculture in order to enhance food security. Based on these findings, the study strongly recommends the use of Informal Civic Education due to its flexible methods such community meetings, workshops as well as door to door campaigns in delivering climate change information to both the educated and the uneducated farmers. Also, government to intensify sensitization awareness, education, weather alert messages and climate change programs on radio and television in both English and local languages. By so doing, farmers would connect what they see or hear on television and radio to what they learn from the climate change agents and in turn, it would invoke change in attitude and behaviour towards how they perceive the whole concept of climate change. Key words: Civic education, informal civic education, climate change, food security, agricultural production, Gwembe valley | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://dspace.unza.zm/handle/123456789/8817 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | The University of Zambia | |
| dc.title | Exploring the role of civic education in climate change awareness to enchance food security among farmers of Gwembe valley of Southern province of Zambia. | |
| dc.type | Thesis |