Strengthening Climate Resilience for Smallholder farmers in Isingiro District, Uganda: A Documentary Review

Abstract

Climate resilience was a lifeline for millions of smallholder farmers amidst the escalating climatic crises. This paper aimed to evaluate several resilience approaches utilized by smallholder farmers under underlying constraints and enabling environments in the Isingiro District. A documentary review was utilized in which secondary data were gathered from peer-reviewed articles and other credible sources. The study findings revealed the continued utilization of agronomic practices such as mulching, intercropping, and crop rotation, while transformative practices were adopted to a lesser extent despite high levels of climate change awareness. This indicated the presence of structural and institutional constraints that hindered the translation of climate awareness into practice. Various institutional and systemic barriers emerged throughout the analysis, with limited access to finance, inadequate extension services, and poor land tenure systems appearing recurrently in most of the reviewed literature. Climate resilience was found to be a highly dynamic and evolving process, implying the need for flexible and adaptive local governance to allow the integration of local realities into policies, plans, and budgets. It was further revealed that the adoption and effectiveness of resilience approaches depended heavily on governance structures and institutions that moderated the options available and affordable to smallholder farmers. Therefore, creating sustainable resilience for smallholder farmers in Isingiro required approaches that addressed underlying limitations, created a supportive environment, and blended traditional and technical solutions.