Working Document Series Open Access 2014 RUF-33921

Characterisation of historical and projected climate of rice prone areas in South-Kivu province, DRC

A. Katusabe AmodingJ.G.M. MajaliwaI. MuhindoB. NkubaM.J. Walangululu

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Abstract

172 words

The nature of climate variability in South-Kivu is not yet well understood and how the impacts of climate variability affect agriculture, especially rice production has not been well documented. This study aimed therefore at characterizing historical and project future climate of two selected rice prone areas of South-Kivu namely Kavumu and Luberizi. Rainfall and maximum and minimum temperatures were considered in the study. Twenty General Circulation Models (GCMs) were used to project climate for two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP=4.5 and 8.5) and for two periods namely mid and end centuries. Result shows that annual rainfall amount did not significantly vary over the last thirty years (P<0.05), but the coefficient of variation (CV) has been gradually declining with years (P<0.05) for both sites. The mean annual temperatures had a gradually increasing trend for the last thirty years in both sites. However, projected rainfall and temperature are likely to increase for RCP and periods. The mean increment in minimum temperature (Tmin) is likely to be relatively higher than maximum temperature (Tmax) in both sites.

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