The role of climate smart agriculture on climate risk management in Nakaseke District

Abstract

Agriculture is the most important sector in Uganda’s economy, but it continues to experience challenges of rainfall variability, food insecurity, poverty and environmental degradation. However, Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices have been recommended in the endeavor to increase agricultural productivity and incomes, building resilience and reducing greenhouse gases emissions. This study identified and classified the CSA practices and evaluated the variability of drought as a climate risk. Therefore, the climate risk considered for the study was drought and this enabled the researcher to further evaluate the effectiveness of climate smart agricultural practices in addressing climate risks (drought) in Kapeeka Sub County Nakaseke District, Uganda. A combination of multi-stage purposive sampling and random sampling technique were used to determine the sample size of the households and 91 farmers were selected. Questionnaires were also used to collect data that was then coded, edited, entered and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS version 25). Results indicated that the most prevalent CSA practices were fertilizer use, crop rotation, and proper spacing while use of pesticides, irrigation agroforestry and use of improved crop varieties were the least prevalent practices. The study further shows using standardized precipitation index, that droughts have been varying over time in the area becoming more frequent in the recent past, drought in the area occurred in 1983, 1984, 1989, 1997, 2008, 2012, 2014, and in 2017. This study recommends that government through its different organizations such as NARO, OWEC among others should value their roles and duties in promoting the adoption of CSA practices in Uganda.