Smallholder Farmers’ Perception And Adaptation Strategies To Climate Change In Ambo District, West Shewa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

Abstract

The increasing trend of climate change has led to growing concern about its impact on different sectors of the economy, particularly agriculture. Coping with the vulnerability and negative effects of climate change on agriculture requires mitigation at the policy level and adaptation at the farm level. Adaptation does not occur without influence from other factors, such as socio-economic, cultural, political, geographical, ecological, and institutional, that shape human-environment interactions. This study is aimed at assessing small-holder farming households’ perceptions of climate change and local adaptation strategies in Ambo District, West Shoa Zone, and Oromia Regional Governmental State. It relies on the analysis of data gathered from 139 randomly selected smallholder farming households, substantiated with key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and field observations. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analyzing the data. The study also employed Yemane’s formula to determine the sample size. Results show that about 69.8% of the farmers adopted different adaptation strategies. In this study, the trend of annual rainfall decreased, the trend of rainfall in the rainy season increased, and the trend of rainfall during the dry period was nonexistent in the study area. The study found that the trend of rainfall intensity decreased while the trend of temperature during the hot period in the study area increased, and a greater part of the respondent’s perceptions indicated that the trend of temperature during the cold period was declining in the kebele where they live. This study further showed that as the temperature (heat intensity) increases, the study area's vulnerability to climate change increases. Wind intensity was perceived as increasing during dry periods and decreasing during rainy periods by a greater proportion of respondents. To respond to these changes, farmers have adopted crop diversification, planting different crop varieties, changing planting and harvesting dates to correspond to the changing pattern of precipitation, irrigation, planting trees and hedges, water and soil conservation techniques, prayers, reducing livestock animals, and switching to non-farm income activities. Logit regression was used to identify factors that influence the strategies employed by farmers for adaptation to climate change. The result of the logit model showed that level of formal education, knowledge on climate change, age of househods, sex of households, training, remittance and , knowledge of climate information are significant determinants of climate change adaptation strategies. The study recommends the promulgation of policies to ensure that farmers have access to physical, human, and social capital, which will enhance farmers’ ability to respond effectively to changing climate conditions. The findings underscore the need for farmers' education, awareness creation, poverty alleviation, and increased access to more efficient inputs as potent tools for climate change adaptation in the area. .