Choice of Smallholder Farmers’ Adaptation Strategies to Climatic Variability and Their Determinants in Crop Production: The Case of the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

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