Abstract:
There is potential for increased pesticide-related adverse health outcomes in the agricultural
sector linked to adaptive increases in pesticide use necessitated, in part, by climate change-related
increases in pest populations. To understand the role of adaptation practices in pesticide use and
health risks, this study assessed Zimbabwean smallholder cotton farmers’ adaptive responses linked
to their climate change perceptions. In depth interviews were conducted with 50 farmers who had
been growing cotton for at least 30 years. The study identified farmers’ adaptation practices that
increased their pesticide use, as well as those that presented opportunities for reducing pesticide use
through non-pesticide-dependent adaptation pathways. The findings show that due to perceived
climate change impacts, such as a shorter growing season, farmers were adopting a range of adaptive
practices. These included changes in pest management practices, such as increasing pesticide spraying
frequencies due to keeping ratoon crops, which were increasing farmers’ overall pesticide use. Such
incremental adaptive practices are potentially maladaptive, as they may increase farmers’ pesticiderelated
health risks. Other practices, however, such as reducing cotton acreage and diversifying
crops, resulting in transformational adaptation, suggest the existence of opportunities for decreasing
overall pesticide use or totally eliminating pesticides from the farming system.
