Simane Belay, Zaitchik Benjamin F, Foltz Jeremy D
College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 USA.
Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Chang. 2016;21(1):39-65. doi: 10.1007/s11027-014-9568-1. Epub 2014 Jul 4.
In topographically diverse highland terrain, socio-economic and environmental conditions can vary dramatically over relatively short distances. This presents a challenge for climate resilient development strategies, as exposure to climate variability and change, climate impacts, and adaptive capacity differ between communities located within common cultural and administrative units. The Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) framed within the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) vulnerability framework (LVI-IPCC) offers a tool to assess climate vulnerability through direct household surveys. This makes it particularly appropriate for analyses at sub-community and community scales. Here we apply the LVI-IPCC to communities of Choke Mountain, located in the Blue Nile Highlands of Ethiopia. Recognizing the physiographic and climatic diversity that exists in this mountainous environment, we implement LVI-IPCC analysis for 793 mixed crop-livestock farming households using the five distinct agroecological systems (AES) that compose the populated area of Choke Mountain as a framework for analysis. For each AES, an LVI index, adaptive capacity metric, and LVI-IPCC vulnerability score was calculated. We found that each of these metrics varied systematically across AES. High elevation sloping lands and low elevation steep lands exhibited relatively low adaptive capacity and high vulnerability while midland AES had higher capacity and lower vulnerability. These results suggest that resilience building interventions for Choke Mountain ecosystems should be targeted to address the specific circumstances of each AES. The approach of applying LVI-IPCC at AES scale could be applicable to other climate vulnerable mountainous regions.
在地形多样的高地地区，社会经济和环境条件可能在相对较短的距离内发生巨大变化。这给气候适应型发展战略带来了挑战，因为位于共同文化和行政单位内的社区在面对气候变率和变化、气候影响以及适应能力方面存在差异。在联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC）脆弱性框架内构建的生计脆弱性指数（LVI）（LVI-IPCC）提供了一种通过直接家庭调查来评估气候脆弱性的工具。这使得它特别适用于亚社区和社区层面的分析。在此，我们将LVI-IPCC应用于位于埃塞俄比亚青尼罗河高地的乔克山的社区。认识到该山区环境中存在的地形和气候多样性，我们以构成乔克山人口聚居区的五个不同农业生态系统（AES）为分析框架，对793个农牧混合家庭进行了LVI-IPCC分析。对于每个AES，计算了LVI指数、适应能力指标和LVI-IPCC脆弱性得分。我们发现，这些指标在不同的AES之间存在系统性差异。高海拔坡地和低海拔陡坡地的适应能力相对较低，脆弱性较高，而中部地区的AES则具有较高的能力和较低的脆弱性。这些结果表明，针对乔克山生态系统的恢复力建设干预措施应针对每个AES的具体情况。在AES层面应用LVI-IPCC的方法可能适用于其他气候脆弱的山区。
