influence of climate change on household food security in uganda: a case study of luweero district

Description

The study was about the influence of climate change on household food security in Luweero District. The study was guided by specific Objectives, namely to assess household food security situation in Luweero District, to examine the relationship between climate change and household food security in Luweero District and to analyze community adaptation strategies towards climate change in Luweero District. Using largely quantitative approach on a sample of 343 respondents, the study discovered that the people obtain food differently because they cultivate and get food from the harvests while others buy it. Crops commonly grown include Cassava, Sweet potatoes, vegetables, Matooke Maize and sweet bananas which provide plenty of food for the family and sale. Crops such as coffee, vegetables, sweet bananas and others for fruits such as mangoes, oranges, bananas are grown for home and commercial purposes. The crops like Matooke and sweet bananas ripen and they decline in quality when not transported in time due to the bad dry weather roads. Whenever food shortage happens, the farmers and traders buy food from Kampala and from other areas including Wakiso, Kiboga, Mukono, Kayunga and elsewhere. There is limited awareness of the existence of climate change, but local people just see the occurrence of prolonged dry spells. There is tree planting, mulching, mixed cropping on hill slopes are some measures being used to deal with changes in temperature and rainfall patterns because the replanting of trees leads to increase in forest cover and thus more rain and moisture in the atmosphere. The famers use organic and inorganic fertilizers in order to boost production and spraying the pesticides. The study recommended that there should be enhancement of operational use of climate data and forecasts, particularly seasonal forecasts to improve resilience of agricultural production systems. There should be mitigation through carbon appropriation practices that can restore wastelands, soils and ecosystems to enhance soil organic carbon and improve soil quality and health. There should be promotion of sustainable land management practices that increase carbon in soil come with multiple benefits: improved soil fertility, enhanced above-ground biodiversity and increased soil water storage and there should be adaptation of several nuclear techniques which can offer means to learn more about the impact of climate change and how to counter it, from controlling soil erosion and land degradation to improving soil fertility and water use efficiency.