This thesis examines how climate resilience can be integrated into poverty reduction strategies at district scale, using Katete District, Eastern Province, Zambia, as a case study. It combines a quantitative household baseline survey (n = 1,200), geospatial exposure mapping, participatory village capacity assessments, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The study documents spatial and social patterns of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity, identifies institutional and programmatic gaps in existing poverty reduction and social protection systems, and evaluates comparative lessons from Ethiopia, Rwanda and Malawi. Findings show that repeated climate shocks exacerbate poverty through reduced agricultural productivity, asset erosion and heightened food and nutrition insecurity, with disproportionate impacts on women and youth. Current programs are fragmented and insufficiently shock responsive. The thesis proposes a set of integrated, evidence-based recommendations for Katete that combine predictable social transfers, climate smart public works, targeted CSA packages, youth green skills development and women’s asset security measures, supported by an interoperable M&E system and localized climate information services. A pilot design, monitoring framework and operational road map are presented to guide district adoption and phased scaling. The work contributes a transferable district level methodology for targeting, monitoring and evaluating climate resilient poverty reduction interventions.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Literature Review
- Methodology
- Findings – Katete Case Study
- Cross-Country Analysis
- Recommendations
- Monitoring & Evaluation Framework
- Conclusion
- References
- Appendices
Objectives & Thematic Focus
This thesis investigates how climate resilience can be effectively integrated into poverty reduction strategies at the district level, using Katete District, Eastern Province, Zambia, as a detailed case study. The primary research question guiding this work is: How can climate resilience be effectively integrated into poverty reduction strategies at the district level in Katete District, Zambia?
- Analyzing the intersection of climate vulnerability and poverty dynamics in Katete District.
- Evaluating existing poverty alleviation programs for climate risk integration.
- Identifying transferable lessons from cross-country experiences in Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Malawi.
- Proposing an evidence-based district framework for climate-resilient poverty reduction.
- Examining gender, youth, and social differentiation in vulnerability and adaptive capacity.
- Developing a robust Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (M&E) framework for resilience outcomes.
Excerpt from the Book
1.1 Background and context
Poverty reduction and climate adaptation have, until recently, been treated as parallel but separate policy domains. Development planners traditionally focus on income growth, access to services and structural transformation, while climate practitioners emphasize hazard reduction, early warning and long-term mitigation and adaptation strategies. The accelerating pace of climatic change in Southern Africa, however, has rendered this separation untenable. Climate variability and extremes — more frequent droughts, shifting rainfall patterns and episodic floods — are multiplying shocks to livelihoods, particularly where households depend heavily on rain-fed smallholder agriculture. In rural Zambia, and especially in Eastern Province districts such as Katete, the convergence of socio-economic deprivation and climate exposure creates compound risks: when agricultural productivity falls, food security declines, coping strategies erode assets, and poverty traps deepen.
Katete District exemplifies these intertwined dynamics. Located in Zambia’s Eastern Province, Katete has a predominantly agrarian economy, with maize as the staple crop and groundnuts, soya beans, and minor cereals providing supplementary food and income. Access to irrigation is limited, public services are thinly distributed, market integration is partial, and infrastructure constraints (unmetalled roads, weak storage and processing facilities) raise the cost of producing and selling crops. Demographic pressures, land fragmentation, and entrenched gender inequalities further shape households’ adaptive capacity. Against this background, climate shocks do not only reduce yields; they trigger coping responses such as distress asset sales, reduced food consumption, increased child labour, and migration — responses that can have medium- and long-term developmental consequences.
Summary of Chapters
Chapter 1 Introduction: This chapter introduces the study, situating the research problem within the broader development and climate policy context and outlining the rationale, objectives, questions and scope of the enquiry.
Chapter 2 Literature Review: This chapter systematically reviews key theoretical and empirical literature underpinning the study, synthesizing concepts of poverty, vulnerability, and resilience, and examining frameworks for climate-smart agriculture, social protection, and disaster risk reduction.
Chapter 3 Methodology: This section details the methodological architecture used, explaining the epistemological stance, mixed-methods design, units of analysis, hypotheses, and quality-assurance strategies for investigating climate resilience integration in Katete District.
Chapter 4 Findings – Katete Case Study: This chapter presents the empirical findings from the Katete District case study, integrating quantitative survey results, qualitative evidence, and administrative time-series to trace climate variability interactions with poverty, gender, and institutional dynamics.
Chapter 5 Cross-Country Analysis: This chapter provides a comparative analysis of national strategies for integrating social protection, public works, and climate-sensitive planning from Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Malawi, extracting transferable design principles for Katete District.
Chapter 6 Recommendations: This chapter translates the study's findings and cross-country lessons into actionable recommendations for Katete District across key strategic pillars, detailing operational plans for Climate-Smart Agriculture, Resilient Social Protection, Youth Empowerment, Women’s Inclusion, and Institutional Coordination.
Chapter 7 Monitoring and Evaluation Framework: This chapter establishes an operationalized, evidence-led Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework for Katete District's climate-resilient poverty reduction program, defining core indicators, data collection protocols, institutional roles, and feedback mechanisms.
Chapter 8 Conclusion: This chapter summarizes the key findings, highlighting climate variability as a poverty multiplier and outlining the study's contributions to district-level empirical evidence and a tailored programmatic blueprint, concluding with a reflection on transforming vulnerability into sustained resilience in Zambia.
Keywords
Climate Resilience, Poverty Reduction, Katete District, Zambia, Climate Change, Vulnerability, Adaptive Capacity, Social Protection, Climate-Smart Agriculture, Disaster Risk Reduction, Early Warning Systems, Gender, Youth, Rural Livelihoods, Food Security, Monitoring and Evaluation, Institutional Coordination, Sustainable Development.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this work essentially about?
This work fundamentally examines how climate resilience can be integrated into poverty reduction strategies at the district level, focusing on a case study in Katete District, Zambia, to inform practical, equitable interventions.
What are the central thematic fields?
The central thematic fields include climate vulnerability and poverty dynamics, existing poverty alleviation programs, cross-country lessons for resilience strategies, gender and youth inclusion, Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA), Social Protection (SRSP), Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), and robust Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) frameworks.
What is the primary goal or research question?
The primary research question is: "How can climate resilience be effectively integrated into poverty reduction strategies at the district level in Katete District, Zambia?"
Which scientific method is used?
The study employs an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, combining an initial quantitative phase (household surveys, geospatial mapping) with a subsequent qualitative phase (key informant interviews, focus group discussions, participatory village capacity assessments) to establish prevalence, distributions, and causal mechanisms.
What is covered in the main part?
The main part covers a comprehensive literature review on poverty and resilience, empirical findings from the Katete District case study including climate-poverty dynamics and gendered impacts, a cross-country analysis of relevant programs, detailed recommendations for Katete across strategic pillars, and a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation framework.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key characteristics are Climate Resilience, Poverty Reduction, Katete District, Zambia, Climate Change, Vulnerability, Adaptive Capacity, Social Protection, Climate-Smart Agriculture, Disaster Risk Reduction, Early Warning Systems, Gender, Youth, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Institutional Coordination.
Why was Katete District chosen as a case study?
Katete District was chosen because it exemplifies the intertwined dynamics of socio-economic deprivation and climate exposure in rural Zambia, with a predominantly agrarian economy highly dependent on rain-fed smallholder agriculture, recurrent climate shocks, and significant poverty levels, making it a relevant and representative context for the study.
What are the key barriers to climate-smart agriculture adoption in Katete?
Key barriers to CSA adoption in Katete include low extension contact intensity, lack of transport and demonstration inputs for extension agents, labor constraints intensified by late planting and competing household tasks, and high input costs and limited availability of improved seed, fertilizer, and micro-irrigation kits.
- Quote paper
- Maliro Ngoma (Author), 2024, Integrating Climate Resilience into Poverty Reduction Strategies. A case Study of Katete District, Zambia, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1669910
