CLIMATE VARIABILITY, VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES BY PASTORAL AND AGRO – PASTORAL COMMUNITIES AT LEGAHIDHA WOREDA, EASTERN BALE ZONE, OROMIA, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Ethiopia is among those countries vulnerable to variability in climate and its historically prone country to extreme weather events, which was reason for unreliable and erratic rain and changes in temperature that caused periodic changes of climate especially in pastoral areas. Therefore, this situation has taught Ethiopians how to live with climate variability more than any else. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to characterize the general features of temperature and rain fall, to assess vulnerability level of HH, to examine adaptation strategies of pastoral and to identify barriers of their adaptation. To achieve these objectives, a HHs questionnaire, KII and FGD were employed to collect primary data at HH level and to understand vulnerability level of HH survey of 258 HH were selected by stratified random sampling, data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics, PCA and Linear regression as well as Tobit models. The finding of HHs vulnerability analysis indicated that18.7%, 67.3% and 14% of pastoral were highly vulnerable, moderately vulnerable and less vulnerable, respectively to climate induced shocks and stresses. The finding also indicated that there was strong variability of seasonal rain than monthly and annually. The result also shows that there was significant increasing of temperature trend and non-significant of annual rain in the study area. The finding also indicated that the most important driver determine vulnerability level of HH were Gender, Age, marital status, HH size, Educational level of HH , Access to credit, and basic services. Furthermore, pastoral community in the study area were pursued different strategies to adapt to climate variability, such as herd mobility, change herd composition, participate in non-farm income and crop farming with livestock. However, to implement those adaptation communities were faced some barriers such as lack of access to information, market, financial and institutional response’s. The study concluded that improving pastoral adaptation strategies were one of the viable solutions to reduce HHs vulnerability to climate variability.