Arsene Mushagalusa Balasha^1,, Aloise Bitagwira Ndele², Murhula Balasha Benjamin³, Vianney Mulema Ngabo^{4, 5}

The South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo has several marshes where smallholder farmers grow various crops including vegetables, beans and sugarcane for cash income and subsistence, but these farmers are facing the challenge of changing climate. While recent studies have reported negative impacts of climate change on agricultural food production in the study area, the determinants of farmers’ choices of adaptation strategies have not been addressed so far. Field observation and farmers’ interviews were conducted within 4 marshes of Kabare in the South Kivu province in order to identify the perceived impacts of climate change and the determinants of farmers’ choices of adaptation strategies. Climate change impacts reported among farmers were respectively the declining of soil fertility, the occurrence of floods, and the presence of new pests such as millipedes and fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) which lead to crop failure, food shortage and loss of income. Climate change adaptation practices used by farmers included the cleaning of and maintaining ditches, the use of manure, mulching, and crop diversification, crop type change and late sowing. The choice of some of these strategies was significantly determined by farmers’ experience, time worked per day in the farm, discussions and exchanging information among fellow farmers, livestock ownership, land-holding status and the size of the farm as well as farmers’ perception of climatic risks to crops. Strong, positive and significant correlations recorded between some of these factors (e.g: livestock ownership, information exchanging) and adaptation strategies suggest that promoting family livestock and improving farmers’ access to information systems could enhance the resilience of agricultural systems to climate change.

farmers, adaptation practices, marshes, climate change, Kabare