This discussion paper is based on micro-level analysis of adaptation that focuses on tactical decisions farmers make in response to seasonal variations in climatic, economic, and other factors in Southern Africa.  The document is based on a cross-section database of three countries: South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The data used in this study was collected as part of the Global Environment Facility/World Bank Climate Change and African Agriculture Project.  The key findings from this study include:

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According to this article, water flow processes in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum, with particular emphasis on processes in the soil, have greatly enhanced understanding of the system, thereby enabling the formulation of a quantitative model relating the water supply from a layered soil profile to water demand; the formulation of logical quantitative definitions for crop-ecotope specific upper and lower limits of available water; the identification of the harmful root zone development effects of compacted layers in fine sandy soils caused by cultivation and amelioration procedures to p

In this study the potential impacts of two strategies, namely in situ water harvesting (in situ WH) and fertilisation with stored human urine (Ecosan), to increase the water and nutrient availability in rain-fed smallholder agriculture in South Africa"s Thukela River basin (29,000 km2) were explored. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to simulate potential impacts on smallholder maize yields, river flow regimes, plant transpiration, and soil and canopy evaporation from 1997 to 2006.