Assessment on Climate Variability Trends and Small-holder Farmer-Adaptation Strategies: A case of Guagusa Shikudad Woreda, Awi Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract Climate change is a global phenomenon that involves the long-term fluctuation of the Earth's climate system. Specifically, climate variability is one of the pressing environmental problems in the world, since it has been showing a drastic fluctuation from the usual condition in some parameters. This study examined trends in climate variability and adaptation strategies of small farmers: A case of Guagusa Shikudad Woreda, Awi Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Cross-sectional research designs were used to collect information from 271 randomly selected households in two rural kebeles. Multistage sampling techniques were used to purposely select the study area and random sampling to select households. Primary and secondary data collection methods were used. A long period of climate data (temperature and rainfall) was obtained from the National Aeronautic Space Administration (NASA) (1981-2021). Descriptive statistics and the Mann-Kendall trend test were used to analyze the data.The study results indicate that small farmers perceived that there is variability in climate parameters (temperature and rainfall) with frequent drought and rainfall intensity characteristics in recent decades. The Mann-Kendall test indicated that mean annual rainfall does not have significant level of climate variability and Sen's slope estimator test shows that the temperature of maximum and minimum climate data has an increasing trend. A descriptive analysis was used to summarize farmer perceptions, to see the actual seasonal/annual variability of rainfall and temperature, and to identify the different adaptation responses to climate variability. Crop diversification, grow crops that mature early, implement nonfarm agriculture activities, use of inorganic fertilizer, applying soil and water conservation mechanism, etc. were identified as major important adaptation strategies implemented by smallholder farmers. Therefore, it is concluded that there is climate variability in terms of temperature and rainfall in the study area and farmers implement various climate adaptation strategies. This study suggests that it is necessary to reduce the challenges facing farmers to implement different adaptation strategies and implement appropriate climate variability adaptation strategies that increase the resilience of small farmers to climate variability.