Determinants of Strategies that Enhance Farmers’ Resilience to Rainfall Variability in Mt. Elgon Region, Eastern Uganda

Abstract

Smallholder farmers whose livelihoods depend on rain-fed agricultural production need to be resilient to sustain their wellbeing in a context of highly variable rainfall patterns. This study set out to establish the strategies that build household resilience to rainfall variability and the conditions that influence the use of such strategies. The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design. It had 12 focus group discussions with 123 participants, semi-structured interviews with 255 farmers, and in-depth interviews with 5 purposively selected households. Results indicate that only 30% of the smallholder farmer households were resilient to the effects of abnormal rainfall seasons. Five strategies including use of physical and financial reserves, agronomic practices, alteration of livelihood asset portfolio, diversification into off-farm ventures, and uptake of soil fertility and water conservation were associated with households that were resilient to effects of abnormal rainfall seasons. The use of these strategies was enhanced by livestock ownership, group membership, access to land, amount of regular financial savings, and use of climatic forecast information. Overall, these findings suggest that building smallholder farmers’ resilience to rainfall variability requires a multipronged approach to improve farmers’ agricultural production as well as expanding their asset base and off-farm livelihood options.