Assessment of Socio-economic Impacts of the Climate Smart Gardens Project in Low Income Residential Areas in Mbabane City, Eswatini
[1]
Banele Nhlengethwa, Department of Geography, Environmental Science and Planning, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Eswatini, Manzini, Kingdom of Eswatini.
[2]
Saico Sibusiso Singwane, Department of Geography, Environmental Science and Planning, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Eswatini, Manzini, Kingdom of Eswatini.
[3]
Sizwe Doctor Mabaso, Department of Geography, Environmental Science and Planning, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Eswatini, Manzini, Kingdom of Eswatini.
[4]
Ian Besman van Zuydam, Department of Geography, Environmental Science and Planning, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Eswatini, Manzini, Kingdom of Eswatini.
[5]
Sipho Felix Mamba, Department of Geography, Environmental Science and Planning, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Eswatini, Manzini, Kingdom of Eswatini.
The study focused on assessing the socio-economic impacts of the climate smart gardens project in low income residential areas in the Kingdom of Eswatini, using Mbabane city as a case study. Issues raised in the study include impacts of the project on the socio-economic lives (household income and food security) of the community members as well as the challenges faced by the project. A survey research approach was adopted to collect information from a sample of 57 households selected through snowball sampling where an interview-guided questionnaire was administered to heads of households. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and Microsoft excel. The findings indicate that a majority of the interviewed household heads, were employed and some were street vendors. It was also gathered that purchasing still remains the most common means of sourcing cereals (grains) and fruits, while vegetables were mostly domestically produced as far as food acquisition is concerned. The climate smart gardens project only significantly improved means of accessing vegetables. Moreover, the project improved households’ income through saving money that would have been used to purchase vegetables. Water was the most common challenge and was mainly caused by the recent drought that hit the country. It was concluded that the impacts of the project were mainly seen in household income than household food security.
Climate Smart Gardens, Low Income Residential Areas, Household Income, Mbabane, Vegetables, Household Food Security
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