Capturing the synergies among mitigation, adaptation and food security through smart agriculture practices in Muchinga Province of Zambia

Between March 2016 and September 2020, the Canadian government supported a Southern African Nutritional Initiative (SANI) project in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia to enable women of reproductive age and children under the age of 5 to  produce, access, store, preserve and process high nutrient food. We report on Zambia’s agricultural component of the project summarizing the key food production techniques used to encourage sustainable agricultural production through the use of smart agricultural practices. These  practices have the potential to allow small farm holders to adapt to climate change and offer opportunities to reduce and remove Green House Gases from these systems in order to contribute to the  Nationally Determined GHG Contributions under the Paris Agreement and meet national food security and development goals. As part of the study, in person training sessions were conducted with participants on smart agricultural practices such as the promotion of local technologies around seed bed preparation of home gardens and orchards, manuring, and the use of local products to control insects, pests and  diseases instead of chemicals. Apart from receiving training in sustainable practices, participants were also trained in food preservation and value addition to harvested produce and grains in order to increase the shelf life and usability of various food types as a way of promoting food security. Anecdotal evidence through follow up field evaluations and food preparation demonstration sessions showed that project participants were adapting  and moving towards achieving a resilient status. These and scale up issues will be discussed in this contribution.