Understanding the impacts of climate change on farmers’ practices and their livestock movement in Rwanda and Neighboring Countries: A Scoping Review

Heavy rainfall, recurrent floods, increasing temperatures, and recurrent droughts significantly affect farmers in East Africa, leading to various challenges including reduced agricultural yields, food insecurity, water scarcity, and increased pests and diseases in crops and livestock. We conducted a scoping review to explore the effects
of climate change on the practices and behaviors of farmers, including the movements of their livestock, in the context of Rwanda and neighboring countries (Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Kenya, and Tanzania). We included all scientific articles and grey literature published between 2010 and 2023 whose abstracts matched a combination of the following keywords: farmers, pastoralists, climate change, farmer behaviors,animal movement. Confronted with these climate-related challenges, farmers employed various adaptation strategies including changing crop variety, diversifying into livestock rearing, reducing herd size, and seeking alternative employment. Particularly in Kenya, some pastoralists transitioned from cattle to camel herding, while some shifted livestock movement to more temperate regions. This shift may exacerbate resource scarcity and increase the likelihood of disease emergence. Studies also highlighted how adaptation strategies are influenced by various factors such as gender, wealth, education level, access and utility of climate information. Gender roles of women, associated with socioeconomic conditions, determined their lack of access to climate information which could have otherwise improved their farming decisions.
This review highlighted the vulnerability of farmers and the urgent need for adaptive strategies to ensure food security and sustainable livelihoods amidst climate change, while avoiding the emergence of new diseases and new pathways of disease transmission.