Small-scale farmers perception, adaptation choices to climate change and existing barriers: Evidence from northern Ethiopia

Abstract

• Farmers in the study area have been practicing more than one adaptation strategy simultaneously. • Adjusting planting dates was one of the major (56.6%) climate adaptation options. • Farmers in the mid-land agroecology were more likely to use integrated soil fertility management practices, adjust planting dates, and use early maturing crop varieties. • Farmer’s choice of adaptation option was highly constrained by institutional factors. Climate change continues to significantly impact agricultural production in Ethiopia that have encountered several environmental problems in recent decades. The study site is one of the areas vulnerable to climate change and influenced by climate variability. This study intends to identify small-scale farmers’ adaptation options, their perception and existing barriers in northern Ethiopia. It is based on an analysis of cross-sectional data collected from 193 randomly selected farm household heads. A multivariate probit model was employed to analyze the factors influencing farmers’ climate change adaptation choices. Constraint Facing Index (CFI) technique was also constructed to identify the existing barriers. The findings indicate that a significant number of farmers (91.2%) reported a trend toward rising temperatures. Similarly, 86.01% of the farmers indicated that the perceived rainfall trend has decreased. Adjusting planting dates (56.5%), integrated soil fertility management practices (47.7%), early maturing crop varieties (53.4%), terracing for soil and water conservation (54.9%), and income diversification (55.4%) were the most common climate change adaptation options practiced by farm households in the study area. Some of these adaptation options have significant and complementary relationships. The farmer’s choice of adaptation option was highly constrained by institutional factors and all these identified factors can be possibly addressed through a better institutional service provision system, for a better farm-level adaptation while considering demographic characteristics as well.