How farmers have been affected and adapted to the change in climate

Greetings to you from Mganjo Farmers Association (MAFA). We are a non governmental, non profit community based organisation in Uganda, East Africa started in 2001
We work with the community in the following areas:
- Sustainable agriculture and agribusiness
- Agricultural loans
- Environmental protection and conservatiom and
- Women farmer rights.

Although we submitted our project [to Climate Frontlines] for support on issues of climate changes and adaptability, we still need to give more information on how to go about it. The attached information is how farmers have been affected by the climate and how MAFA is trying to help them out of this situation

HOW FARMERS HAVE BEEN AFFECTED AND ADAPTED THE CHANGE IN CLIMATE
Wakiso District in Uganda is one of the areas which is being adversely affected by the abrupt change of the climate leading to stunted economic growth especially in Agriculture which is the back borne of the country.

According to the people who were interviewed and use natural water for production, the reasons provided for the cause of the abrupt climatic changes, included the following in their order of ranking:
- Deforestation
- Brick laying
- Swamp/spring reclamation

MAFA interviewed some of the rural farmers it works with on the issue of the effect on climatic changes and this is the way they responded:

1. Mr. Lwere Nathan of MAGA SACCO in Nsangi Sub County and Mrs. Ssebagala Margret of Lukwanga SACCO in Wakiso Sub County, are some of the Agribusiness farmers who were once affected by the abrupt climate changes.

They both say, last year 2008 between August and October, their maize gardens were hit by the long drought immediately after sowing the seeds. It first rained for 3 weeks and after it suddenly stopped completely without raining any more and eventually what they got out of their maize business was very little e.g. Mr. Lwere of MAGA SACCO got 1 (one) of dried maize from the 4 (four) acres he cultivated compared to 5 (five) tones of maize he expected out of the harvests. While Mrs. Ssebagala Margret of Lukwanga SACCO got only 7 bags of dried maize of 100kgs each from the 1 ½ acres she cultivated compared to the 35 bags of maize she expected out of her harvests.

Both of these farmers blame the people in their areas for the excessive cutting down of trees for sale to the nearby towns while others they use them for burning the bricks which acts have heavily affected the rains in the area

Further more, Mrs. Ssebagala puts the blame to those people in her area of Lukwanga parish who drain the springs and swamps for settlement purposes, that when they settle in the springs, the springs and swamps disappear leading the area to become dry not suitable for agriculture which is the main activity in their area.

How MAFA is helping the farmers to adopt or conserve the environment so as to moderate the climate
- Practicing agroforestry. Aimed to restore trees cut down for fuel and making timber as well as improving on soil and water conservation
- Promoting energy conservation and saving practices like construction of energy saving stoves. It is aimed to reduce on excessive trees cut down thus moderating the climate
- Creation of alternative income generating activities other than burning charcoal and making timber
- Practice sustainable environmentally friendly farming methods

2. Apart from growing beans on large scale, Mrs. Mukuye Juliet of Bakka SACCO also keeps some animals like cows, goats and sheep.

She says, she has 2 non zero-grazing lactating cows and 1 ½ (one and half) acres of animal grass that have been affected with the abrupt climatic changes

For example, she says, she used to get an average of 24 litres of milk per day but last year around September, her animal grass were so scorched by the long un expected drought thus she had little to feed her animals. Similarly the nearby water source where she used to collect water from, also dried up and very little could be provided to animals. She says, she has no grown up children who can help her to collect the water from the long distance as well as fetching the grass from the nearby bush, as a result her milk production reduced from 24-13 litres per day thus affecting its income

How MAFA is helping the farmers to adopt or conserve the environment so as to moderate the climate
- Through avoiding over grazing
- Plant trees and fodder that conserve water in the soils

Best regards
Mubiru Abdu Kubooza,
Agriculture officer- MAFA