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Natural hazards and farmers' experience of climate change on highly populated Mt. Elgon, Uganda

Ripel, Marit Aalrust LU (2014) In Student thesis series INES NGEK01 20141
Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
Abstract
In general Uganda receives enough rainfall to rain-feed crops and pasture but as climate is changing the seasonal patterns are expected to become more extreme. This influences how the land can be used, and has a strong impact on the farmers who depend on their land for economic income and food security. This report has two aims. The first is to identify the farmer’s experiences of climate change and extreme climate events. The second aim is to identify tendencies in variations of rainfall and temperatures in the study area. The study area is located within the two districts Manafwa and Bududa in eastern Uganda. The methods used for this study are interviews with farmers and a statistical analysis of rainfall and temperature data from the... (More)
In general Uganda receives enough rainfall to rain-feed crops and pasture but as climate is changing the seasonal patterns are expected to become more extreme. This influences how the land can be used, and has a strong impact on the farmers who depend on their land for economic income and food security. This report has two aims. The first is to identify the farmer’s experiences of climate change and extreme climate events. The second aim is to identify tendencies in variations of rainfall and temperatures in the study area. The study area is located within the two districts Manafwa and Bududa in eastern Uganda. The methods used for this study are interviews with farmers and a statistical analysis of rainfall and temperature data from the period 1991 to 2010.

The results show that most of the farmers have experienced climate change. Drought was named by the respondents, as the biggest problem followed by storms and floodings. Drought was also named as one of the major hazards for agricultural land together with soil erosion and soil infertility. From the statistical analysis the rainfall data had the most interesting variations. (Less)
Popular Abstract (Swedish)
Generellt faller det tillräckligt med nederbörd i Uganda för att naturligt bevattna grödor och djurhållning. Men med klimatförändringar har säsongsmönstren ändrat sig och blivit mer extrema. Detta påverkar hur marken kan användas och har dessutom stor inverkan på jordbrukarna som är i stor omfattning beroende av sin mark, både av ekonomiska skäl och för livsmedelssäkerhet. Denna studie har två syften. Det första är att identifiera jordbrukarnas upplevelser av klimatförändringar och extrema klimathändelser. Det andra är att identifiera tendenser i variation av nederbörd och temperatur i studieområdet. Studien har sin utgångpunkt i två distrikt, nämligen Manafwa och Bududa i östra Uganda. Metoden som studien använder sig av är intervju med... (More)
Generellt faller det tillräckligt med nederbörd i Uganda för att naturligt bevattna grödor och djurhållning. Men med klimatförändringar har säsongsmönstren ändrat sig och blivit mer extrema. Detta påverkar hur marken kan användas och har dessutom stor inverkan på jordbrukarna som är i stor omfattning beroende av sin mark, både av ekonomiska skäl och för livsmedelssäkerhet. Denna studie har två syften. Det första är att identifiera jordbrukarnas upplevelser av klimatförändringar och extrema klimathändelser. Det andra är att identifiera tendenser i variation av nederbörd och temperatur i studieområdet. Studien har sin utgångpunkt i två distrikt, nämligen Manafwa och Bududa i östra Uganda. Metoden som studien använder sig av är intervju med jordbrukare och en statistisk analys av nederbörd och temperaturdata från 1991 till 2010.

Resultatet av studien visar att jordbrukarna upplever klimatförändringar. Torka var ett problem de flest jordbrukarna upplevde och sedan kom starka stormar och översvämningar. Torka, jorderosion och minskad bördighet i marken, framkom som de största hoten mot jordbrukarnas mark. Från den statistiska analysen har nederbördsdata de mest intressanta variationerna. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Ripel, Marit Aalrust LU
supervisor
organization
course
NGEK01 20141
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Uganda, physical geography, Mount Elgon, climate change, farmers’ vulnerability, natural hazards, ecosystem analysis
publication/series
Student thesis series INES
report number
324
language
English
id
4689692
date added to LUP
2014-10-24 10:35:13
date last changed
2014-10-24 10:35:13
@misc{4689692,
  abstract     = {{In general Uganda receives enough rainfall to rain-feed crops and pasture but as climate is changing the seasonal patterns are expected to become more extreme. This influences how the land can be used, and has a strong impact on the farmers who depend on their land for economic income and food security. This report has two aims. The first is to identify the farmer’s experiences of climate change and extreme climate events. The second aim is to identify tendencies in variations of rainfall and temperatures in the study area. The study area is located within the two districts Manafwa and Bududa in eastern Uganda. The methods used for this study are interviews with farmers and a statistical analysis of rainfall and temperature data from the period 1991 to 2010. 

The results show that most of the farmers have experienced climate change. Drought was named by the respondents, as the biggest problem followed by storms and floodings. Drought was also named as one of the major hazards for agricultural land together with soil erosion and soil infertility. From the statistical analysis the rainfall data had the most interesting variations.}},
  author       = {{Ripel, Marit Aalrust}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{Student thesis series INES}},
  title        = {{Natural hazards and farmers' experience of climate change on highly populated Mt. Elgon, Uganda}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}