Abstract
There is a growing focus on the need for proactive management of climate change risk in agriculture and agricultural technologies are deemed necessary for tackling climate adaptation and/or risk management issue in the sector. Thus, this study tries to identify the in-built crop production technology related adaptation and/or risk management strategies with smallholder farmers’ perception in moisture-stressed areas of the central rift valley of Ethiopia. Results of descriptive analysis showed that high temperature, short rain and pests (indirectly) have been the most important phenomena of climate change causing loss of crop production, exhaustion and illness. Also, smallholder farmers’ adaptation and/or risk management strategies were found to be many and were usually composed of traditional and improved practices. According to farmers, the improved varieties performed from less to higher susceptibility to climate change. Results of the multivariate probit model revealed that farmers’ adaptation and/or risk management strategies are governed by different sets of socioeconomic and climatic factors which could be summarized as farmer-specific, technology specific and environment specific. Therefore, it is recommended that policy actions should consider the impact of climate change and the characteristics and diversity of adaptation and/or risk management strategies within the framework of the different socio-economic and local settings influencing farmers’ decision. Keywords: Adaptation and/or risk management mechanisms, farmers’ decision making behavior DOI : 10.7176/JEES/9-4-04 Publication date : April 30 th 2019
Highlights
Climate change is one of the most serious environmental challenges facing mankind worldwide
Climate change can have severe impact on societies which depend for their existence on traditional agricultural methods (Hassan and Nhemachena, 2008)
2.1 Sampling This study was based on surveys conducted in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia, in East Shewa and West Arsi zones of Oromia region, where moisture-stress is the major problem
Summary
Climate change is one of the most serious environmental challenges facing mankind worldwide. The most adverse effects of climate change are felt mainly by developing countries, especially those in Africa, due to their low level of coping capabilities (Nwafor 2007; Jagtap 2007). It affects agriculture, the leading economic sector in these countries, through its direct impact on food production and agricultural productivity (Ziervogel et al 2006). Harvest failure due to extreme weather events is the most important cause of risk related hardship of Ethiopian rural households, with adverse effects on farm household consumption and welfare (Dercon et al 2005)
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