ABSTRACT
According to various scientific studies, climate change in Ethiopia could lead to extreme temperatures, extraordinary rainfall events and more intense and prolonged droughts and floods (IGAD and ICPAC, 2008). These projections come as particularly bad news considering that more than 85 per cent of all Ethiopians are engaged in smallholder rain-fed agriculture, and farms already find themselves under significant climate stress. Acute environmental degradation has depleted the country’s natural resource base. According to Girma (2001), Ethiopia annually loses over 1.5 billion metric tonnes of topsoil from the highlands through erosion, causing an estimated loss of 1.5 million tonnes of grain. Climate change could greatly exacerbate this already challenging situation and negatively affect economic growth, livelihoods, health and the rate and intensity of disasters. The major question for Ethiopia, then, is how best to promote farmers’ resiliency to evolving climate shocks as an adaptation strategy to climate change. This is the main research question that will be addressed in this chapter.
