Local adaptation and coping strategies to global environmental changes: Portraying agroecology beyond production functions in southwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background The recent research recommendations on the adaptations of poor are toward local specific investigations, aimed at a comprehensive understanding of the adaptation strategies through in-depth analysis of the status, and the explicit on how climate and non-climate global change processes constrain the inherent strategies. Intent to this idea, we have designed this study to assess the small-scale farmers’ adaptation and coping strategies in southwestern Ethiopia. Methods The agroecology approach steered in case-study design was used for the conceptual and analytical framework. The data collected from 335 households were analyzed for descriptive and multivariate analysis of variance and substantiated by qualitative data obtained through focused group discussion, interview, and observations. Results The significant differences were observed in the watershed among households in the case studies on their adoption of the identified adaptation and coping strategies. The sustainability of preferred strategies was different along case studies, solely determined by the impact magnitude of the adaptations constraining factors. Although free ecosystem-based strategies become less practical and replacing by new strategies in the watershed, the processes were gradual, internal to the community and managed through adaptive learning in the highland. However, the paths were perceived as toward maladaptive, resulted by the state interventions which disrupted free adaptations, deteriorated adaptive learning of the community, and shaped the adaptation responses toward the interventions in the kolla agroecology. Conclusions The study implies that the situations of households’ adaptation strategies are beyond the reflections of their respective production ecology, designated within climate variability in the previous studies. The structural land use dynamics and associated resource tenure insecurity have greater constraining effects on the strategies than the impacts of climate variability in the kolla. Thus, subsequent research interested in such contexts, and any plan for the development interventions should (re)consider the impacts of non-climate national/and global environmental change in shaping the adaptation and coping strategies of the local community.

Evaluating impacts of climate variability on smallholder livelihoods and adaptation practices in the western Shewa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

“…In order to improve their overall adaptation to the effects of climate variability, all responsible entities should strengthen the provision of agricultural extension services by strengthening their climate information system. Additionally, in Ethiopia's lowlands, structural land use dynamics and the related resource tenure insecurity have a greater restricting impact on the tactics than the effects of climate variability (Ofgeha and Abshare, 2021). As a result, the current study's findings support additional research into these contexts, and any approach for development interventions should consider how non-climate components affect local community adaptation and coping.…”

Mindset Changes for Dealing with Complex Climate Impacts - Experiences with a Tool from Courses on Digitalization and Climate-Adapted Urban Development

“…The greater global climate impacts effect locally, the less effective local adaptation strategies will be. However, [13] were able to show that initial good results were wiped out by governmental interventions, which interrupted previously free adaptations, and the adaptive learning of the community deteriorated. As local and global adaptation strategies are important elements in the fight against climate change, actors need a right balance depending on the context.…”

“…This contrasts with the need for local community action, in which decentralized strategies and techniques are becoming increasingly important [12]. How difficult it is to reconcile global decisions and locally specific individual needs in the fight against climate change is shown by the studies of [13] in rural regions of Ethiopia. Although local adaptation constraints were identified, new context-appropriate strategies could be developed so that the local community could develop appropriate adaptations through adaptive learning.…”