Original Research

Climate change adaptation strategies and their predictors amongst rural farmers in Ambassel district, Northern Ethiopia

Fikre Destaw, Muluken Fenta
Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies | Vol 13, No 1 | a974 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v13i1.974 | © 2021 Muluken Fenta | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 24 April 2020 | Published: 17 February 2021

About the author(s)

Fikre Destaw, Department of Natural Resource Management, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Gambella University, Gambella, Ethiopia
Muluken Fenta, Department of General Forestry, Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resource, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia

Abstract

The present study was conducted in Ambassel district of Northern Ethiopia to understand adaptation strategies employed by rural farmers to the adverse effects of climate change and variability and factors that determine their adaptation decisions. The study was based on multistage sampling techniques to select the study villages and sampled households (HHs). Data were collected through HH survey, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The collected data were analysed by using descriptive statistics and multinomial logit (MNL) model. The results revealed that in response to the effects of climate variability and change, the adaptation strategies deployed by farmers included terracing as soil and water conservation strategy, changing planting date, fertiliser application, crop diversification with improved variety, income diversification and livestock diversification. The result from MNL analysis showed that age, family size, educational level, farm size, income, livestock holding, access to extension, distance to market, access to climate information and agroecological zones were amongst the factors that had a significant influence on farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies. The basic barriers to climate change adaptation were lack of finance, shortage of land, inadequate climate information, lack of skill and shortage of labour. Therefore, strengthening interventions that enhance income generating activities and access to climate information should be an integral part of climate change adaptation strategies. Moreover, providing early maturing and high-value crop varieties that are more suited to the local environment is also crucial.

Keywords

adaptation; barriers; climate change; determinants; smallholder farmers

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