Knowledge of climate change and adaptation by smallholder farmers: evidence from southern Ethiopia

Climate change has the greatest negative impact on low-income countries, which burdens agricultural systems. Climate change and extreme weather events have caused Ethiopia’s agricultural production to decline and exacerbated food insecurity over the last few decades. This study investigates whether...

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Autores principales: Belay, Abrham, Oludhe, Christopher, Mirzabaev, Alisher, Recha, John W.M., Berhane, Zerihun, Osano, Philip M., Demissie, Teferi Dejene, Olaka, Lydia A., Solomon, Dawit
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/125877
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author Belay, Abrham
Oludhe, Christopher
Mirzabaev, Alisher
Recha, John W.M.
Berhane, Zerihun
Osano, Philip M.
Demissie, Teferi Dejene
Olaka, Lydia A.
Solomon, Dawit
author_browse Belay, Abrham
Berhane, Zerihun
Demissie, Teferi Dejene
Mirzabaev, Alisher
Olaka, Lydia A.
Oludhe, Christopher
Osano, Philip M.
Recha, John W.M.
Solomon, Dawit
author_facet Belay, Abrham
Oludhe, Christopher
Mirzabaev, Alisher
Recha, John W.M.
Berhane, Zerihun
Osano, Philip M.
Demissie, Teferi Dejene
Olaka, Lydia A.
Solomon, Dawit
author_sort Belay, Abrham
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Climate change has the greatest negative impact on low-income countries, which burdens agricultural systems. Climate change and extreme weather events have caused Ethiopia’s agricultural production to decline and exacerbated food insecurity over the last few decades. This study investigates whether farmers’ awareness and perceptions of climate change play a role in climate change adaptation using climate-smart agricultural practices. To collect data, 385 households in Southern Ethiopia were sampled using a multistage sampling. A Heckman probit two-stage selection model was applied to investigate the factors influencing farmers’ perceptions to climate change and adaptation measures through adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices, complemented with key informant interviews and focused group discussions. The results indicated that most farmers (81.80%) perceived that the local climate is changing, with 71.9% reporting increased temperature and 53.15% reporting decreasing rainfall distribution. Therefore, farmers attempted to apply some adaptation practices, including soil and water conservation with biological measures, improved crop varieties, agroforestry, improved breeds, cut and carry system, controlled grazing, and residue incorporation. The empirical results revealed that farmers adaptation to climate change through adoptions of CSA practices was significantly influenced by education, family size, gender, landholding size, farming experience, access to climate information, training received, social membership, livestock ownership, farm income and extension services. The study found that farmers’ perceptions of climate change and variability were significantly influenced by their age, level of education, farming experience, and access to climate information, hence, the need to focus on enhancing the accuracy of weather information, strengthening extension services, and considering a gender-sensitive adaptation approach toward improving farmers’ knowledge and aspirations. Agricultural policies should support the efforts of farmers to increase the reliance on climate risk and alleviate farmers’ difficulties in adopting climate-smart agriculture practices.
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spelling CGSpace1258772025-10-26T13:01:39Z Knowledge of climate change and adaptation by smallholder farmers: evidence from southern Ethiopia Belay, Abrham Oludhe, Christopher Mirzabaev, Alisher Recha, John W.M. Berhane, Zerihun Osano, Philip M. Demissie, Teferi Dejene Olaka, Lydia A. Solomon, Dawit perceptions climate-smart agriculture adaptation policy climate change Climate change has the greatest negative impact on low-income countries, which burdens agricultural systems. Climate change and extreme weather events have caused Ethiopia’s agricultural production to decline and exacerbated food insecurity over the last few decades. This study investigates whether farmers’ awareness and perceptions of climate change play a role in climate change adaptation using climate-smart agricultural practices. To collect data, 385 households in Southern Ethiopia were sampled using a multistage sampling. A Heckman probit two-stage selection model was applied to investigate the factors influencing farmers’ perceptions to climate change and adaptation measures through adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices, complemented with key informant interviews and focused group discussions. The results indicated that most farmers (81.80%) perceived that the local climate is changing, with 71.9% reporting increased temperature and 53.15% reporting decreasing rainfall distribution. Therefore, farmers attempted to apply some adaptation practices, including soil and water conservation with biological measures, improved crop varieties, agroforestry, improved breeds, cut and carry system, controlled grazing, and residue incorporation. The empirical results revealed that farmers adaptation to climate change through adoptions of CSA practices was significantly influenced by education, family size, gender, landholding size, farming experience, access to climate information, training received, social membership, livestock ownership, farm income and extension services. The study found that farmers’ perceptions of climate change and variability were significantly influenced by their age, level of education, farming experience, and access to climate information, hence, the need to focus on enhancing the accuracy of weather information, strengthening extension services, and considering a gender-sensitive adaptation approach toward improving farmers’ knowledge and aspirations. Agricultural policies should support the efforts of farmers to increase the reliance on climate risk and alleviate farmers’ difficulties in adopting climate-smart agriculture practices. 2022-12 2022-12-12T13:37:14Z 2022-12-12T13:37:14Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/125877 en Open Access Elsevier Belay A, Oludhe C, Mirzabaev A, Recha J, Berhane Z, Osano P, Demissie T, Olaka LA, Solomon D. 2022. Knowledge of climate change and adaptation by smallholder farmers: evidence from southern Ethiopia. Hekiyon 8(12):e12089.
spellingShingle perceptions
climate-smart agriculture
adaptation
policy
climate change
Belay, Abrham
Oludhe, Christopher
Mirzabaev, Alisher
Recha, John W.M.
Berhane, Zerihun
Osano, Philip M.
Demissie, Teferi Dejene
Olaka, Lydia A.
Solomon, Dawit
Knowledge of climate change and adaptation by smallholder farmers: evidence from southern Ethiopia
title Knowledge of climate change and adaptation by smallholder farmers: evidence from southern Ethiopia
title_full Knowledge of climate change and adaptation by smallholder farmers: evidence from southern Ethiopia
title_fullStr Knowledge of climate change and adaptation by smallholder farmers: evidence from southern Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Knowledge of climate change and adaptation by smallholder farmers: evidence from southern Ethiopia
title_short Knowledge of climate change and adaptation by smallholder farmers: evidence from southern Ethiopia
title_sort knowledge of climate change and adaptation by smallholder farmers evidence from southern ethiopia
topic perceptions
climate-smart agriculture
adaptation
policy
climate change
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/125877
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