| dc.description.abstract | Globally, climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing the international community, although it is affecting mostly communities in the poorest countries of the world. For instance, in 2018, the world encountered 315 climate-change related cases of natural disasters, affecting millions of people, and leading to economic losses amounting to $131.7 billion. Most of these events happened in developing countries with limited capacity to afford mitigation measures. It is therefore urgent to find locally accessible and effective solutions to the impacts of climate change for the communities in developing countries. Recently, there has been interest in communities to use local farming practices as an approach that could be used in mitigating the impacts of climate change. This knowledge and experience gained by local communities in dealing with climate change has hardly been understood beyond households, yet it could be the missing link in building climate change resilient communities. This study was be carried out among farmers in Luuka district guided by the following specific objectives: 1) To identify and document local farmers’ experience with local farming practices that households are employing to mitigate negative effects of climate change 2) Evaluate the effectiveness of the farming practices. Ninety (90) randomly selected respondents selected from three villages in Luuka District participated in this study. Descriptive statistics in SPSS was used to generate tables and graphs which were also used to represent the data showing the various farming practices used, crops and crop combinations grown by the farmers to mitigate negative impacts of climate change. Results show that, although there was a range of farming practices encountered among farmers, only a few were considered reliable. These included crop rotation (83.3%), use of manure (63.4%), use of inorganic fertilizers (58.9%), and intercropping (56.7%) They were most valued because they led to higher yields for farmers and were easy to use. Farmers also grew root tubers (25.9%) mostly because they were resistant to harsh climate conditions. The main challenge that hindered the effectiveness of farming practices was small land size that led to reduced output. Given the small range of farming practices practiced by farmers in Luuka District, it is recommended that farmers be sensitized about the use of other farming practices like mixed farming and agro forestry so as to encourage interdependence and to diversify agriculture so as to eradicate food shortage and poverty. | en_US |
