摘要
<p align="justify"> <span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Climate change and variability are a reality and have had marked effects on both human and ecological systems. Adaptation to such effects either directly or indirectly is viewed as a novel way of reducing the spread of the associated risks. The study was conducted in Rubanda District with a general aim of evaluating the effectiveness of adaptation measures to climate variability used </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">by smallholder Irish potatoes farmers. Specifically, we sought to appraise</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> small</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">-</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">holder Irish potato farmers’ perceptions about the effectiveness of climate variability adaptation measures and implications on Irish potato productivity. We undertook a cross-sectional study to collect data from total of 197 farmers using a structured questionnaire. Other participatory methods such as focus group discussions and key informant interview were also used to complement the household survey. Data w</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">ere</span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:'Minion Pro Capt','serif';"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> analyzed using SPSS Version 23 to generate descriptive statistics as well as relationships between the adaptation measures and the productivity of the Irish potatoes using a Cobb-Douglas production function. The Cobb-Douglas model revealed that the use of fertilizers was significantly and positively associated with productivity of Irish potato (</span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">P </span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">< 0.001). Furthermore, Smallholder Irish potato farmers
<p align="justify"> <span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Climate change and variability are a reality and have had marked effects on both human and ecological systems. Adaptation to such effects either directly or indirectly is viewed as a novel way of reducing the spread of the associated risks. The study was conducted in Rubanda District with a general aim of evaluating the effectiveness of adaptation measures to climate variability used </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">by smallholder Irish potatoes farmers. Specifically, we sought to appraise</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> small</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">-</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">holder Irish potato farmers’ perceptions about the effectiveness of climate variability adaptation measures and implications on Irish potato productivity. We undertook a cross-sectional study to collect data from total of 197 farmers using a structured questionnaire. Other participatory methods such as focus group discussions and key informant interview were also used to complement the household survey. Data w</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">ere</span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:'Minion Pro Capt','serif';"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> analyzed using SPSS Version 23 to generate descriptive statistics as well as relationships between the adaptation measures and the productivity of the Irish potatoes using a Cobb-Douglas production function. The Cobb-Douglas model revealed that the use of fertilizers was significantly and positively associated with productivity of Irish potato (</span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">P </span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">< 0.001). Furthermore, Smallholder Irish potato farmers
