Abstract:
Climate change is a global challenge for humanity and their socio-economic activities, health
livelihood, and food security. Climatic change refers to a shift in climatic patterns that is directly
or indirectly linked to human activity. This study uses the Ambo district West showa zone
Oromiya, Ethiopia, as a case study and its impacts on the livelihood in the region. The objective
of the study was to assess impacts of climate change on rural livelihoods, vulnerability and the
copping mechanism undertaken in Ambo district. It also answers the questions what are the
effects of climate change on rural livelihoods of the study area, who are more vulnerable to the
impacts of climate change and what are the coping mechanisms practiced by the farmers. In
order to generate the necessary data for the research work, both primary and secondary sources
of data were used. The data analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences
(SPSS) version. The data gathered from sampled households was analyzed and presented using
an inferential tests and descriptive. The effects of climate variability include impacts on
livelihood, decrease in crop production, decreases in livestock number and impacts on
agricultural. The result shows that the trend of gradual and extreme weather change is
particularly negative for the livelihood. Out of the total sampled household heads, 44.4% of
farmers practice household farming only, followed by Farming plus nonfarm work (24.3%),
while Farming plus Off-farming (17.4%), and Farming with off-farm and non-farming work
score only (13.9%). Majority of the households in rural areas about 89(61.8%) were engaged in
agricultural production, followed by livestock rearing, 20(13.95) and also other activities. there
are climatic variability impacts among the farming communities of the area due to drought, high
prices of goods and commodities and food shortages with chi-square 241.919 & p=0.000.
According to the survey result, 93(57.6%) of respondents believe that climate change negatively
affect women and children more than men. coping mechanisms was positively and significantly
(r=.908) associated with farm households‟ participation in livelihood strategies to mitigate
climate change. On average 43.1% of the respondents, in the study area used saving as their
major coping strategies. The study found that the frequency of extension advisory contact has a
positive and significant relationship with livelihood strategies to mitigate climate change
(r=.238). The study recommends that any development effort towards lessening the impacts of
climate change on smallholder farmers should focus on aiding supplement activities in off-farm
and non-farm activities.
