Browsing by Author "Willbroad, Byamukama"

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    Factors Influencing the Uptake and Sustainable Use of Soil and Water Conservation Measures in Bubaare Micro-Catchment, Kabale District, South Western Uganda
    (OMMEGA PUBLISHERS, 2019) Willbroad, Byamukama; Ssemakula, E; Kalibwani, R
    Soil erosion and declining soil productivity still continue to manifest in most of the agricultural systems found in Sub-Sahara Africa. As a consequence, this has threatened the agricultural productivity, biodiversity, water quality and availability as well as the livelihoods of the poor who depend on land. In Uganda, this has been attributed to poor land use practices with inadequate SWC measures and persistent nutrient mining of the soils with little or no replenishment. Highland areas of Kabale are reported to be severely affected by soil erosion and declining soil fertility despite continued efforts by farmers to conserve soil and water resources. The study examined the Soil and Water Conservation measures in Bubaare micro-catchment. The study was conducted to assess factors (i) physical (ii) institutional and (iii) socio-economic influencing adoption and sustainable use of soil and water conservation measures in Bubaare micro- catchment in Kabale district. The study was cross sectional in nature employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches to capture data from a sample of 397 respondents using semi-structured questionnaires interviews and observation. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16 to generate both descriptive and inferential statistics that aided in presentation and interpretation. It was found that 22.9% of the farmers in the area were conserving soil and water using mulches and cover crops, 21.9% agroforestry, 16.8% terraces, 11.3% surface drainage ways, 8% contour bunds, 8% grass bunds, 11% trenches/ditches and 3.3% woodlots. Factors that were statistically determined to significantly influence the adoption and sustainable use of soil and water conservation implementation in Bubaare micro-catchment were physical, institutional, and socio-economic factors. In this regard, several key recommendations were made which involved extending financial services to the farmers, communication and information access, training and experience sharing, strengthening research and development, education and awareness, providing technical and financial support.
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    Farmers’ Perception of the Impacts of Climate Variability and Change on Food Security in Rubanda District, South Western Uganda
    (OMMEGA Publishers, 2018) Willbroad, Byamukama; Bello N.J; Omoniyi T.E
    Climate variability adversely impacts crop production and imposes a major constraint on farming planning, mostly under rain fed conditions across developing countries. Considering the recent advances in climate science, many studies are trying to provide a reliable basis for climate, and subsequently agricultural production forecasts. Rainfall and temperature variability from season to season greatly affects soil water availability to crops, and thus poses crop production risks to agriculture which is a major economic activity in Rubanda District, Southwestern Uganda. It was observed that farmers tend to rely on their accumulated experience about weather conditions in the schedule of their farm operations. Therefore this study was designed to examine farmers’ perception of the impacts of climate variability and change on food security in Rubanda District of Southwestern Uganda. Primary data were obtained through questionnaire administration and field observations among the farmers in Rubanda district. Secondary data was obtained from Kabale Meteorological center (rainfall and temperature) between 1976 and 2016. Simple random sampling technique was employed in the selection of sample size and a total of 200 farmers were randomly selected for the study. The selection of the sample size was based on the procedure of Yamane (1967). Microsoft Excel office 2013 was used to show trends of climate variability and change and SPSS version 20 for descriptive analysis. The results of the analyses showed that temperature increased significantly whereas a decreasing trend of rainfall was observed. Farmers perceived the variability of the climate to have led to the decline of agricultural production hence impacting on food security. The chi-square analysis showed that Climate variability and change has significant relationship with food availability (p < 0.05), food access (p < 0.05), food consumption (p < 0.05) and food stability (p < 0.05). The test also showed that there is variation in the perception of climate variability and change among the farmers in Rubanda District (p < 0.05). Climate variability and change factors have the potential for climatic stress on food security according to the observed agricultural production decline and farmers are seasonally faced with problems of food deficits due to unpredicted extreme weather events. The study established that policies, improved access to climate forecasting and dissemination and accessible extension service should be directed toward interventions to improve agriculture productivity by addressing issues concerning aspects of climate variability and change that constantly affect the dimensions of food security.