Abstract
Background
The agricultural sector remains the main source of livelihoods for rural communities in Ethiopia, but faces the challenge of changing climate. This study investigated how smallholder farmers perceive climate change, what adaptation strategies they practice, and factors that influence their adaptation decisions. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study, and a multinomial logit model was employed to identify the factors that shape smallholder farmers’ adaptation strategies.
Results
The results show that 90% of farmers have already perceived climate variability, and 85% made attempts to adapt using practices like crop diversification, planting date adjustment, soil and water conservation and management, increasing the intensity of input use, integrating crop with livestock, and tree planting. The econometric model indicated that education, family size, gender, age, livestock ownership, farming experience, frequency of contact with extension agents, farm size, access to market, access to climate information and income were the key factors determining farmers’ choice of adaptation practice.
Conclusion
In the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia, climate change is a pressing problem, which is beyond the capacity of smallholders to respond to autonomously. Farmers’ capacity to choose effective adaptation options is influenced by household demography, as well as positively by farm size, income, access to markets, access to climate information and extension, and livestock production. This implies the need to support the indigenous adaptation strategies of the smallholder farmers with a wide range of institutional, policy, and technology support; some of it targeted on smaller, poorer or female-headed households. Moreover, creating opportunities for non-farm income sources is important as this helps farmers to engage in those activities that are less sensitive to climate change. Furthermore, providing climate change information, extension services, and creating access to markets are crucial.
Background
Scientific evidence indicates that the earth’s climate is rapidly changing, owing to increases in greenhouse gas emissions [1, 2]. The increased concentration of greenhouse gases has raised the average temperature and altered the amount and distribution of rainfall globally [3, 4]. For example, in Sub-Saharan Africa, warming is expected to be greater than the global average and in parts of the region, rainfall will decline [5]. There is growing evidence that extreme events, such as droughts and floods, have been common incidences [3]. These have affected smallholder farmers in developing countries who heavily depend on rainfed agriculture for their livelihoods [2, 6, 7]. In Africa, climate change has affected both the natural and social systems [7, 8]. Impacts of climate change are felt more severely in semi-arid and arid areas [7, 9, 10]. Limiting the damage due to climate change has become a challenge for the global community now. In this regard, climate change mitigation and adaptation are crucial [11]. Adaptation can manage the impacts but cannot by itself solve the problem of climate change. Even with adaptation, there will be residual costs. Smallholder farmers, for instance, can switch to more adapted crop varieties, but they may have lower productivity [12]. In developing countries, adaptation of the agricultural sector to the changing climate is important for ensuring livelihoods of the poor communities [5]. Adaptation will require the involvement of multiple stakeholders, including policymakers, extension agents, NGOs, researchers, communities, and farmers. Climate change adaptation is mostly location-specific, and its effectiveness depends on local institutions and socioeconomic setting [13]. A better understanding of how smallholder farmers perceive climate change and the adaptation strategies they practice is needed to make policies and design programs aimed at promoting successful adaptation in the agricultural sector. A combination of factors influences the farmers’ perception about climate variability and the decision to use the selected adaptation strategies [14, 15].
Farmers in developing nations are developing resilience to climate change-related risks like droughts and floods through practicing diverse adaptation strategies. In the West African Sahel, for instance, pastoralists have come up with strategies to cope with the erratic rainfall [5]. In Ethiopia, diverse practices are used in both the highlands and lowlands [16, 17]. The agricultural sector in Ethiopia accounts for about 42% of national GDP, 90% of exports and 85% of employment [14], and is mainly rainfed. The history of drought in Ethiopia dates back to 250 BC, since then droughts have occurred in different parts of the country at different times [18]. At present, the potential adverse effects of climate change on Ethiopia’s agricultural sector are major concerns. In the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia, climate change and variability is manifest through frequent droughts and floods, erratic rainfall and fluctuating mean temperature [19]. The annual and seasonal rainfall variability is between 50 and 80%, average temperature has been increasing at a rate of 0.37 °C every ten years, and the maximum daily temperature has increased by a cumulative 1.5 °C since 1900 [20]. Smallholder farmers are highly dependent on rainfed agriculture which is very sensitive to climate variability and change. Changes in the distribution and amount of rainfall which have resulted in low precipitation and frequent drought have been affecting agriculture [21].
This study aimed at (a) examining how the local community perceived the impacts of climate change, (b) identifying what adaptation practices they use, and (c) investigating the factors that determine their choice of adaptation strategies in the central rift valley of Ethiopia. The study area has climate-related risks such as water stress and increased incidences of pest and diseases [22].
Methods
Description of the study area
The study was done in Arsi Negelle district of West Arsi Zone, Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia (Fig. 1). The district is located at 250 km south of the national capital, Addis Ababa. Geographically, it is located between 7°17′N and 7°66′N, and between 38°43′E and 38°81′E. The temperature ranges between 10 and 25 °C, while annual rainfall varies between 500 and 1200 mm. The area has four distinct seasons including the dry season (December to February), the short rainy season (March to May), the main rainy season (June to August), and the autumn season (September to November) [23]. Topographically, the district is slightly undulating especially in the highlands and almost flat in the lowlands. Some parts of the highlands in the district are still covered by natural forest, bush and shrub. There are three large inland Lakes—Abijata, Shalla and Langano—in the district. The district has relatively fair agricultural potential, which is reflected in the diversity of crop and livestock production for food and income generation [24]. In comparison with other districts of the West Arsi Zone, Arsi Negele district has more severe extreme events such as recurrent drought. This study was conducted in three agro-ecological zones in the district that range between 1500 and 2800 m.a.s.l. The high altitude agro-ecological zone occupies the largest area followed by mid and low altitude agro-ecological zones, respectively.
