Food security in a changing world: Disentangling the diversity of rural livelihood strategies across Uganda

Climate change increasingly challenges smallholder farming and our ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) in sub-Saharan Africa.

In this thesis, I explored how micro-level information from cross-country household survey data can be used for effective planning of interventions. A further research aim was to understand within-country patterns of livelihood strategies in relation to food security and vulnerability to climate change of rural households in Uganda. Cross-country household data from the World Bank Living Standard Measurement Survey – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) were used to 1) aggregate household level information to higher levels (e.g. districts, regions, livelihood zones), 2) spatially interpolate household level information and 3) identify hotspot areas of household vulnerability. I used data that I collected from two sites in Uganda for an in-depth analysis on current coping strategies of households for climate and price variability. Household food security was approximated using a food availability indicator that quantified the contribution of livelihood activities to household foodavailability...