Sustainable Agricultural Practices as a Response to Climate Change in Northern Ethiopia

Abstract

Since climate change and its impacts vary spatially and across people, this chapter investigates whether farmers have noticed changes in climate over the last two decades; and whether they have made adjustments in their farming decisions in response to the changes. The chapter also explores whether farmers have adopted strategies related to sustainable agriculture to adapt and mitigate climate change. The amount and variability of rainfall, temperature, humidity, and extreme weather events are identified as indicators of climate change. Most farmers have perceived an increase in temperature, the occurrence of unusual weather events, shifting pattern and distribution of rainfall, and decline in moistures. These have led to significant disturbances in crops, livestock, water, biodiversity, and livelihoods. Many farmers have implemented adaptation measures to reduce the disturbances: cultivate different crop/livestock varieties, use alternative water harvesting schemes, plant multipurpose trees, apply organic fertilizers, and shift to non-farm activities. Farmers’ decisions to adopt these strategies are affected by their education level, livestock ownership, household size, attitudes, social capital, information access, financial resources, and extension services. Since lack of information and institutional support with shortages of money and farmland are the main barriers to adopt climate change adaptation strategies, farmers have often used their indigenous knowledge to predict climatic conditions. Therefore, policies and strategies are needed to strength agricultural extension services, and empower local institutions that enhance awareness, provide timely information on agricultural and climatic conditions, and help farmers to choose effective adaptation strategies to reduce climate change risks and build local systems.