Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies in Madda Walabu District, Bale Zone, Southeast Ethiopia

Abstract

Climate change is one of the most serious environmental challenges affecting people all over the world causing widespread agitation and having an impact on economic systems such as agricultural production. Local communities in Madda Walabu District of Bale Zone, Southeast Ethiopia, are heavily dependent on agriculture. In contrast, the agricultural activity of the local community was depressed by threats such as increased temperature, prolonged drought, and changes in rainfall distribution. To mitigate the adverse consequences of climate change, it is important to understand the local knowledge of adaptation and mitigation actions. This research was a look into the climate change adaptation and mitigation in Ethiopia’s Madda Walabu District households to survive. The objective of the study was to investigate climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies for the synergy of the communities in the Madda Walabu District. A multistage stratified random sampling procedure and three villages were randomly selected. A total of 150 sample households from the three villages were interviewed. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse data, and the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for analysis. The results showed that most of the respondents have perceived an increase in temperature, fluctuation in the rainy season, and a decrease in the amount of rainfall. The respondents perceived that they are vulnerable to local climate variability. This study also revealed that 78% of the respondents followed different adaptation strategies to climate change, such as irrigation intensification, agroforestry, agronomic, and cultural practices. Adaptation and mitigation measures can be developed by enhancing the adaptive and mitigating capacity of forest-dependent communities. Therefore, awareness creation on climate change, variability, adaptation, and mitigation measures should be considered toward enhancing the adaptive capacity of the local communities in line with providing seasonal weather information. More research in the domain of climate change and mitigation techniques is needed as several statistical results were not as predicted, and the amount of adaptation and mitigation synergies was low. Furthermore, the study’s households were predominantly pastoralists, and their climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy for the livestock sector was an issue that needed to be addressed urgently.