Survey finds gaps between farmers’ climate perceptions and South-Kivu rainfall trends

A survey-based study of 407 smallholder root, tuber and banana farmers in South-Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, found that farmers perceived increases in floods, drought, rainfall, wind speed and lightning across the province’s agroecological zones. When their reports were compared with weather records for 1989–2024, however, the climate data confirmed only a statistically significant increase in rainfall.

The researchers sampled farmers through multistage stratified random sampling and analyzed three decades of climate trends with RClimDex 1.9. The analysis covered the province’s agroecological zones and examined whether farmers’ perceptions of climate change corresponded with the observed records. The mismatch means that the reported severity or direction of individual climatic changes did not always align with the available empirical trends.

The study also identified 24 climate-smart agriculture practices already being used in root, tuber and banana production systems, with adoption rates varying among the practices. Farmer location, access to information and communication technologies, and the crop involved were generally associated with the strongest differences in adoption. These factors had the most significant effects regardless of the specific practice, although the supplied abstract does not provide adoption percentages, effect sizes or statistical estimates for individual practices.

According to the abstract, the combined survey and climate records indicate that climatic conditions in eastern DRC are changing and may pose risks to root, tuber and banana production systems. The authors call for context-specific interventions that build on and expand practices already adopted by smallholders. The available evidence is limited to the article abstract and does not detail the questionnaire, climate variables analyzed, statistical models, regional distribution of the sample, or reasons for the divergence between perceived and observed changes, so the scope of the reported associations cannot be assessed further from the supplied material.

Subject of Research: Farmers’ climate-change perceptions and climate-smart agriculture adoption in South-Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Article Title: Assessing climate change perceptions and climate-smart agriculture adoption among root, tuber and banana farmers in Eastern D.R. Congo

Article References: Kihye, J. B., Mondo, J. M., Chuma, G. B., Mugisho, G. M., Majaliwa, J.-G. M., & Karume, K. (2026). Assessing climate change perceptions and climate-smart agriculture adoption among root, tuber and banana farmers in Eastern D.R. Congo. Discover Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-04967-z

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s43621-026-04967-z

Keywords: South-Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, climate change perceptions, climate-smart agriculture, smallholder farmers, root crops, tuber crops, banana production, rainfall trends, farmer survey, Assessing, climate