Impact of Drought on Sorghum Production and Its Adaptation Strategies in Baki District, Awdal Region, Somaliland

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to determine the impact of the drought on sorghum production and its adaptation strategies to overcome the impacts. The sorghum farmers of the Baki and Ruqi villages under the Baki districts were the respondents of the study. the study was conducted from 16 February 2022 – 1 January 2023, from the population, the study selected 109 sample sizes to represent the population by using the Slovin formula with the maximum acceptable error of 5%. The sampling procedure was non-probability particularly purposive sampling. fifteen major drought impacts faced by sorghum farmers were identified in the study. A four-point rating scale was used to measure the extent of drought impact, and based on the scale score, the farmers were categorized. Moreover, Drought Impact Index (DII) was calculated to rank the selected impacts. the highest proportion of sorghum farmers (78 percent) faced high drought impacts on the production of sorghum. Among the 15 selected drought impact the highest drought impact index (DII) was found for ‘Crop failure’ which is (DII 327) and the lowest was “increase the unemployment” with a score of (DII 279). The most prioritized suggestion adaptation strategies regarding the solution of the drought impacts were “Drought-tolerant crop varieties” followed by “Use of short-duration crop varieties” “water harvest for irrigation use”, and “weather forecasts and early warnings system”.  The study recommends the adaptation of drought-resistant crop varieties, short-duration crops, the establishment of weather forecasts and early warning systems, and water harvesting for irrigation use to adapt the climatic shocks.