GOAT FARMERS’ ADAPTATION CHOICES TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN ABERGELE DISTRICT OF WAG-KHIMRA ZONE, EASTERN AMHARA, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Climate change exacerbates the daunting defy on agriculture in general and the livestock sector in particular. Although climate change is a global phenomenon, local and regional changes are not exhaustively documented. Thus, finer understanding of the local dimensions is vital to exert location and context specific adaptation choices to allay adverse effects. This study therefore, examined goat farmers‟ perception on climate change, adaptation choices and their determinants using cross-sectional data collected in 2017 from Abergele district. A total of 260 household heads were selected randomly in four sample kebeles using a two stage sampling. Hence, structured interview schedule, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were used to collect the primary data. Secondary data relevant to the study were collected to enrich and triangulate the findings. Descriptive and inferential statistics as well as econometric model were used to analyze the quantitative data while the qualitative data was analyzed by conceptual generalization, interpretation and narrations. The result shows that from total sample respondents 86.5% were aware of changes in climate patterns while 92.3% recognized variability on the daily weather. Besides, 76.8% and 83.5% of the sample respondents perceived temperature is increasing while the rainfall is decreasing, respectively which was confirmed by results from focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Thus, 63.5% of respondents were applying adaptation choices related to crop, livestock and non-farm. The multivariate probit model result showed that most (11) of the covariates were positively and significantly influencing the adaptation choices (P ≤ 10%). Education, gender (being male), farming experience, family size, farmland size, goat flock size, farm income, non-farm income, frequency of extension contacts, access to climate information and credit access were substantial factors in farmers‟ adaption decision to climate vagaries. Moreover, the marginal success likelihood of adapting the non-agricultural income diversification was lowermst compared to agro-ecological practices, portfolio-diversification and enhancing livestock productivity in ascending order. The marginal success probability of jointly adapting all adaptation choices was very low (0.37%) compared to the failure (33.8%). Therefore, the government development programs and concerned stakeholders at different levels should gear towards the provision of vocational trainings, eminence extension services, community based radio and metrological services, affordable credit services, agricultural inputs, non-agricultural income generating opportunities and empowering the vulnerable groups would play a pivotal role in addressing goat farmers‟ demographic, socio-economic and institutional dynamics to enable community wise and/or context specific adaptation choices to the changing climatic status quo.