Belay Tatek, Lebeza Tadele Melese
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, College of Social Science and Humanities, Debre Tabor University, P.O. Box 272, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia.
Department of Natural Resource Management, College of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 5501, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Heliyon. 2024 Nov 20;10(23):e40570. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40570. eCollection 2024 Dec 15.
Ethiopia is widely acknowledged to be extremely vulnerable to climatic variability and change. Its agricultural sector, which is particularly susceptible to risks associated with rainfall variability, represents a major source of vulnerability. Household livelihood vulnerability varies across different agroecological zones (AEZs). This research aimed to investigate farmers' susceptibility to climate variability and change in northwestern Ethiopia. A total of 405 households from three AEZs (lowland, highland, and midland) were chosen through simple random sampling. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were also conducted to complement and validate the numerical data. To assess the household vulnerability levels, the social, economic, and environmental indicators were aggregated, and the LVI and LVI-IPCC index were employed. The study's findings indicated significant variation in livelihood vulnerability indices, profiles, and indicators across agroecological zones (AEZs). The midland AEZ exhibited low exposure, higher adaptive capacity, and low vulnerability, while the lowland AEZ showed higher vulnerability, weaker adaptive capacity, and greater exposure compared to the midland and highland AEZs. The LVI-IPCC analysis corroborated these findings, with values of 0.128 for the midland AEZ, 0.168 for the highland, and 0.180 for the lowland. The variation is due to differences in agroecological and socioeconomic factors among households. The results indicate the necessity of implementing adaptation strategies specifically tailored to the agroecological systems in the study area. Such an approach is essential for effectively reducing vulnerability among households engaged in mixed crop-livestock agriculture. Adaptation measures developed from these assessments are both applicable and relevant to local conditions, as they are grounded in the community's long-term realities.
埃塞俄比亚被广泛认为极易受到气候多变性和变化的影响。其农业部门尤其容易受到与降雨多变性相关的风险影响，是脆弱性的一个主要来源。家庭生计脆弱性在不同的农业生态区（AEZ）有所不同。本研究旨在调查埃塞俄比亚西北部农民对气候多变性和变化的易感性。通过简单随机抽样从三个农业生态区（低地、高地和中部地区）选取了总共405户家庭。还进行了焦点小组讨论和关键信息提供者访谈，以补充和验证数值数据。为了评估家庭脆弱性水平，汇总了社会、经济和环境指标，并采用了生计脆弱性指数（LVI）和LVI - IPCC指数。研究结果表明，不同农业生态区在生计脆弱性指数、概况和指标方面存在显著差异。中部地区农业生态区暴露程度低、适应能力强且脆弱性低，而与中部和高地农业生态区相比，低地农业生态区显示出更高的脆弱性、较弱的适应能力和更大的暴露程度。LVI - IPCC分析证实了这些结果，中部地区农业生态区的值为0.128，高地为0.168，低地为0.180。这种差异是由于家庭之间农业生态和社会经济因素的不同。结果表明有必要实施专门针对研究区域农业生态系统的适应战略。这种方法对于有效降低从事混合作物 - 畜牧农业的家庭的脆弱性至关重要。从这些评估中制定的适应措施既适用于当地条件又与当地条件相关，因为它们基于社区的长期实际情况。
