Rural infrastructure, participatory planning, extension services, priority ranking, pairwise comparison, community development, agricultural districts, farmer participation, Belize

Abstract

Historically, Namibian farmers relied on indigenous soil and water conservation practices, but escalating climate variability has outpaced traditional knowledge alone. This research examined how extension approaches contributed to soil and water conservation (SWC) adoption and resilience among 214 smallholder households in north-central Namibia. A quasi-experimental design compared participatory and conventional extension over 24 months (January 2022 to December 2023). Contour bunds reached 62.4% adoption after four extension cycles, followed by mulching (58.7%) and rainwater harvesting (51.9%). Participatory communities showed significantly higher resilience scores (3.74 vs. 2.89, p<0.001). The regression model explained 54.8% of variance in resilience scores.