CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND ITS IMPACTS ON SMALLHOLDER TEA FARMING IN MULANJE DISTRICT

The study evaluated the variability and trends of rainfall and temperature from 1988 to 2020 and assessed the impacts of climate variations on smallholder tea farming in the Mulanje district. The study found that the annual rainfall was decreasing, although the trend was not significant. The study also found that annual mean temperature had a significant increasing trend. The study also found that yields reduced when annual rainfall was above or below the range of 1200-1750 mm. The study also found that the annual mean temperature did not have a significant effect on tea yields. The study also found that the climate adaptation measures that have been taken in the smallholder tea sector in Mulanje have made tea be resilient to droughts and temperature fluctuations but not to high amounts of rainfall. The rainfall and temperature data was retrieved from the DCCMS for 33 from 1988 to 2020 while the smallholder farmers’ tea yield data was retrieved from Sukambizi Association trust for 20 years 2001 to 2020. The Mann-Kendall test was used to analyse the trends in weather parameters and the correlation test was used to analyse the relationship between smallholder farmers’ tea yields and weather parameters. The study concluded that the variations in weather parameters affect smallholder tea yields.