Communities’ Livelihood Vulnerability to Climate Variability in Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopia has experienced more than 10 major drought episodes since the 1970s. Evidence has shown that climate change exacerbates the situation and presents a daunting challenge to predominantly rain-fed agricultural livelihoods. The aim of this study was to analyze the extent and sources of smallholder famers’ livelihood vulnerability to climate change/variability in the Upper Blue Nile basin. We conducted a household survey (n = 391) across three distinct agroecological communities and a formative composite index of livelihood vulnerability (LVI) was constructed. The Mann–Kendall test and the standard precipitation index (SPI) were employed to analyze trends of rainfall, temperature, and drought prevalence for the period from 1982 to 2016. The communities across watersheds showed a relative difference in the overall livelihood vulnerability index. Aba Gerima (midland) was found to be more vulnerable, with a score of 0.37, while Guder (highland) had a relatively lower LVI with a 0.34 index score. Given similar exposure to climate variability and drought episodes, communities’ livelihood vulnerability was mainly attributed to their low adaptive capacity and higher sensitivity indicators. Adaptive capacity was largely constrained by a lack of participation in community-based organizations and a lack of income diversification. This study will have practical implications for policy development in heterogeneous agroecological regions for sustainable livelihood development and climate change adaptation programs.

Seasonal Rainfall Variability in Ethiopia and Its Long-Term Link to Global Sea Surface Temperatures

“…Generally, the majority of previous studies imply that the teleconnections between SST and Ethiopian rainfall are complicated on both spatial and temporal scales and still not well investigated. Therefore, the objective of this study is directed toward more understanding the characteristics of interannual variability of rainfall in the country and investigating clearly the influence of global SSTs on Ethiopian rainfall peaks at various regions and seasons (summer and spring), to reinforce the skill of rainfall predictions that would be valuable for operations of reservoirs [22], assessment and allocation of water resources [23,24], and for mitigation of disasters related to rainfall such as flooding and drought [25]. Also, better understanding of the rainfall variability plays a key role in several applications including hydrological analysis [26][27][28][29][30][31] and soil erosion risk assessment [32][33][34][35][36].…”

The Influence of Income and Livelihood Diversification on Health-Related Quality of Life in Rural Ethiopia

“…Based on the local classification system, the three study sites lie in the three major rural agroecological settings in Ethiopia representing highland (Dega), midland (Weyina-Dega), and low land (Kolla) environments, respectively [30]. The residents of these rural communities largely (>80%) rely on varied crop-livestock production systems for their livelihoods, and the majority of farmers in this area partake in subsistence-based livelihoods with extra sources of non-and off-farm income [21,22,31]. Nevertheless, the poverty incidence from the multidimensional aspect is high (for instance, according to Abeje et al, 84% are multidimensionally poor [21]), and the income inequalities are significantly higher among these rural communities as a consequences of climate variability and prevalent environmental shocks, such as drought and soil degradation [22,[30][31][32].…”

“…Moreover, multidimensional poverty and food insecurity is exacerbating the conditions of smallholder farmers in rural areas due to the impact of SES, household resources, and environmental shocks, such as drought [20,21]. On the other hand, these smallholder farmers are considered to be the group of people most susceptible to environmental challenges (e.g., drought, flood), which affects their income activities and lowers their adaptive aptitude [22]. Hence, rural livelihood diversification is equally important for poverty reduction, food security, and wellbeing [20,23].…”

Characterizing and tailoring climate change adaptation practices into a diversified agroecosystem 

“…Cognizant of this, the study was conducted in Rib watershed of Northwest Ethiopia and is framed to address three issues. Firstly, various adaptation practices are being undertaken in the country aimed to cope with the impact of climate change, reduce land degradation and rehabilitate the ecology [18][19][20]. However, the contribution of these practices is marginal [21] and the aforementioned problems have persisted.…”