SMALLHOLDERFARMERS’PERCEPTIONSANDADAPTATIONSTRATEGIESTO CLIMATECHANGE:THECASEOFSHEBEDINOWOREDA,SIDAMANATIONAL REGIONALSTATE

Abstract

Climate change remains a major threat for small holder living and sustainable management of natural resources in Ethiopia. Adaptation strategies vary contextually and spatially within communities and even among individuals, so that a given adaptation measures do not necessarily translate from one area to another area. The presentstudywasanattempttounderstandanddocumentthesmallholderfarmers’ perception and adaptation strategi es to climate change in Shebedino Woreda of Sidama NationalRegionalState.Thestudyemployedmixeddesignwhichwascarried-outby usingqualitati veandquantitativedescri ptions.Amultistagesamplingprocedurewas vestatisti usedtoselect145studysamplesanddatawerecollectedthroughhouseholdsurvey, focusgroupdiscussion,andkeyinformantinterview.Datawereanalyzedusing descripti cs,andmultinomiallogisti cregressionmodel.Theresultsrevealed thatmajority(84. 02and78.31%)ofthestudiedfarmersinWoina-DegaandDegaagro ecologicalzonesrespecti velywerewellawareoftheexistenceofclimatechangein theirlocal ity.I nassociationwithcli agro-ecol matechangethefarmersofWoina-DegaandDega ogyhasexperiencedrainfal lhasdecreased,increasi ngtemperature,extended dryseasonleadtodrought,dryspellfrequencyi ncreased,increasei infestati npestsanddisease onasaresultofhighhumidity,heavywindwhichcanaffectthefieldcrop, dryingofriversandstreams,anddi storti onanddestructionofwildl ifeecosystemsasa resultofdeforestati on.Amongtheunderlingfactorstowhichsuchachangeis attri vity,l butedtoincludesthechangeinstateofclimatehasresultedinreductionof livestockproducti ow cropproductivity,lesspasture/grassforlivestock, fail ure,increasedcompetiti onforfertil eland,increasi crop ngscarcityofnaturalresources (changeinforestandbiodi versity),abandonmentoftradi tionalacti changeinwateravailabil ityforcropandlivestock,andi viti es,lossofincome, ncreasedrural-urbanmi gration forthefarmersofWoina-degaandDegaagro-ecologicalzones.Thestudyrevealsthat smallholderfarmersareadj ustingthei rselftothepercei vedimpactsofclimatechange. Theadaptationstrategi esusedwere:droughttolerantcropvarieti es/li vestockspecie