Climate induced water security risks on agriculture in the Abbay river basin: A review

Abstract

Climate induced water security risks on agriculture are assessed in the Abbay river basin by reviewing journal articles, book chapters and research reports. The intent of the review is to understand the state of water security issues in the agricultural sector in relation to climate variability and climate change, existing agricultural water management practices and identification of gaps in knowledge and practices that need to be addressed in the future. It is found that the basin has huge potential of water resources but it is constrained by high spatiotemporal climate variability which has resulted in very variable water supply for agriculture. The challenge is aggravated by lack of effective and locally relevant agricultural water management practices. The central part of the basin in particular is characterized by very short rainy season and long dry season and thus it is the main hotspot of water security risks to agriculture. Climate change, growing demand for water due to increasing population, and land degradation will exacerbate water security risks on agriculture. Research and development efforts to addressing the challenges have generally been limited in scope and spatial scale, so much remains to be done. This review identifies major gaps that need to be investigated and understood in the future to address water security issues on agriculture in the basin.

A review of hydroclimate variability and changes in the Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia

“…[ 3 ] that increased temperature has contributed to a 34 % reduction in productivity growth in Africa since 1961. In recent years, the basin experienced many problems related to hydroclimate variability and changes such as rainfall variability [ 6 , 7 ], increase in frequency and severity of drought [ 8 , 9 ], and streamflow variability that has caused a threat to agriculture, water security, and food security of the region [ 3 , 4 , 10 ].…”

“…The study by Ref. [ 10 ] has reviewed the climate-induced water security risks to agriculture of the BNB. The previous review studies focused on understanding the impacts of climate change on specific hydrologic events and a particular sector.…”

Homogenous Climatic Regions for Targeting Green Water Management Technologies in the Abbay Basin, Ethiopia

“…Poor water utilization and management practices are another set of drivers for the low productivity of primary smallholder rain-fed agriculture in the county [16]. Although many soil and water conservation programs and projects have been implemented since the 1980s, the outcomes have not been adequate nor sustainable as both design and implementations followed top-down and one-size-fits-all approaches without considering spatial climatic variations [16,17]. Moreover, the traditional agroecological zone (AEZ)-based recommendations for green water and agronomic management practices [18] poorly capture local-scale climate-driven green water-related risks.…”

“…Hence, there is a need to improve green water management practices and the targeting of green water management interventions in the country by considering local scale patterns and risks of climate variability and climate change. Clustering areas into homogenous climatic units can facilitate the identification and characterization of major agricultural water security risks, as well as foster the selection and implementation of site-specific green water management technologies [16].…”

Climate Change Impact on the Water Resource of Arba River Catchment, Awash River Basin, Ethiopia

“…Between 80-90% of Ethiopia's water resources is found in the four river basins namely; Abay (Blue Nile), Tekeze, Baro Akobo, and Omo Gibe in the west and south-western part of Ethiopia where the population is no more than 30 to 40 percent. On the other hand, the water resources available in the east and central river basins are only 10 to 20 percent whereas the population in these basins is over 60 percent [17][18][19][20][21][22][23].…”