TWINOMUGISHA BEN

Ben Twinomugisha
Former Uganda CLACC Fellow
Contact
Cell phone: +256772948711
Email: twinoben@gmail.com
Climate Change Implications on indigenous adaptation strategies; Case of Small Scale Farmers’ livelihoods and food security strategies in Uganda

In Uganda, small scale farmers’ adaptation to climate change is mostly based on local coping knowledge and understanding of seasonality. A typical Ugandan small scale farmer depends on the mercy of nature for agricultural production. Small scale farmers' accessibility to agricultural innovations is often limited by socio-economic institutional deficiencies. In a study that documented climate change impacts on small scale farmers, it was confirmed that indigenous adaptation is small scale farmers’ option towards ensuring food security and income improvement approaches. Indigenous knowledge is an integral part of small scale farmers’ lives. Local coping strategies provide the foundation for small scale farmers’ own ideas on how to survive during harsh times. Adaptation to climate change that is occurring is based on past experiences, which are passed on from one generation to another.
The study was conducted to assess the indigenous adaption knowledge of small scale farmers’ in Mubende and Nakasogola districts of Uganda. The findings are based on a thorough analysis of community Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAPs) on adaptation to climate change. There was an effort to identify myths, beliefs and traditional philosophical practices in relation to seasonal changes. Climate change related events experienced by the study communities were probed in order to map out the best interventions or adaptation measures. The study mapped out small scale farmers’ resource, livelihoods and income capacities and vulnerability scope to cope with the likely adverse impacts of climate change. Community based socio-economic supportive infrastructure in relation to climate change adaptation and mitigation was analyzed.
The study used qualitative tools which included Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) - Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Semi-Structured Interviews (SSI). Other tools included analysis of local seasonal calendars and social maps. The study involved 8 FGDs with over 100 participants and 15 key informants.
The vast majority of people, approximately over 75% of the population in the study areas depend on subsistence farming as the main source of livelihood. Local knowledge of seasonal interpretations and timing of trends in weather changes are major ingredients of adaptation to climate change. Knowledge of changes in rainfall, drought, crop and animal disease seasons is a key to small scale farmers’ survival. The traditional (indigenous) agricultural production coping strategy is holistic and comprehensive in approach. It aims at conserving as well as enhancing the natural processes that are ecological in balance with nature.
The traditional resource strategies revolve around certain principles. Among these principles are, first, the utilization of natural processes and elements. These are ecologically balanced such as the avoidance of eliminating all weeds in the soil in general because they act as counter-pests against the pests that attacked certain crops. According to the elders interviewed, the traditional knowledge considers interdependencies between food, pest-control and the maintenance of soil health in the same breath. Secondly, there is always the realization of the need to maintain crop diversities in order to maximize output as well as proofing any climatic risks. Tradition principles also necessitate a balanced interface between crops and animals as well as birds in such diversity. For instance sale of goats and chickens are seen as the first line of defense in cases where families need cash for emergencies. Traditional adaptation knowledge avoids confusing food crops for subsistence and cash crops.
The results of the study show the traditional view of care economy. It was pointed out that all indigenous knowledge systems include a sharing and networking of intellectual property among different members of the community as part of their “moral economy.” It was recognized that traditional technologies exist within the knowledge systems of the communities themselves and there is need to be clear about them when investigating crop production and the threat of climate change. These technologies are mainly built in the ways of farming; how the soils are renewed; the increase in fertility and the avoiding of soil erosions. There are also technologies about how to control and manage pests; the way contour cropping is exploited; the way fencing is done, as well as the way mixed farming is handled and the use of agro-forestry in this connection. However, there is need to understand the constraints of these practices as well as their opportunities when it comes to climate change.
Barriers to Sustainable Local Adaptation
First, there are some limiting factors and apparent constraints in predicting seasons. Small-Scale Farmers in the study area have observed several changes in recent years. Community members did not know the phrase “climate change”, but the older people (in their 50s and older) interviewed on what was the weather like when they were young and what has changed testify that there is a shift in when the rainy season would start. The rain, when it comes, it is interspersed with dry spells. Farmers can no longer effectively predict seasonal changes. Unpredictable seasonal changes are having a wide range of interrelated negative impacts on farmers’ livelihoods and incomes. Such impacts are becoming an extra hardship to the existing poverty related problems. Long-term unpredictable drought events are frustrating farmers’ agricultural productivity capacities since crop farming survives mostly on rain which is no longer predictable.
Secondly, small scale farmers’ have limited knowledge and skills to adapt to the changing seasons. The general lack of awareness among small scale farmers can be attributed to their high level of illiteracy. This contributes to the low level of adoption of new agricultural production technologies. The extension education service provided by government is functional rather than formal. It is limited in scope and targets marketing rather than production. Its approach is based on facilitating a group of model farmers hoping that such farmers would share the knowledge with other farmers through trickledown effect. Nonetheless, this approach has not significantly yielded results. Even worse, farmers greatly outnumber available extension workers with the present ratio stagnating at about 1:100,000.
Climate change adaptation through increased agricultural production is affected by poor harvests that do not ensure households’ food security and income generation. Climate change becomes an extra hardship when coupled with poor markets and limited flow of information to farmers. Moreover, there is no early warning system to alert farmers on the likely future climatic catastrophes. Most crops grown by small-scale farmers such as local varieties of maize and cassava mature late and are affected by heavy rains and drought.

Ms Jane Nabwami a Small Scale Farmer in Mubende displays undersized Maize cob from her Garden. She is among many farmers whose gardens were hit by 2009 unpredictable drought. Field Photo by Ben Twinomugisha 2009
As a matter of survival, farmers are ensuring food security in their homes through food reserves kept in granaries for a few families who have them and for those without storage facilities in baskets and sacks put in the houses. Farmers also grow food crops that stay in the garden for a long time especially tubers like Cassava, sweet potatoes and yams. Kitchen gardens where vegetables and fruits are to improve on the nutrition are common. The Kitchen garden concept has been conceptualized and practiced by almost all the households. Farmers find the above strategies more effective than ensuring food security through the market which they regard as too risky. Through experience, they have realized that when they sell their food crops at harvest time the prices are usually low and by the time they have food shortages the prices at the market are too high for them to afford.
Despite the unpredictable seasonal changes challenge, small scale farmers are already facing other barriers to effective agriculture productivity. These include; Limited affordability of inputs and technologies for production; limited access to improved seeds, credit facilities, relevant information, food insecurity and increasing food price, limited access to and Control over land tenure, extreme drought, poor soils conditions, crop and animal diseases among other barriers to effective adaptation.
Government’s extension programmes such as the Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) contain significant content on adaptation to climate change, including the development of drought resistant cultivars, provision of water for production, agricultural informa¬tion dissemination, training and research. Conversely, the PMA sectoral programmes, such as the National Agricultural Advisory Service (NAADS), are top-down in design. This and similar policies have faced challenges during the implemen¬tation stage. The results of these policies have been of little use to poor people who still depend on rain fed agriculture, lack good land, irrigation facilities and financial means among other barriers.

The study concludes that small scale farmers are highly vulnerable to future climate changes and seasonal variability. The impacts of 2009 drought on study community demonstrates how tightly bound small scale farmers and their wellbeing are affected. As existing high levels of climate variability continue and conditions become warmer and possibly wetter there are risks of catastrophic impacts on infrastructure, agriculture, the environment and ecosystems. Two levels of impact are considered at the household and the community levels. While the most immediately affected units are the individual farmers, families and households will be adversely impacted. These effects combine to exert negative impacts on communities, regions and nations. The household effects can combine to alter the composition and structure of communities' populations (for example changing household composition) and influencing the price of labour, land and/or credit.
However, the nature of the community-level effects will depend upon how worse climate negative impacts are prevalent in the community and upon the local social, economic, cultural and agro-ecological setting. The severe impacts that the climate change has for households are paralleled at the community level in the likely hardest hit areas. Some of the community-level human capital assets that are likely to be affected include: change in out-migration of young adults. Depending upon the prevalence of adverse climate change impacts in study areas (communities), the aggregate impacts on community financial capital could vary from modest effects to significant changes in the aggregate savings rate, credit markets, to reduced expenditures in the local community.
Recommendations

1. The capacity of the Ugandan Metrological department needs to be strengthened in order to give accurate and timely information on likely weather and rainfall patterns. This effort should promote an early warning system that integrates information dissemination.

2. Building of rural infrastructure relevant to poorer people will facilitate sustainable adaptation. There is urgent need to support irrigation schemes which are affordable for poorer farmers. For example, investment in treadle pumps can lead to almost a doubling in production. There is also need for promotion of early maturing and drought tolerant crop varieties through farmer led research

3. Government should plan for climate contingencies and develop contingency plans that should anticipate what farmers will do, how markets will react, and what roles governments need to play. National Adaptation Programme (NAPAs) process should enhance research and capacity building needs. Farmers need to be provided with both the space and capacity to engage in climate change policy issues. An awareness strategy on the national climate policy should be developed. Education and awareness creation on climate change among governments, institutions and individuals should be viewed as a necessary step in promoting adaptation to climate change. Adaptation activities must undertake a bottom-up approach to diversified development activities that is gendered. The empowerment of women in the agriculture sector must received some attention as it remains a challenge to adaptation

4. In rural livelihood systems food security is the critical adaptation challenge; at farm level the diversification of production activity, including off-farm income, drawing on local system, to draught and flood proof livelihood activities are necessary.