Perception of Farmers on Climate Variability and Coping Strategies among Farming Communities of Bufundi Subcatchment, Kabale District, South Western Uganda
Abstract
Global climate variability is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world today.
Due to inadequacy in infrastructure and over dependency on natural resources, developing
countries are more vulnerable to climate variability effects. The main objective of the study was
to assess perception of farmers to climate variability effects and coping strategies among farming
communities in Bufundi Sub-catchment. The specific objectives of the study were to (i) evaluate
climate trends in Bufundi sub-catchment from 1991 to 2011, (ii) assess Bufundi farmers
perceptions on effects of climate variability, (iii) establish coping and adaptation strategies
adopted by farmers in response to climate variability effects, and (iv) evaluate mechanisms in
enhancing community resilience to climate variability effect in Bufundi sub-catchment, Kabale
district south western Uganda. Rainfall and temperature data covering the period from 1991-2011
were acquired from the Department of Meteorology and analyzed. Semi-structured questionnaires
were administered to 95 respondents, and three focus group discussions conducted using guiding
questions. Key informant interviews and field observations were also conducted. Annual rainfall
and temperature were subjected to regression analysis for temporal trends, and to ANOVA for
testing variability. Semi-structured questionnaire were subjected to descriptive statistics to
establish household perceptions on climate variability and how it has affected availability of
resources, coping strategies adopted by farmers in response to climate variability effects. Chisquare
(χ2) test was used to test for association between different household coping strategies
among different households. Qualitative data was transcribed and organized under different
themes and coded for analysis. Annual rainfall amount and average maximum temperature did
not follow any significant linear trend; while minimum temperature increased gradually with time
(R2=0.476). Respondents experienced floods (83.2%) and landslides (92.6%) as the major
hazards linked to extreme climatic events in the micro-catchment. They also perceived a
moderate increase in temperature of which 38.9% of respondents ranked it moderate. Farmers in
Bufundi sub-catchment have adopted different coping strategies to climate variability which
include: rainwater harvesting, improved crop varieties, soil and water conservation measures,
alternative sources of livelihoods such as brick lying and extensive farming. The study
recommended that the existing legal and institutional framework should be strengthened, land
management options, irrigation, and awareness creation.