Smallholder Farmers’ Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change in Adama District, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

Adaptation strategies reduce the level of damages that might have otherwise occurred as results of climate change and others. An appropriate perception about climate change is a precondition for the approaching of adaptation strategies. The specific objectives of this study were first to assess the perceptions of smallholder farmers on climate change in the study area. Second to investigate the climate change adaptation strategies being practiced by smallholder farmers and lastly to identify the determinants of smallholder farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies to climate change. Both primary and secondary data were employed. Primary data were collected from a randomly selected 155 sample households through interview. Focus group discussion, key informant interview and field observation were also employed as data collection tool. Relevant secondary data were also obtained from National Meteorology Agency of Adama branch. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the characteristics of sample households and types of adaptation strategies to climate change. Likert scale was employed to examine smallholder farmers’ perception to climate change. Moreover, multivariate probit model was employed to identify the determinants of smallholder farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies to climate change. The result indicated that the major adaptation strategies applied by smallholder farmers in the study area were using improved crop varieties, adjusting planting date, planting tree, crop diversification, and terracing practice. Multivariate probit model result showed that the likelihood of households to adopt planting tree, terracing practice, improved varieties of crops, adjust planting date, and use crop diversification were 76.5%, 74%, 51%, 46.7%, and 40.4%, respectively. The result also showed that the joint probability of using all adaptation strategies was only 9.6% and the joint probability of failure to adopt all of the adaptation strategies was 4.1%. It was also found that educational, sex, farming experience, credit, farm income, off/non-farm income, and access to climate change related training significantly influenced choices of climate adaptation strategies. Therefore, future policy should focus on awareness creation on climate change and its adaptation strategies.