Determinants of smallholder farmers' choice of coping and adaptation strategies to climate change and variability in the central highlands of Ethiopia

Alemayehu, Arragaw; Bewket, Woldeamlak

doi:10.1016/j.envdev.2017.06.006

Cited by 95 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…First, we focus on arid areas, which are the hardest hit by effects of climate variability. This departs from high potential areas focused by earlier researchers [1][2][3][4]40] which do not face extreme climatic events that occur in the arid areas. Secondly, we also focus on a comprehensive approach combining crop and livestock and factors influencing response and the real response strategies used.…”

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 82%

Drivers and responses to climate variability by agro-pastoralists in Kenya: the case of Laikipia County

et al. 2019

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This paper examines factors influencing the choice of response strategies and the actual strategies smallholder farmers use to respond to the effects of climate variability in transitional climatic zones of Africa, specifically Laikipia West Sub-County in Kenya. Data for this study were collected from 392 randomly selected smallholder farmers, using a structured questionnaire. The study used principal component analysis to group together related strategies that farmers used to respond to the effects of climate variability, which resulted into seven groups of responses. Majority of farmers at 97.5%, 85% and 74.1%, respectively, used cultural practices, diversification practices and risk reduction practices. Intensification practices followed by 69.3% while terraces crop and herd management and new breeds were the least adopted at 27%, 13.2% and 9%, respectively. Multivariate probit model was then used to examine the factors influencing smallholder farmers' choice of response strategies to effects of climate change. The results indicated that access to weather information had a strong effect on use of risk management strategies at 74% and intensification strategies at 49%. Increase in level of education and exclusive dependence on agriculture increased the probability of introducing new breeds by 30% and 53%, respectively, while access to extension services increased use of terraces by 42%. Strong local institutions that facilitate access to information and credit are likely to initiate changes in key household characteristics, which positively affect response to effects of climate variability. Policies should aim to strengthen local institutions that enhance access to information and credit services. There is need for investment in the provision of affordable and quality education, relevant demand-driven extension services that provide localized response solutions.

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Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 82%

Drivers and responses to climate variability by agro-pastoralists in Kenya: the case of Laikipia County

et al. 2019

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“…Coefficient of variation (CV) and standardized rainfall anomaly (SRA) from parametric methods and Mann-Kendall's test and Sen's slope estimator from nonparametric methods were applied to examine the temporal trends of temperature and rainfall. CV is a widely used technique to analyze interannual variability of rainfall computed as the ratio of standard deviation to mean value over the given period [21,36]. A rainfall amount with a CV less than 0.20 is less variable, that with a CV between 0.20 and 0.30 is moderately variable, and that with a CV greater than 0.30 is highly variable [37].…”

Section: Trend Analysis Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SRA is calculated as the difference between long-term mean annual rainfall and observed annual rainfall to the ratio of standard deviation assuming that the observations are normally distributed [38]. It helps to examine the pattern of rainfall that exhibits dry and wet years over time [36]. A negative anomaly of rainfall at 25% and 50% refers to dry and very dry conditions, respectively [37].…”

Section: Trend Analysis Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…e main climate change adaptation strategies were soil and water conservation (SWC) (87.71%), planting Advances in Meteorology trees (84.64%), crop varieties (81%), changing crop planting times (64.25%), biological conservation (43.58), and irrigation (19%) in the study area. ese adaptation strategies have been widely in use in Ethiopia for a long period of time in response to historic climate change [36,51,77]. But it is not required to link all of these strategies directly to reduce climate change impacts [29].…”

Section: Adaptation Strategies To Perceived Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

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Farmers’ Perceptions of Climate Change Trends and Adaptation Strategies in Semiarid Highlands of Eastern Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Kahsay

Guta

Simane

et al. 2019

Advances in Meteorology

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This study examined smallholder farmers’ perception about climate change and variability compared with the observed metrological data and their adaptation strategies in response to the perceived impacts of climate change. The multistage sampling method was employed to select 358 rural farmers in Hawzen and Irob districts located in semiarid highlands of Eastern Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Moreover, areal gridded surface monthly rainfall and temperature data between 1983 and 2015 were collected from National Meteorology Agency of Ethiopia. The results revealed that about 98.56 and 92 percent of farmers perceived a decrease in annual rainfall. In addition, 87 and 90 percent of farmers noticed that temperature was increased in Hawzen and Irob districts, respectively. Harmoniously, the modified Mann–Kendall trend test confirmed that annual rainfall was decreased by 32.38 mm and 121.33 mm during the period of analysis. Furthermore, mean annual temperature increased statistically significant (p<0.001) by about 0.40°C and 0.39°C per decade during the period of analysis cognate with the farmers’ perception. To reduce the perceived impacts of climate change, farmers adopted various farm-level adaptation strategies that vary significantly between the two groups. Soil and water conservation, planting trees, crop varieties, changing crop calendar, biological conservation, and irrigation were among the dominant adaptation strategies, respectively, in the study area. The results of this study provide baseline information for local governments, subsequent researchers, and policy-makers in terms of farmers’ perception of climate change and adaptation strategies.

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“…In Ethiopia, the performance of the agricultural sector and the rainfall pattern show strong correlations (Admassu 2004;Lemi 2005;World Bank 2006;Bewket 2009;Conway and Shipper 2011;Alemayehu and Bewket 2016a). Rainfall shortage often leads to famines (Alemayehu and Bewket 2017b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal variability and trends in rainfall and temperature in Alwero watershed, western Ethiopia

Alemayehu

Maru

Bewket

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Climate analysis at relevant time scales is important for water resources management, agricultural planning, flood risk assessment, ecological modeling and climate change adaptation. This study analyses spatiotemporal variability and trends in rainfall and temperature in Alwero watershed, western Ethiopia. The study is based on gridded monthly rainfall and maximum and minimum temperature data series at a resolution of 4x4 km which were obtained from the National Meteorological Agency of Ethiopia for the period 1983-2016. The study area is represented by 558 points (each point representing 4×4 km area). Results: Mean annual rainfall of the watershed is >1600mm. Annual, June-September (Kiremt), March-May (Belg) rainfall totals exhibit low inter-annual variability. Annual and October-February (Bega) rainfalls show statistically significant increasing trends at p=0.01 level. May and November rainfall show statistically significant increasing trends at p=0.01 level. March shows statistically significant decreasing trend at p=0.1 level. The mean annual temperature of the watershed is 25 0C with standard deviation of 0.31 0C and coefficient of variation of 0.01 0C. Mean annual minimum and maximum temperatures show statistically non-significant decreasing trends. Bega season experienced statistically significant deceasing trend in the maximum temperature at p = 0.01 level. The year-to-year variability in the mean annual minimum and maximum temperatures showed that the 2000s is cooler than the preceding decades. Unlike our expectations, annual and seasonal rainfall totals showed increasing trends while maximum and minimum temperatures showed decreasing trends. Conclusions: Our results suggest that local level investigations such as this one are important in developing context-specific climate change adaptation and agricultural planning, instead of coarse-scale national level analysis guiding local level decisions.

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Determinants of smallholder farmers' choice of coping and adaptation strategies to climate change and variability in the central highlands of Ethiopia

Cited by 95 publications

References 20 publications

Drivers and responses to climate variability by agro-pastoralists in Kenya: the case of Laikipia County

Drivers and responses to climate variability by agro-pastoralists in Kenya: the case of Laikipia County

Farmers’ Perceptions of Climate Change Trends and Adaptation Strategies in Semiarid Highlands of Eastern Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Spatiotemporal variability and trends in rainfall and temperature in Alwero watershed, western Ethiopia

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