THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON CASSAVA PRODUCTION IN NKHOTAKOTA A CASE STUDY OF LINGA EXTENSION PLANNING AREA

Climate change is referred to as a long-term change in global weather patterns which is associated especially with the increase in temperature, precipitation, and storm activities. Climate change is a global challenge especially in developing countries, and its impacts are experienced in agricultural productivity. In recent studies the effects of climate change on cassava were evaluated over a large scale but not downscaled to specific areas, therefore this study was aimed at downscaling the effects of climate change on cassava in Nkhotakota District. The main objective of the study was to investigate the effects of change in climate parameters like rainfall and temperature on cassava yields at Linga EPA in Nkhotakota District. The objective was achieved by addressing the following specific objectives; Evaluating the relationship between the change in temperature and cassava yields in Linga EPA from 1989-2019, determining the relationship between the change in rainfall and cassava yields in Linga EPA from 1989-2019, and assessing other factors that were responsible in a change of the cassava yields. The secondary data employed in the study was sourced from the archive of the Malawi Department of climate change and meteorological services and Linga AEDC and the primary data was collected through the aid of a well-structured questionnaire which was administered to the cassava farmers in Linga EPA. The study made use of a simple random method to select the 2 representatives of the villages in traditional authority (T/A) Malengachanzie and a snowball sampling method was used to reach the cassava farmers in the selected villages. Both secondary and primary data were analyzed using a Microsoft Excel application where correlation of variables, graphs, tables and pie charts were produced. The results showed that temperature and rainfall do not affect the cassava yields in Linga EPA; however, other factors were suggested to affect cassava yields such as lack of good quality plantings, pest and diseases, and limited extension and research. Therefore it is recommended in this study that institutional support such as research and extension on development of high yielding varieties and good management on cassava farming and the cultivation areas should be increased in Malawi.

In recent studies the effects of climate change on cassava were evaluated over a large scale but not downscaled to specific areas, therefore this study was aimed at downscaling the effects of climate change on cassava in Nkhotakota District. The objective was achieved by addressing the following specific objectives; Evaluating the relationship between the change in temperature and cassava yields in Linga EPA from 1989-2019, determining the relationship between the change in rainfall and cassava yields in Linga EPA from 1989-2019, and assessing other factors that were responsible in a change of the cassava yields. The secondary data employed in the study was sourced from the archive of the Malawi Department of climate change and meteorological services and Linga AEDC and the primary data was collected through the aid of a well-structured questionnaire which was administered to the cassava farmers in Linga EPA. The results showed that temperature and rainfall do not affect the cassava yields in Linga EPA; however, other factors were suggested to affect cassava yields such as lack of good quality plantings, pest and diseases, and limited extension and research.

The survey was done in Nkhotakota district, one of the nine districts in the central region of Malawi. It borders Nkhatabay to the North, Mzimba to the North West, Kasungu to the West, Ntchisi to the South West, and Salima to the South. The district was the third-largest in the central region having an approximate area of 7500 square kilometers and it covers6.2% of the country's land (Council, 2020). Nkhotakota was divided into 8 extension planning areas however to be specific with limited time and resources, the study was donein Linga Extension planning area (EPA) where some villages were randomly selected to
represent the EPA.

Traditional authority: TA Malenga Chanzi

District: Nkhotakota

Coordinates: -13.0141, 34.2433