African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences, Vol. 9 (2), 40-57, 2022
Authors: Ejoku Jireh1, Frida Nyiva2 and Jennifer Wangari Wairiuko3
1,2,3 The Catholic University of Eastern Africa
P O Box 62157-00200, Nairobi, Kenya
Corresponding Author Email: ejokujire@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Climate change continues to be the single greatest threat to humanity with its blunt effects, affecting mostly the indigenous and local communities whose livelihoods are hinged on climate friendliness and dependent activities, thus the need for their involvement in shaping climate change adaptation and consequently its mitigation. For a very long time, indigenous communities have interacted with their environment and as a result, acquired immense information about it. Thus, the need for their involvement in climate change adaptation and mitigation discourse. This study, therefore, sought to examine the influence of Indigenous Food Management Practices on climate change adaptation among the Iteso community in the Serere district in Uganda. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design, and its sample was selected randomly. The sample size of 704 was arrived at using the Yamane formula. This included subsistence farmers, pastoralists, fishing communities, and small-scale traders. Data was collected using questionnaires and focus group discussions with the community stakeholders. For data analysis, SPSS and thematic analysis were used for quantitative and qualitative data analysis respectively, the study found that a significant portion of the population was vulnerable to food insecurity. This is mainly a preserve of both social, political, and economic factors and climate change, poor harvests from previous seasons had exacerbated their vulnerability to food insecurity. Also, over-dependence on produce to offset most households’ expenses was a driver of food insecurity among the local communities, and poor agricultural and farming practices greatly affected the environment and led to climate change and food insecurity. Generally, the brunt effect of climate change among the community was manifested through food insecurity and poor agricultural production with 49.1% of the respondents indicating to be vulnerable to food insecurity and 15.1 specifying to be very vulnerable. Additionally, 84.1% of the respondents indicated that climate change was the major driver of food insecurity in the Serere district. The study also concluded that there should be a social-economic service to help offset some household expenses to prevent over-dependence on the sale of household food production. Also, there should be deliberate efforts to enhance the preservation and protection of indigenous foods and species to enhance sustainability and adoption by local communities. There should be efforts to provide food storage facilities for local communities, which will prevent wastage and post-harvest losses. Also, high-quality seeds should be provided, those which mature in short periods and have a lengthy shelf life. This will protect communities from food insecurity and famine in the face of climate change. The study further made recommendations for policies, action, and future studies.
Keywords: Indigenous Food management practices, Climate change adaptation, Food insecurity, Food processing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Suggested Citation
Jireh, E., Nyiva, F. & Wairiuko, J.W. (2022). Indigenous food management practices and climate change adaptation in Serere District Uganda. African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 9(2), 40-57. Available online at http://arjess.org/social-sciences-research/indigenous-food-management-practices-and-climate-change-adaptation-in-serere-district-uganda.pdf
