Small-scale Farmers Adaptation to climate Change in North-Eastern and Eastern Uganda: Evidence for Policy

Abstract

Climatic models for Uganda indicate that its climate is highly variable with frequent occurrence of extreme weather events such as flood, drought and intense rainfall, which will affect agricultural production and small-scale farmers’ livelihoods and adaptive capacity. Adaptation to climate change is panacea to address the adverse effects of climate change and varies from one area to another and farm to farm. Given the level of adverse effects and high amount of vulnerability of the small-scale farmers to climate change, adaptation is imperative to secure livelihoods and adoption of coping strategies to nutrilise the adverse effects of climate change. Different coping strategies can be designed to address effects of climate change which small-scale farmers already are doing. However, looking into the impact of climate change, in the past and the expected change in the future, it is imperative to understand how farmers perceive climate change and adapt in order to guide strategies for adaptation in the future.  Planning adaptation and adapting to climate change requires an understanding of the current situation, adaptive capacities, of small-scale farmers directly affected by climate change. The objective here was identify adaptation strategies at farm level and factors influencing adaptation choices. This study was comparative and set in Karenga (lowland) and Kapchesombe (highland) agro-ecological zones in the North-eastern and Eastern Uganda respectively and the location next to national parks makes the study important in that climate change effects on neighbouring communities could have livelihood and conservation implications. It investigated the determinants influencing the adoption of different coping strategies by the small-scale farmers in the study areas adjacent to the major national parks. A sampled data of 607 households heads and the study employed multistaged and systematically randomly sampled the small-scale farmers. The study used Multinomial logistic regression model to determine the likelihood of choice of adoption of coping strategies in relation to factors (determinants) affecting the choice of adoption of adaptation strategies to tackle adverse effects of climatic change and variability and found that small-scale farmers were already aware of changes in climatic variables over the past twenty years; and small-scale farmers employed water and soil conservation measures such as planted different crops, used different planting dates, planted different crop varieties, under took soil conservation, implemented crop diversification and shortened growing period. The results revealed that factors that were significantly associated positively in determining the likelihood of adoption of coping strategies included agro-ecological location, gender of the household head, knowledge of climate change policy, desire for natural resources from the national park due to the effects of climate change, main sources of income, and  the frequency of radio listenership on climate change. At bivariate level, the revelations of socio-economic characteristics significantly associated with adaptation were education, period of stay in community and income sources. The results revealed that the small-scale farmers were vulnerable to the effects of climatic changes and variability on agricultural production that is rainfed. Interventions need to be broad to address climate change challenges such as lack of awareness, inadequate and non-productive extension service and the in adequate access to relevant adaptive technology. In other words, it should encompass integrated and holistic programmes that address livelihoods, food security, climate-smart agricultural production and sustainable natural and environmental resources conservation that are gender sensitive fronting women empowerment in climate change adaptation decision-making with full agronomic support.

Keywords: climate change, variability, adaptation options, determinants and policy.-