Assessing Climate Risk to Improve Incomes of Rural Farming Households in the Caprivi Region, Namibia

Abstract

While the scientific world blames the severity of climate risk factors on climate change, the assessment of its effects on a rural household remains understudied. The objective of this study is to assess climate risk factors on rural households that practices small-scale agriculture with the aim of improving the incomes of farming households. The paper used cross-sectional data from a sample of 253 respondents who represented households that were based in the flood prone areas of the Caprivi region. Invoking a multivariate regression model revealed that climate risk factors especially flood exacerbates the opportunity cost for obtaining a good harvest and thus exposed farming households to income risk and food insecurity. In view of these findings, old age pension and retirement annuities, the value of livestock and that of food aid proved vital to the income and food security needs of rural households in the study area. Investing in early warning systems and publicizing likely climate risk scenarios may be helpful to rural households in preparing to secure their income sources and thus reducing chances of hunger.