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Abstract
Climate change is causing significant damage to crop production in the central plateau zone of Rwanda, particularly affecting sorghum, food, and the incomes of smallholder farmers. Understanding farmers’ perceptions and the factors impacting their responses is crucial for improving sorghum production policies and programs. Therefore, a study was conducted to assess sorghum farmers’ perceptions of climate change and the factors determining their adaptation strategies. A multistage sampling method and a cluster random selection were utilized to select 345 respondents from five districts of the study area. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a multivariate probit model. The results showed that 98.8% of farmers were aware of climate change, with deforestation being the main anthropogenic activity causing it. Consequently, 95.7% and 84.3% of farmers experienced grain yield reductions, and over 20 sorghum varieties disappeared. To address these impacts, farmers adopted five adaptation strategies: early maturing sorghum varieties (67%), adjusting planting dates (50.1%), drought-tolerant varieties (46.7%), soil conservation practices (38.3%), and crop diversification (32.8%). The multivariate probit model results showed the age and literacy level of the household head, access to extension services, access to information, access to credit, farming experience, and land size as the important factors influencing at least one of the climate change adaptation strategies. The study concluded that sorghum farmers are aware of the impacts of climate change and are acting to address its negative effects. The results suggest that the government and stakeholders should support farmers in strengthening their adaptation strategies for sustainable sorghum production.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Haramaya University, Ethiopia, through the World Bank and the Africa Center of Excellence for Climate Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation (SABC) for funding this PhD research. Thanks also to the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board for their valuable support during data collection.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
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Notes on contributors
Theogene Niyibigira
Theogene Niyibigira is a researcher at the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) with an MSc in Genetics and Plant Breeding interested in climate-smart agriculture, sorghum crop, and biodiversity conservation research.
Wassu Mohammed
Professor Wassu Mohammed (PhD) is a notable breeder and member of the academic community at Haramaya University, teaching more than 15 courses at the MSc and PhD levels.
Tamado Tana
Professor Tamado Tana (PhD) is a well-known member of the University of Eswatini with interests in crop ecology, crop systems, agronomy, and crop modelling.
Tesfaye Lemma Tefera
Tesfaye Lemma Tefera (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Rural Development at Haramaya University interested in rural livelihoods, food security, climate change adaptation, and agriculture extension.
Placide Rukundo
Placide Rukundo (PhD) is a known breeder in Rwanda, a former Senior Principal Research Fellow in the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), and currently works at the International Potato Centre (CIP), with an interest in plant breeding, molecular biology, and biotechnology.