Climate Change Effects on Smallholder Farming System Productivity in Ethiopia
Description
Smallholder farming system plays a great role in food production of sub-Saharan Africa which is highly challenged by climate change effect of the tropics. In Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular the system holds responsibility of feeding the whole people by contributing about 90% of the agricultural production and cultivating 95% of the total area. This paper reviewed climate change effect on the productivity and food security status of the smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. To come with sound summary, characteristics of the stallholders briefed in terms of land size, labor management, production scale and technology utilization and the climate risk problem assessed. Temperature incremental change in decades in Ethiopia from 0.622 in 2000 to 1.29 in 2010, 1.37 in 2020 and 1.507oC in 2021 clearly indicating an urgent call to work on adaptation and mitigation strategies of climate change particularly smallholder focused. Reviewed papers reported the major crops yield gap and low milk productivity of the country. Technology adoption of smallholders is very low that fertilizer with improved seed utilization rate is 4.58% and fertilizer with local seed is 4.76%. Adaptation strategies have to be designed to mitigate the climate change has to be practical at smallholder level. Strategies repeatedly stated in different papers are technology adoption (resistant varieties and agronomic packages), crop diversification and cropping system, integrated soil fertility management, crop-livestock mixed farming approach and conservation agriculture. The ways forward to be with high intention are physical, conceptual and financial capacity building of the smallholders with access to climate and agricultural information; develop environmentally gentle climate smart models for ensuring livelihood of the smallholders, huge focus on public investment in agricultural research and development to improve productivity of smallholders, appreciating and modeling the indigenous climate smart conservation practices like in Derashe people, and integration of crop-livestock-soil fertility management since they are not detached in smallholder level.