Adaptation to Climate Change in the Pastoral and Agropastoral Systems of Borana, South Ethiopia: Options and Barriers

Nega Debela,Caroline Mohammed,David Mcneil,Kerry Bridle

doi:10.4236/ajcc.2019.81003

Abstract

The pastoral and agropastoral systems of the Borana in southern Ethiopia are highly vulnerable to climate change and its impacts. Assistance to enable these smallholders to successfully adapt to future climate change in locally relevant ways can be usefully informed by the analysis and better understanding of past and ongoing adaptation. We conducted farm household surveys, focus group discussions, expert consultations and secondary data collation in 2012 in the Borana. The study employed a combination of Pressure-State-Response (PSR) framework to analyse how climate change put pressure on pastoral and agropastoral farming systems and livelihoods, and Pelling’s (2011) typological framework to analyse local adaptation responses. Results showed that pastoral and agropastoral households, their communities and institutions adopted a wide range of adaptation options primarily through adjusting their farming practices and diversifying into non-pastoral livelihoods. The smallholders primarily pursued a resilience approach to adaptation with short term goals intended to avoid system disruptions instead of long-term transformational approaches that significantly address the root causes of vulnerability. A range of barriers constrained local adaptive capacity and shaped routes for adaptation. Adaptation pathways that address critical barriers to adapt, integrate indigenous institutions into adaptation and link adaptation with local development process are necessary to bring long-term and non-marginal, major changes that reduce vulnerability and ensure co-benefit of improving livelihoods.

Highlights

Agriculture in Ethiopia is an important economic sector upon which the majority of Ethiopians depend for food, feed and income
Speaking, amid constraining barriers, smallholders responded to climate change mainly through adjustment of farming practices and shifting into non-pastoral livelihoods
The dependency presents the need to urgently and successfully deal with multiple internal and external pressures to significantly reduce vulnerability to changing climate manifesting itself through increased temperature and more frequent/intense droughts already felt by participants

Summary

Introduction

Agriculture in Ethiopia is an important economic sector upon which the majority of Ethiopians depend for food, feed and income. The smallholder sub-sector is predominantly comprised of subsistence and traditional rainfed systems which exhibit vulnerability to various internal and external pressures Vulnerability within these agricultural systems can be broadly attributed to a variety of climate and non-climate factors which include bio-physical, socio-economic and political elements. These, among others, include changing climate [4], conflicts between formal and informal land tenure systems [2], ecological degradation [5] and poor agricultural market conditions [6] These various climate and non-climate risk factors have contributed to abject poverty and food insecurity problems in the country including the study area [7] [8] [9]. Adaptation becomes an increasingly important aspect of agricultural development narratives that broadly aim to transform the sector from traditional to a “modern” market-based resilient one

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Conclusion