ABSTRACT

Climate and environmental change are critical factors affecting water resources, irrigation and farming systems in Ethiopia as most of the population and the country’s economy depend on agriculture. The aim of this study was to investigate farmers’ perceptions of climate and environmental change and impacts of those changes on their farming systems, water resources, and irrigation. The study used a semi-structured questionnaire to interview a total of 201 rural households from nine different villages in Awash River Basin (ARB), Ethiopia. The data collected was analysed by descriptive statistics, quantitative data analysis and multinominal logistic regression using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) software. About 80, 97 and 98% of the respondents perceived the occurrence of climate variability in the Upper, Middle and Lower ARBs, respectively. Between 68 and 80% of the respondents noted that they had observed variable rainfall (either an increase or a decrease) during different seasons of the year. More than 70% of the respondents also confirmed that there was temperature change in their areas. The high awareness of climate change and environmental variability by farmers in the ARB may help decision and policymakers in establishing participatory climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.

摘要

气候和环境变化是影响埃塞俄比亚水资源、灌溉和农业系统的关键因素，因为大多数人口和该国经济依赖农业。本研究的目的是调查农民对气候和环境变化的看法以及这些变化对其农业系统、水资源和灌溉的影响。该研究使用半结构化问卷调查了来自埃塞俄比亚阿瓦什河流域 (ARB) 九个不同村庄的总共 201 户农村家庭。使用社会科学家统计软件包 (SPSS) 软件通过描述性统计、定量数据分析和多项逻辑回归分析收集的数据。大约 80%、97% 和 98% 的受访者认为上、中、下 ARB 发生了气候变率，分别。68% 至 80% 的受访者表示，他们观察到一年中不同季节的降雨量变化（增加或减少）。超过 70% 的受访者还确认他们所在地区出现了温度变化。ARB 农民对气候变化和环境变异性的高度认识可能有助于决策者和政策制定者制定参与式气候适应和减缓战略。