Vulnerability to Climate Variability Induced Water Scarcity and Adaptation Strategies in Jawi District, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

A severe and frequent rise in temperature and the failure of rainfall cause a scarcity of water. The objective of this study is to assess rural households’ vulnerability to climate variability-induced water scarcity and adaptation strategies in Jawi District, Northwest Ethiopia. The primary data were gathered from 120 randomly selected respondents for household survey questions, while secondary sources were used for the region. Temperature and rainfall data were gathered from the National Meteorological Agency at the Beles Research sub-station from 2005 to 2020. However, the limited climate data, which is only for 15 years, affected the findings of the study. Simple linear regression, a standardized precipitation index, and a water vulnerability index were applied to analyzed quantitative data. The overall WVI-IPCC result placed the study area at a moderate level of vulnerability with an index value of 0.030. A binary logistic regression model was also used to identify the determinants of the farmer’s choice of adaptation strategy to climate variability. The descriptive statistics result showed that 54.2% and 60% of the respondents perceived the existence of temperature and rainfall variability, respectively, and the overall water vulnerability index score of Jawi district was 0.437, which is 437, which is high based on standards. In the study area, the temperature and rainfall trend results show that there is an increase in temperature and a decline in rainfall, indicating high variability. To cope with such variability, the commonly used adaptation practices that are employed by the majority of rural households in Jawi district are water harvesting, water and soil conservation, irrigation, and forest conservation. The key priority findings of this study call for designing and implementing appropriate adaptation strategies in response to climate variability. Top-down policies and strategies for climate variability adaptation should be implemented across the critical area.