The potential of camel production in resilience building to climate variability in Karamoja, Uganda

Climate change has continued to be a global challenge with the effects manifested to a greater extent in the arid and semi-arid areas like Karamoja. In these areas, livestock is the key livelihood option which is greatly affected by the variations in climate, thus potentially making livestock less effective as a sustainable livelihood option. This would greatly increase the vulnerability of the communities to the effects of climate change. The project investigates the potential contribution of camel production in resilience building for the pastoral households in Karamoja. Camels are able to survive well in the semi-arid areas due to their biological and physiological adaptations which help them cope with harsh environmental conditions. However, little is known why the Karamojong are slowly and increasingly adopting camels, and how wide spread the camels are in Karamoja, as well as their contribution to the pastoral livelihoods resilience against climate variability. Further, there is a dearth of information on the camel product value chain in Uganda. The project deploys both biophysical/vegetation assessments as well as social research approaches to gather the required information. The findings from the vegetation assessment are expected to form a primary database for the Karamoja region. The findings from the socio-economic surveys and value chain assessments could be used by the Zonal Agricultural Research institute and district authorities to promote camel rearing in the region.