ethiopia

By Catherine Mungai, Andualem Shimeles and Ousmane Ndiaye

In developing countries, such as Ethiopia in East Africa, climate scenarios and climate analogues can be useful tools to identify potential ways to adapt to climatic changes. Climate analogues can also enable farmer exchange of knowledge, i.e. visiting areas that show similar climatic conditions to their future farms. In the light of this, a workshop on Using Climate Scenarios and Analogues for Designing Adaptation Strategies in Agriculture in Ethiopia was prepared, inviting stakeholders that could use the information in their everyday work. Dr. Yigardu Mulatu, from the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), commented that “as a researcher, I have been grappling with how I can contribute towards developing and implementing climate change adaptation strategies in Ethiopia.", feeling pleased that "in the past three days, I have learned how to use available climate information to develop appropriate adaptation strategies.” Read more »

edited by Cecilia Schubert

Pastoralists on the Borana Plateau of Ethiopia are tirelessly dealing with extended and more frequent droughts, occurring at a scale they have seldom witnessed before. At the same time, they have to adapt to population growth, land use changes and unreliable climate patterns, in the midst of the ongoing struggle against dried up pastures. The common perception among the pastoralists is that droughts are increasing, in severity, and duration. They also feel that increased cropping and town sprawl have captured much of the fertile pastures, leaving little left for animals to graze on. In the light of these environmental and social changes, how are pastoralists, non-governmental organizations and government responding? Which responses are likely to be most successful and how will the various initiatives interact?

Video poster: Climate Risk Adaptation Strategies of Boran Pastoralists

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Guest blog by Laura Cramer, Program Specialist for CCAFS East Africa Regional Office

In early July CCAFS East Africa Regional Theme co-sponsored a national awareness raising conference at the Ghion Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia titled “Climate Change Vulnerability and Risk Assessment of Agriculture and Food Security in Ethiopia: Which Way Forward?” The co-hosts of the event were the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Climate Change Forum – Ethiopia (CCF-E), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Read more »

In this newly released video interview, made by Francesco Fiondella at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), CCAFS theme leader James Hansen discusses the causes of the current drought plaguing the Horn of Africa. He points out that even if the lack of rain is a root cause of the crisis, it is still only one of many factors that has lead to the ongoing drought. Other factors are on a more long term basis, such as poverty, which leads to vulnerability to climatic shocks and population growth, where many depend on rainfed agriculture for their livelihoods. The environmental issues plaguing the area namely water and soil degradation also exacerbate the situation further. Read more »