Assessing economic impacts of climate variability on agro pastoralists :

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss the effects of climate variability on the agro pastoralists of Rupa Sub County, Moroto district and the discussion basically looks at the economic activities due to the effects of the ever changing climate conditions as this has significantly influenced the livelihoods of the people in the region. The methods of data collection used were: questionnaires and field observations. The data was then entered into excel and exported to SPSS where analysis was done. The data was obtained from a sample of 60 residents of Rupa sub county who were involved in several economic activities which include mining of gold, limestone, marble, etc., animal raring, charcoal burning, crop cultivation among other activities. I found out that most people living in Ratta Village derive their livelihood from majorly firewood collection and charcoal burning. However, these have led to environmental degradation as most of the forested areas have been encroached to sustain livelihoods.