The livestock sector serves as a foremost source of revenue for rural people, particularly in many developing countries. Among the livestock species, sheep and goats are the main source of livelihood for rural people in Ethiopia; they can quickly multiply, resilient and are easily convertible to cash to meet financial needs of the rural producers. The multiple contributions of sheep and goat and other livestock to rural farmers are however being challenged by climate change and variability. Farmers are responding to the impacts of climate change by adopting different mechanisms, where choices are largely dependent on many factors. This study, therefore, aims to analyze the determinants of choices of adaptation practices to climate change that causes scarcity of feed, heat stress, shortage of water and pasture on sheep and goat production. The study used 318 sample households drawn from potential livestock producing districts representing 3 agro-ecological settings. Data was analyzed using simple descriptive statistical tools, a multivariate probit model and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS). Most of the respondents (98.6 %) noted that climate is changing. Respondents’ perception is that climate change is expressed through increased temperature (88 %) and decline in rainfall (73 %) over the last 10 years. The most commonly used adaptation strategy was marketing during forage shock (96.5 %), followed by home feeding (89.6 %). The estimation from the multivariate probit model showed that access to information, farming experience, number of households in one village, distance to main market, income of household, and agro-ecological settings influenced farmers’ adaptation choices to climate change. Furthermore, OLS revealed that the adaptation strategies had positive influence on the household income.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40064-016-3042-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Tuberculosis coinfected with HIV constitutes a large proportion of patients in Ethiopia. Isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) is recommended for the treatment of latent tuberculosis infection. However, the level of IPT adherence and associated factors among people living with HIV (PLHIV) have not been well explored. This study aimed to assess adherence to IPT and associated factors among PLHIV in Addis Ababa. Facility based cross-sectional study was conducted. The study was conducted in 10 health centers and 2 hospitals. Patients were consecutively recruited till the required sample size was obtained. From 406 PLHIV approached, a total of 381 patients on IPT were interviewed. Data were entered and analyzed using Epi-Info version 3.5 and SPSS version 16. The level of adherence to IPT was 89.5%. Patients who have taken isoniazid for ≥5 months were more likely to be adherent than those who took it for 1-2 months [AOR (95%CI) = 5.09 (1.41-18.36)]. Patients whose friends decide for them to start IPT were less likely to be adherent than others [AOR (95%CI) = 0.10 (0.01-0.82)]. The level of adherence to IPT in PLHIV was high. Counseling of patients who are in their first two months of therapy should be more strengthened. Strong Information Education Communication is essential to further enhance adherence.

Climate change is one of the most serious impediments to agricultural prosperity in Ethiopia, especially where livestock is concerned. In particular, rural farming communities in the drylands of the Afar region are severely exposed to the impacts of climate change, with stark reminders from repeating droughts followed by crop failure and livestock decimation. Locals have a long history of applying adaptation measures to maintain their sustenance. However, a growing literature challenges whether these traditional methods can continue to sustain local livelihoods. This study identifies how pastoral, semi-pastoral, agro-pastoral and mixed-farming communities in Afar perceive and adapt to climate change and whether these practices have brought about any improvement in farm income. A panel data set of five years was gathered using structured questionnaires from a sample of 313 households. Household heads pointed out indicators to identify climate-related stress such as erratic rainfall, drought, temperature change, drying of water sources, prevalence of diseases and lack of human and livestock feed. A fixed effects quantitative model on the panel data was estimated to verify the effect of adaptation strategies on income of household heads. We found that the main adaptation strategies that significantly influenced household income levels were forage production (hay and straw), access to water sources, livestock diversification and migration. The implication is that people severely affected by climate change and living in a situation demanding urgent solutions can actively apply various adaptation strategies if the strategies are linked to the creation of sustainable income benefits. Thus, integrated approaches comprising adaptation methods and expected benefits are an important way to induce farming communities to address challenges related to climatic change.