Maize Production under Climate Change in a Savannah Region in DR-Congo

Climate change is a serious threat to poverty alleviation in developing countries as it can sweep several decades of development efforts. It is one of the constraints to achieving potential crop yields, and it is a factor that is often not considered in agriculture development project. The objective of this paper is to evaluate farmer’s perception on climate change and to document changes in rainfalls, temperatures, and maize grain yields during the last 30 years in a savannah region of Gandajika in the DR-Congo. A survey of 131 families of small farmers scattered within 20 Km of the agronomic research station (INERA) was carried out in 2009 on the effects of climate changes based on farmer’s perception. Data on rainfall and temperature were collected at two weather stations over a period of 31 years (1980 to 2010) in the District of Gandajika (Eastern Kasai, DR-Congo). Maize grain yield was compiled for the same region and period. Agricultural practices are traditional and farmers are not using any inputs. Sixty-seven percent feel the effects of climate change. The number of rainy days per year decreases significantly from 139 during the first decade (1980 to 1990) to 97 in the last (third) decade (2000-2010). However, annual rainfalls did not significantly change during these three decades (P-value > 0.05). A significant variation in temperature was observed in the last decade with an increase from 24°C to 27°C. In the meantime, maize grain yield declined gradually over time. The average yield decreased from 1.6 t ha-1 in 1999 to 1.4 t ha-1 in 2002, 1.2 t ha-1 in 2003, and 0.75 t ha-1 in 2004.