ASSESSING ADAPTATION MEASURES TO RAIN VARIATIONS ON MAIZE PRODUCTION IN KARONGA

Climate change is a global phenomenon. Its impact on agricultural activities in the developing countries has been increasing. Decreasing precipitation levels results into droughts which depresses crop yields. This is particularly true in low-income countries where adaptive capacities are perceived to be low. The vulnerability of poor countries could be due to weak institutional capacity, limited engagement in environmental and adaptation issues, and lack of validation of local knowledge. The main aim of this study is assessing adaptation measures to climatic impacts on maize production in Karonga. The main objective has been supported by the following specific objective; analyzing annual rainfall trends for Karonga ranging from 1990 through 2020, analyzing maize yield trend for Lupembe EPA from 1990-2019, assessing annual rainfall trends effect on maze yield production and analyzing climate change adaptation measures in maize production for Lupembe EPA. Secondary data, annual rainfall data was accessed at DCCMs. Additionally, maize yield data was collected from ARDC office at Lupembe EPA. Primary data that is, adaptation data, was collected from a randomly selected 112 sample households through interview and focus group discussion using a semi-structured questionnaire. R-studio and excel software were used for data analysis. Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between annual rainfall and maize yield which reveals that the two valuables are directly related with coefficient of determination r=0.71427 and p value= 0.02318. This shows a strong and linear relationship and significant hence a decrease in rainfall results into a decrease in maize yield and vice versa. The content analysis for adaptation data entails that among all adaptation measures, 68% of respondents grow hybrid maize to respond to the rainfall variation and its corresponding impacts. Hybrid maize has the highest assumed maize yield of about 3848.58kg per hectare and has been cultivated for more than 16 years. Most farmers own individual farms and they cultivate full time. Additionally, respondents uses family labor during farming.

The vulnerability of poor countries could be due to weak institutional capacity, limited engagement in environmental and adaptation issues, and lack of validation of local knowledge. The main objective has been supported by the following specific objective; analyzing annual rainfall trends for Karonga ranging from 1990 through 2020, analyzing maize yield trend for Lupembe EPA from 1990-2019, assessing annual rainfall trends effect on maze yield production and analyzing climate change adaptation measures in maize production for Lupembe EPA. Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between annual rainfall and maize yield which reveals that the two valuables are directly related with coefficient of determination r=0.71427 and p value= 0.02318. The content analysis for adaptation data entails that among all adaptation measures, 68% of respondents grow hybrid maize to respond to the rainfall variation and its corresponding impacts.

Karonga has been chosen because it is mostly affected by climatic hazards like flooding, droughts, erratic rainfall which affects crop and livestock production. Specifically, Lupembe area is the study area from where all the analysis is based and to infer the results to the whole district. Lupembe is along Lake Malawi and bordered by Bwaye River. The topography of the area is such that it’s flat and low lying which makes it vulnerable to soil erosion and flooding. Below is the map for the study area showing grid in latitude and longitude as degrees, minutes and seconds.

Traditional authority: TA Kyungu

District: Karonga

Coordinates: -10.0255, 33.7783