Adaptation and Coping Strategies of Women to Reduce Food Insecurity in an Era of Climate Change: A Case of Chireya District, Zimbabwe

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This article focuses on an important gap in the literature – that is how women in one Zimbabwe site understand and cope with food insecurity arising from climate change. It uses a pragmatic approach with an interesting mixed methods research design. The use of Weisner's (2011) model is very valuable and the focus on one rural village has the potential to show a detailed snapshot of women’s coping strategies.

Unfortunately there are a number of significant problems in the article that need to be addressed:

·       At the conceptual level the paper is not yet adequate  - I believe that as this is a case study of one village in Chireya district  we need the  general demographics, livelihood sources, food and nutritional security, assets, health, family size, as well as statistics on the women themselves to understand the setting. Further we need details of  the climate changes over the last decade and how they have impacted agriculture, crops, water etc

·      There needs to be a more thorough summary of the major findings of all the methods rather what appears to the reader as a random selection. Graphs should only be used if the data cannot easily be reported in words, for example family size.

·      I did appreciate the quotes from the women but they need to be integrated  in the  analytical themes developed from the raw data 

·      I do not believe an article like this – a case study – can lead to recommendations. A case study is a deep dive into one site therefore it should conclude with implications of the findings including where further research is needed

·      There are many missing references and many old references which is very disappointing

I would like to emphasis that I agree with the authors that this does address a significant gap in the literature and would encourage them to rework the paper

See for example https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/assignments/casestudy

 

 

 

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The English is generally good - but the logic of the paper is not yet effective

Author Response

Dear Editor

We would like to thank the reviewers for recommendations, constructive comments and suggestions. The input from the reviewers have improved our paper in a significant way. Please find the attached responses to comments made by reviewer. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Reviewer comments for climate-2951997

 

Based on the information in the title, the manuscript is aimed to illustrate an investigation on the adaptation and coping strategies by women to alleviate food insecurity amidst the challenges of climate change: A case of Chireya district, Zimbabwe. However, the manuscript seems not complete yet. Major comments and suggestions are made as what followed.

1.      The rare parts of the manuscript are missing. The section of discussion and conclusion is required.

2.      In the 2 section of methodology, the authors repeated words in line 172 and 174. Please revise.

3.      A terminology “mixed method” is mentioned in line 155. However, what is the context of the mixed method applied in the present study is invisible after this term is mentioned. The authors need to clearly describe in the section of methodology.

4.      In line 175-176, the sampling method described is not a scientifically valid. How about straightly focus on the village that is mentioned as under investigation. Then, the study results can be focus on the village as a case study.

5.      It can not be certain that the results are about female role in alleviating local food insecurity, and only partial information is offered in section 3.3, suddenly.

6.      An interview is mentioned in the study results, and missing the designation in the methodology. How and when is the survey and interview conducted? Please addressed precisely.

7.      Table 1 needs an appropriate title. The arrangement of table 2 need to be polished.

      

Author Response

Dear editor

We would like to thank the reviewer for recommendations, constructive comments and suggestions. The input from the reviewer have improved our paper in a significant way. Please find attached responses to comments made by the reviewer.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This paper is now well argued and presented. The addition of recent articles and the elaboration on quotes from participants makes the paper engaging and useful. The implications of the case study link well to the content presented and will be useful for Zimbabwe and other countries in similar positions.

 

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

There are a small number of changes needed

·      Table 2: Coping strategies to climate change — the table should be reordered to be in descending numerical order; that is percentage of women using coping strategies should begin with the 90%  categories, then 86% etc

·      Table 4  - does not need a visual presentation and should be presented in words Residences – should be Residents

·      It’s – should be Its

·      Changing tenses needed in the two excerpts below (bold) – or the excerpts could be reworded to in the future tense – that is ‘This study has the potential to explore /show etc

 

The research topic "Adaptation and coping strategies by women to reduce food insecurity in an era of climate change: 132 A case of Chireya district, Zimbabwe" was further explored by specifically investigating the adaptation and coping 133 strategies employed by women in the Chireya district of Zimbabwe to reduce food insecurity in the context of climate 134 change. This provides a more in-depth understanding of the specific challenges and solutions faced by women in 135 this region and could help to inform policies and programs that address food insecurity

 

This study investigated the specific challenges faced by 143 women in the Chireya district, their capacity to adapt to climate change, and the efficacy of their coping strategies. It also examined how women's experiences and coping strategies are shaped by their intersectional identities and the 145 social, economic, and environmental contexts in which they live.

 

Author Response

Dear Editor

We would like to thank the reviewer for recommendations, constructive feedback and suggestions. The input from the reviewers have improved our paper in a significant way.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Journal: Climate (ISSN 2225-1154)

Manuscript ID: climate-2951997

Title: Adaptation and coping strategies by women to reduce food insecurity in an era of climate change: A case of Chireya district, Zimbabwe

 

 

Review comments

The paper illustrated important issued of food insecurity in an era of climate change and the role played by female. It provided valuable social science information, since relatively lower data availability is common in the African countries. The gender issue and climate change are critical to the agriculture reliance society in the studied areas.   The revised paper had deal with the suggestions the reviewer made in the first run review. It can be accepted.

Author Response

Dear Editor

We would like to thank the reviewer for recommendations, constructive feedback and suggestions. The input from the reviewer have improved our paper in a significant way. 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf