Farmer's climate smart livestock production adoption and determinant factors in Hidebu Abote District, Central Ethiopia.

This study aimed to identify the status, determining factors, and challenges in adopting climate smart livestock production practices by farmers. Three-staged sampling techniques were used to select the research sites and 233 sample farmer household respondents. Data were collected mainly using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were also conducted to complement the household survey data. Descriptive statistics and an ordered logistic regression model were applied to analyze the quantitative data. The result revealed that the most adopted practices were composting (85.41%) and manure management (70.39%) while the least adopted technologies were biogas generation (3.86%) and rotation grazing (22.32%). The adoption status of the sampled farmers was also categorized into low (19.74%), medium (67.81%), and high adopter (12.45%). The high cost of improved breed, use of manure for fuel, free grazing, lack of information and awareness were the major constraints to adopting the climate smart livestock production technologies. The result also revealed that education, grazing land, total livestock holding, and extension agent contact contributed significantly and positively to the adoption of smart livestock production technology, while the distance from the water source had an insignificant and negative effect on the adoption status of climate smart livestock production practices. The study suggests the relevance of the cooperation of stakeholders and strengthening extension services for the maximum benefits of climate smart livestock production.

Drought Analysis Using Standardized Evapotranspiration and Aridity Index at Bilate Watershed: Sub-Basins of Ethiopian Rift Valley.

In Ethiopia, more prevalent drought happenings have been documented in the past century. The problem has gradually expanded from the north to the rest parts with deepened intensity. The study aimed to examine the magnitudes of spatiotemporal patterns of drought at the Bilate watershed from 1981 to 2016. Monthly rainfall and temperature data were used for the analysis. The Standardized Evapotranspiration Indexes (SPEI) at SPEI-03 and SPEI-12 timescales were applied to evaluate the drought patterns. Among different drought indices, the SPEI is the most valuable and preferred Index for drought studies. The SPEI method considers the role of temperature than other indices to compare drought in time and space. The Mann-Kendall test was used for trend analysis. Accordingly, the result revealed that 1988-2016 were years of continuous drought events in both timescales with (SPEI = -2.5 to -1.2) drought value. Drought severity and frequency were highly detected at Wulberag areas (SPEI: -2.5). Durame, Angacha, and Alaba experienced increasing drought trends (Z = -1.96-1.6) and Welayita Sodo is Z = -0.07-0.03. Bilate-Tena and Hossana area of the watershed were less affected by drought than other areas. Spatially, the drought occurrences were observed in all areas of the watershed with varying magnitude. In the SPEI-12 timescale, more frequent drought occurrences were observed than SPEI-03. It was found that severe drought was observed in 1987, 1993/94, 2000-2005, and 2010. Moreover, the watershed experienced an Aridity Index (AI) of 0.43 (43%) and was subjected to potential high evapotranspiration (PET). The highest PET was observed at Bilate-Tena, Angacha, Hosanna, Wulberag, Alaba, Welayita Sodo, and Durame (151.6, 119.6, 119.3, 140.8, 142, 127.5, and 125.7 mm/year, respectively. Hence, the finding of this study could initiate a further inquiry on drought risk management, early warning responses, and local scale planning.

The impacts of the early outset of the COVID-19 pandemic on climate change research: Implications for policy-making.

Since January 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has dominated the media and exercises pressure on governments worldwide. Apart from its effects on economies, education systems and societies, the pandemic has also influenced climate change research. This paper examines the extent to which COVID-19 has influenced climate change research worldwide during the first wave at the beginning of 2020 and how it is perceived to exploit it in the future. This study utilised an international survey involving those dedicated to climate change science and management research from Academia, Government, NGOs, and international agencies in 83 countries. The analysis of responses encompasses four independent variables: Institutions, Regions, Scientific Areas, and the level of economic development represented by the Human Development Index (HDI). Results show that: (1) COVID-19 modified the way the surveyed researchers work, (2) there are indicators that COVID-19 has already influenced the direction of climate change and adaptation policy implementation, and (3) respondents perceived (explicitly concerning the COVID-19 lockdowns of March-April 2020), that the pandemic has drawn attention away from climate policy. COVID- 19 has influenced the agenda of climate change research for more than half of the respondents and is likely to continue in the future, suggesting that the impacts on their research will still be felt for many years. The paper concludes by outlining critical implications for policy-making.

The influence of ecosystems services depletion to climate change adaptation efforts in Africa.

Climate change is one of the major challenges societies round the world face at present. Apart from efforts to achieve a reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases so as to mitigate the problem, there is a perceived need for adaptation initiatives urgently. Ecosystems are known to play an important role in climate change adaptation processes, since some of the services they provide, may reduce the impacts of extreme events and disturbance, such as wildfires, floods, and droughts. This role is especially important in regions vulnerable to climate change such as the African continent, whose adaptation capacity is limited by many geographic and socio-economic constraints. In Africa, interventions aimed at enhancing ecosystem services may play a key role in supporting climate change adaptation efforts. In order to shed some light on this aspect, this paper reviews the role of ecosystems services and investigates how they are being influenced by climate change in Africa. It contains a set of case studies from a sample of African countries, which serve the purpose to demonstrate the damages incurred, and how such damages disrupt ecosystem services. Based on the data gathered, some measures which may assist in fostering the cause of ecosystems services are listed, so as to cater for a better protection of some of the endangered Africa ecosystems, and the services they provide.

Assessing the impacts of climate change in cities and their adaptive capacity: Towards transformative approaches to climate change adaptation and poverty reduction in urban areas in a set of developing countries.

Many cities across the world are facing many problems climate change poses to their populations, communities and infrastructure. These vary from increased exposures to floods, to discomfort due to urban heat, depending on their geographical locations and settings. However, even though some cities have a greater ability to cope with climate change challenges, many struggle to do so, particularly in cities in developing countries. In addition, there is a shortage of international studies which examine the links between climate change adaptation and cities, and which at the same time draw some successful examples of good practice, which may assist future efforts. This paper is an attempt to address this information need. The aim of this paper is to analyse the extent to which cities in a sample of developing countries are attempting to pursue climate change adaptation and the problems which hinder this process. Its goal is to showcase examples of initiatives and good practice in transformative adaptation, which may be replicable elsewhere. To this purpose, the paper describes some trends related to climate change in a set of cities in developing countries across different continents, including one of the smallest capital cities (Georgetown, Guyana) and Shanghai, one the world's most populous cities. In particular, it analyses their degree of vulnerability, how they manage to cope with climate change impacts, and the policies being implemented to aid adaptation. It also suggests the use of transformative approaches which may be adopted, in order to assist them in their efforts towards investments in low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure, thereby maximizing investments in urban areas and trying to address their related poverty issues. This paper addresses a gap in the international literature on the problems many cities in developing countries face, in trying to adapt to a changing climate.

A Comparative Analysis of Climate-Risk and Extreme Event-Related Impacts on Well-Being and Health: Policy Implications.

There are various climate risks that are caused or influenced by climate change. They are known to have a wide range of physical, economic, environmental and social impacts. Apart from damages to the physical environment, many climate risks (climate variability, extreme events and climate-related hazards) are associated with a variety of impacts on human well-being, health, and life-supporting systems. These vary from boosting the proliferation of vectors of diseases (e.g., mosquitos), to mental problems triggered by damage to properties and infrastructure. There is a great variety of literature about the strong links between climate change and health, while there is relatively less literature that specifically examines the health impacts of climate risks and extreme events. This paper is an attempt to address this knowledge gap, by compiling eight examples from a set of industrialised and developing countries, where such interactions are described. The policy implications of these phenomena and the lessons learned from the examples provided are summarised. Some suggestions as to how to avert the potential and real health impacts of climate risks are made, hence assisting efforts to adapt to a problem whose impacts affect millions of people around the world. All the examples studied show some degree of vulnerability to climate risks regardless of their socioeconomic status and need to increase resilience against extreme events.

Opportunities and challenges of indigenous biotic weather forecasting among the Borena herders of southern Ethiopia.

The practical utilization of available modern as well as traditional weather forecasting systems builds herders' resiliency capacity to climatic shocks. The precision and reliability of the forecasting system determines its creditability and acceptance by the users to be proactive in the decisions they make based on the forecasted information. It has been postulated that traditional weather forecasting systems are becoming less reliable due to repeated faulty forecasts. The study assesses the current status of the Borana traditional weather forecasting system and how traditional experts make weather forecasts based on biotic indicators such as intestinal readings, changes in plant and animal body languages. Questionnaire survey, field observations, focus group discussions and interviews with relevant key informants were employed to obtain data. Collected field data was compared with National Metrological Service Agency instrumental data for consistency. Results reveal that herders made short term weather forecasts using intestinal readings, and observed changes in plant and animal body languages. The study shows the extent how public confidence in the accuracy of indigenous weather forecasting skills has been gradually eroded overtime due to faulty forecasts. The precision and credibility of the traditional weather forecast steadily declined and led to repeated faulty predictions. Poor documentation, oral based knowledge transfer system, influence of religion and modern education, aging and extinction of traditional experts were identified as the major causes undermining the vitality of traditional climate forecast. Traditional weather foresting knowledge and skill could have some utility and also serve as a starting point to scientifically study the relationship between various signs and implied climatic events. This article recommends before traditional Borana weather forecasting system completely disappears, a remedial action should be carried out to rescue this long established wisdom, knowledge and skill and maximize the benefits from what works well. The forecast needs of herders could be rendered by a combination of modern and traditional weather forecasting services. Further research is required to explore possible area of complementarity between the modern and traditional forecasting systems for improved efficiency and effectiveness in predictability, dissemination and advice.