Journal of Environment and Earth Science www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-3216 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0948 (Online) Vol.7, No.8, 2017 31 Influence of Literacy on the Smallholder Farmer’s Ability to Adapt to Drought in Pallisa District, Eastern Uganda David Mfitumukiza Makerere University Centre for Climate Change Research & Innovations P.O. Box 7062 Kampala, Uganda FHI 360 P.O. Box 5768 Kampala, Uganda Bernard Barasa* Makerere University Centre for Climate Change Research & Innovations P.O. Box 7062 Kampala, Uganda Amuge Barbra Catherine Department of Adult and Community Education, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062 Kampala, Uganda This study was financially supported by USAID and implemented through FHI 360 and Makerere University Centre for Climate Change Research and Innovation (MUCCRI). Abstract Functional literacy if well-applied increases lifelong livelihood opportunities for the smallholder farmers faced with drought episodes. This study examined the influence of literacy on the smallholder farmer’s ability to adapt to drought. The social-economic data was collected and analysed using both multi-stage and cross-sectional sampling methods. A total sample of 153 smallholder farmers was randomly selected from Gogonyo, Kameke, Kamuge and Kasodo sub-counties and administered household questionnaires. The study results revealed that there was a very significant relationship between literacy (reading and writing) and adaptation to drought by the smallholder farmers (p<0.05). This was brought about by remarkable functional literacy players. The farmers recognised non-governmental organisations (65%) and farmer associations (20%) as the major contributors of their functional literacy levels followed by the government (15%) through extension programmes. Specifically, community public gathering including public announcements, farmer field schools with 70% and use of visual aids (posters) –(20%) were the major modes of adaptation content delivery to the smallholder farmers followed by the use of electronic media such as radios, television (6%) and use of public documents like newspapers and magazines with 4%. However, the shortfalls in the acquisition of literacy were largely caused by the farmer’s nonattendance to the schools and training, insufficient knowledge to comprehend, shortage of scholastic writing materials, trekking longer distances to educational centres and inadequate financial resources to meet their school requirements. Above all, the promotion of reading and writing literacy skills amongst the smallholder farmers is more likely to trigger, improve and lead to the introduction of adaptation innovations that are critical in improving the farmer’s resilience and livelihood status. Keywords: Smallholder farmers, drought, literacy, adapt, Pallisa, Uganda 1. Introduction Drought under smallholder agricultural production has many meanings - ranging from statistical (lowest decile of annual rainfall) to reduction in yield limited by too little water and severe water deficits (Passioura et al., 2007). This condition can be caused by natural variability such as El Niño/Southern Oscillation effects, owing to the predilection for wetter land during La Niña events (Trenberth et al., 2014). In terms of occurrence and extent, drought is one of the most frequent and severe climate-related shocks occurring on the African continent, often causing food insecurity (Rojas et al., 2011). Generally, the impacts of drought can be classified as economic, environmental and socio-economic and the same impacts can either be direct or indirect (Zarafshani et al., 2016). The negative impacts of drought on agricultural production vary from very low to very high, depending on regional or geographical location and socio-economic developments of farming societies (Tripathi et al., 2016). Droughts affect agricultural productivity through causing physiological changes in crops, limiting water availability, reduction in soil fertility and increased multiplication and introduction of pests (Apuuli et al., 2002). The smallholder farmers are vulnerable to the drought events because of widespread poverty levels which limit their capabilities to adapt through the acquisition of agro-inputs and technologies (Ogwang et al., 2012). The meteorological drought was the primary focus of this study. Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts (Miléř & Sládek, 2011). Worldwide, more than 796 million people in the world cannot read and write and therefore, the cost of illiteracy to the global economy is estimated at USD $1.2 trillion which costs results into a cycle of poverty with limited opportunities for employment or brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by International Institute for Science, Technology and Education (IISTE): E-Journals