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In 2013, the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) refined the historical rainfall estimates over the African Continent and produced the African Rainfall Climate version 2.0 (ARC2) estimator. ARC2 offers a nearly complete record of daily rainfall estimates since 1983 at 0.1° × 0.1° resolution. Despite short-term anomalies, we identify an overall decrease in average rainfall of about 12% during the past 34 years in Uganda. Spatiotemporally, these decreases are greatest in agricultural regions of central and western Uganda, but similar rainfall decreases are also reflected in the gorilla habitat within the Bwindi Forest in Southwest Uganda. The findings carry significant implications for agriculture production, food security, wildlife habitat, and economic impact at the community and societal level.

This study was carried out in Uganda with the aim of developing a suitability map for upland rice crop based on physio-chemical soil properties and climatic factors. The analysis used physio-chemical variables of soil pH, Cation Exchange Capacity of the soils (CEC), Soil organic carbon (SOC), Digital elevation (DEM) and 19 bioclimatic variables. The physio-chemical suitability maps were derived using Geographical information system approach based on weighted overlay analysis in ArcGIS10.3, while the climate suitability map was generated using MaxEnt species distribution model. The cross raster overlay operations were done in ILWIS 3.3 to combine the overall physio-chemical suitability and climate suitability maps into the final Upland rice suitability map and the area under each suitability class calculated. The overall results show that 18.1% (43598.71km 2 ) of the arable land is suitable (S) for Upland rice production while another 20.8% (50135.63km 2 ) is moderately suitable (MS) for Upland rice production. About the same proportions of the combined Moderately (MS) and Suitable (S), 37.8% (91278.96km 2 ) is marginally suitable (mS) for Upland rice production, while just above 23.4 % (56376. 9km 2 ) of the Arable land is currently not suitable (nS) for Upland rice production.

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