climate change effects and their implications on agriculture in uganda 12 oct 2012 joshua zake
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This paper was presented at National Climate Change Dialogue organized by PELUM-Uganda, 19th October 2012, Hotel Africana, Kampala Uganda. The theme of the dialogue was, 'National Climate Change Policy and its responsiveness to Small Holder Farmers.'TRANSCRIPT
Dialogue Theme: National Climate Change Policy and its responsiveness to Small Holder Farmers
By Joshua Zake, Doctoral Research Fellow at BOKU, Vienna, Austria
Email: [email protected]; Tel: +256773057488
Presented at National Climate Change Dialogue organized by PELUM-Uganda, 19th October 2012,
Hotel Africana, Kampala Uganda
Major Climate Change Effects and its Implications to Agriculture in Uganda
Objective and methodology
• This presentation highlights major climate change effects and their implications to agriculture in Uganda. It also suggests practical recommendations to address them
• Desk review and synthesis of relevant reports/articles
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Lay out of presentation
• Definition of key terms and concepts;
• The key characteristics of Agriculture in Uganda;
• Main effects of climate change and their implications on agriculture in Uganda;
• Practical recommendations for policy and practice
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Key definitions of terms and concepts in respect to climate change
• Climate is the prevailing or average weather conditions of a place as determined by the temperature and metrological change over a period of time. Various factors determine climate and the most important are rainfall and temperature
• Climate change refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural causes or as a result of human activity
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Key definitions of terms and concepts in respect to climate change
• Global Warming is the gradual increase in the average temperature on the earth and affects all sectors of development. It is the documented historical warming of the earth’s surface based upon the worldwide temperature records which have been maintained by humans since 1880s. In real terms, it is the historical and/or recent climate change on the global scale
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Key definitions of terms and concepts in respect to climate change
• Climate change adaptation refers to adjustments in practices, processes, or structures to take into account changing climate conditions, to moderate potential damages, or to benefit from opportunities associated with climate change.
• Greenhouse gases are gaseous elements of the atmosphere that absorb and emit radiation. They exist naturally in the Earth's atmosphere and are part of what keeps the Earth warm and habitable. E.g. Methane and nitrous acid
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Key definitions of terms and concepts in respect to climate change
• Mitigation - refers to an intervention to reduce green house gas (GHS) emissions or enhance GHG sinks
• Smallholder farmers refers to their limited resource endowments relative to other farmers in the sector
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Key characteristics of Agriculture in Uganda
• Uganda’s economy is principally an agricultural one, with a number of crops (including exports of fish) and a high level of subsistence fishing and agriculture.
• Agriculture is still the most important sector in Uganda’s economy considering that it employs the largest proportion, 65.6% in 2010 of the population aged 10 years and older.
• In 2010/11, the sector accounted for 22.5% of total GDP. Agricultural exports accounted for 46% of total exports in 2010.
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Key characteristics of Agriculture in Uganda
• Uganda has a total area of 241 500 sq km; of which, 236 000 sq km is land cover and 44 205 sq km is under water (UBOS, 2006). By 2005, the land cover under cultivation had increased to about 99,018 sq km (NFA, 2007).
• Agriculture in Uganda is practiced by 4.2 million agricultural households and the average size of agricultural holding of 1.3 hactares i.e. 3.25 acres (UBOS, 2007).
• About 37% of the arable land is under subsistence agriculture (UBOS, 2008).
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Key characteristics of Agriculture in Uganda
• Uganda's main food crops have are banana, cassava, sweet potatoes, millet, sorghum, maize, beans, and groundnuts. Major traditional cash crops are coffee, cotton, tea, and tobacco, although over time in some regions of the country some food crops are also sold by smallholder farmers as cash crops (for instance bananas, maize) to meet household demands (Byrnes, 1990).
• Overtime, productivity of millet, simsim, cassava and sweat potatoes ahs increased.
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Key characteristics of Agriculture in Uganda
• Productivity of maize, cotton, coffee and bananas has declined in recent years for different reasons including changes in climate patterns (especially drought), crop pests and diseases, poor soils management among others (EMU, 2007).
• High levels of soil fertility depletion/degradation - top soil losses of as much as 5 tons per hectare being reported in some areas (DSIP, 2010).
• Low application and use of fertilizers - Ugandan smallholder farmers on average use 1 and 6.8 Kg per hectare of inorganic and organic fertilizers, respectively.
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Key characteristics of Agriculture in Uganda
• Overall, 96% of the parcels in Uganda depend on rain as their main source of water while 3% parcels were using swamps/wetlands as their main water source (2.9%) and only 1% was using irrigation as their main source of water.
• Of the parcels that had irrigation as their main water source, the Central Uganda region had the highest percentage of 44.5%, followed by the Western region with 38.9%, the Eastern region with 13.6% and the Northern region with the lowest at 3.0% (UBOS, 2007).
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Main effects of climate change in Uganda
• Floods;
• Prolong droughts;
• Heavy rains with hailstones;
• Heavy rains with strong winds;
• High temperatures – scotching sunshine – Global warming;
• Increased incidence/severity of pests and diseases for crops and livestock;
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Eastern Uganda, 2012 Tabu
L. Mwamba,
Western Uganda
Iguluibi village, L.
Victoria basin.
Science direct
Teso floods, 2007. Pilgrim
Nakasongola . Drought in Mubende, 2009. Ben T.
Teso floods, 2007. Pilgrim
Impacts of climate change on Agriculture
• Declining crop yields due to prolonged droughts, unreliable rainfall patterns , floods, hailstones …could leave hundreds of millions without the ability to produce or purchase sufficient food – household food insecurity, malnutrition, poor health eventually resulting in death.
• Furthermore, droughts lower the country’s productive capacity; reducing her agricultural exports, increasing food prices leading to food shortages, nutritional deficiencies and an unstable macro economy. For instance, it’s uncertain that increasing temperature rise will affect coffee production in Uganda.
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Impacts of climate change on Agriculture
• Floods destroy infrastructure such as roads, bridges –thus limiting access of agricultural produce to markets;
• Floods promote water borne diseases (cholera, malaria…) which affect farming community thereby reducing their performance/output on their farms;
• Climate variability increases incidence and severity of crop and livestock diseases (Wilts, Mossaic, Newcastle, Swine fever…) results in higher expenses on treatment costs and at extreme loss of crops and livestock
• Climate change/variability reduces country gross domestic product (GDP) and loss of livelihood of communities’ dependant on agricultural production;
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Practical recommendations for policy and practice
• More targeted awareness and training of smallholder framers about climate change impacts, possible adaptation and mitigation techniques/practices and early warning actions;
• Research – early maturing and drought resistant crop varieties;
• Support farmers to access and multiply these technologies;
• Promote and support indigenous drought resistant crop varieties (arrow roots, yams…);
• Support farmers to access appropriate technologies for irrigation;
• Strengthen early warning early action – systems at community , local and national levels;
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Practical recommendations for policy and practice
• Support trees on farm (for instance planting trees along/around farm boundaries) and agro-forestry (trees, crops, livestock, apiary based on an appropriate farm land use plans);
• Support and promote soil and water conservation techniques and practices on farm;
• Support and promote improved fertilizer (both organic and inorganic) management and application techniques and practices;
• Support and promote household water harvesting during the rainy season including water tanks, construction of water points for livestock
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Thank you for Listening!!
Mwebale nnyo!!