Abstract:
Climate variability is one of the serious environmental challenges that have received a lot of
attention in most parts of the world due to its effects on agriculture. The assessment of climate
variability on crop production and adaptation strategies differs from place to place. The
objective of this study was to assesses major features of temperature and rain fall pattern,
maize Production and to identify major adaptation strategies practiced by Smallholder
Farmers’ in Response to Adverse impacts of Climate Variability in hadero Tunto woreda,
Kembatoa Tembaro Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Both primary and secondary data were used for
this study. Two hundred eighty six households of maize farmers from three kebeles were
selected through stratified sampling method based on their agro-ecological conditions in the
study area. The result showed that rainfall and temperature are found to be more variable in
the study area in the period from 1997 to 2016. Result obtained from the magnitude and
variability of both maximum and minimum temperatures were increasing more than that of the
rainfall in the study area. Detailed analysis of rainfall has shown a decrease in the amount of
rainfall during main rainy season (June to August and partly in September) at the study area,
while short rainy season that runs from (March to May) was increased that considered climate
variables and socio-economic data were found to have a significant impact on the farmers’
maize production by quintal per hectare. Household interviews indicated that farmers were
aware of the occurrence of climate variability hence devised adaptation strategies in response
to it. Such adaptation strategies employed by farmers include the use of different maize seed
varieties, soil and water conservation structures, tree planting and diversification of crops….
In general, the findings of the study suggest that there is a need to support farmers’
adaptation capacity and improve their maize production efficiency to overcome the negative
effects of climate variability on maize crop production.
