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Subjects:

Keywords:

  • Africa
  • farmer
  • vulnerability
  • social settings
  • adaptation
  • communication strategies
  • climate information
  • rural populations

Terms of change: How farmers in Uganda talk about climate change

Tools:

Proceedings Title:

AMS Conference on International Cooperation in the Earth System Sciences and Services

Conference Name:

Symposium on Policy and Socio-economic Research

Volume/Issue:

Volume 10 | Issue 1

Publication Date:

Type of Work:

Conference | Final Publisher PDF

Abstract:

Even in areas that have not experienced such extreme climate change impacts as in the Arctic, local residents are beginning to notice shifts from what is their established knowledge of local climatology and normal variation within it. Rakai district in southern Uganda is located near the Equator but, due to interannual variability in the timing and amount of precipitation and the vulnerability of crops to moisture deficits, the area frequently experiences climate-related food insecurity. Rural households derive most of their food and income from rainfed agriculture, including a mix of perennial (banana, coffee) and annual crops (maize, beans, peanut). Because of the centrality of rainfall for their livelihood, at the onset of the rainy season farmers scrutinize the skies. They formulate predictions, and discuss the weather, comparing it to the recent and distant past. In particular, they note that rains are less regular and less abundant than in the past and the seasons less clearly demarcated.

Copyright information:

Authors 2010

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