Farmers’ adaptation to climate change and crop yield: a case of Amuru and Apac districts of Northern Uganda

ABSTRACT

With increasing incidences of the negative impacts of climate change to smallholder farming, an understanding of the effects of farmers’ adaptation options to climate change on crop yield is critical in designing practical measures and policies for increasing food production and food security. This study assessed the effects of smallholder farmers climate change adaptation intensity on crop yield with focus on maize, groundnuts and beans in Apac and Amuru districts, northern Uganda. Cross-sectional survey design was employed for data collection. Data were analysed using both descriptive and econometric approaches. Results showed that the most common climate change adaptation strategies used by smallholders related to varietal adjustments including planting different crop varieties each time, drought-resistant varieties, early maturing varieties, improved seeds and changing the time of planting. Yield comparisons between adapters and non-adapters for the three major crops showed that adapters realized significantly higher yields than non-adapters for most of the climate change adaptation strategies. This study suggests that farmers who used more adaptation strategies realized higher yields than the non-adapters. Our findings call for increased efforts by stakeholders to strengthen agricultural extension services and coverage to enhance smallholder farmers capacity to adapt to the effects of climate change.

KEYWORDS:

• Adaptation capacity
• adaptation intensity
• adapters
• non-adapters
• varietal adjustments

Acknowledgements

The work is partially supported by the African Development Bank (ADB) in their initiative to build the capacity of science lecturers at Gulu University. We thank Gulu University for providing an enabling environment for this study. We also extend our gratitude to Gulu University Research Ethics Committee (GUREC), Uganda National Council of Science and Technology (UNCST) and the office of the President of the Republic of Uganda for granting permission to conduct this study. Furthermore, we are grateful to the respondents who provided information for this study, the district administration and the agricultural officers for supporting the survey.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Gulu University ADB project [grant number P-UG-IAD-001].

Notes on contributors

Francis Atube

Francis Atube is a lecturer in the department of Science Education (Agriculture) in the faculty of Education and Humanities, Gulu University. He is also a PhD student of Agriculture and Applied Biosciences in the faculty of agriculture and Environment, Gulu University. His research focuses on climate change adaptation and its impact in smallholder settings

Daniel M. Okello

Daniel M. Okello is an agricultural economist, with research focus on the sustainability and efficiency of smallholder systems and their participation in markets. He is a part-time assistant lecturer at Gulu University.

Geoffrey M. Malinga

Dr. Geoffrey Maxwell Malinga is a senior lecturer in the department of Biology in the faculty of science, Gulu University. He is an insect ecologist and has undertaken research towards developing technology for mass rearing of one of the most economically important edible insect in Africa, in addition to several intensification and adaptation studies.

Martine Nyeko

Dr. Martine Nyeko is a senior lecturer in the department of Biosystems Engineering, faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Gulu University. His research focuses on hydrologic modelling.

Ipolto Okello-Uma

Prof. Ipolto Okello-Uma, is a full-time professor in the department of Food Science and Post-Harvest technology, faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Gulu University