Enhancing Adaptive Capacity of Communities by Up-scaling Best Practices and Adopting an Integrated Approach in Ethiopia

Project details

The changes in Ethiopia’s climate are anticipated to result in a number of negative impacts on vulnerable communities, including droughts and floods. The impacts of past droughts and climatic changes have been particularly detrimental to Ethiopia’s agricultural sector. For example, seven major droughts have occurred over the past 25 years, five of which have resulted in famine. Furthermore, since 1988 Ethiopia has experienced six major floods. The number of flooding events and associated damages increased between 1996 and 2006.

At present, Ethiopia is experiencing one of the most severe droughts of the last 30 years brought on by El Niño events in 2015. The drought is impacting on the livelihoods of 10 million people, namely through food insecurity where the population has become reliant on humanitarian support through food aid. This has left 2.7 million people with malnutrition and 2.1 million without access to safe drinking water. In addition, the drought is causing losses to livestock and decreased agricultural production owing to crop failure.

Climate change is affecting sustainable development in Ethiopia. With a large part of the nation's agricultural production relying on rain-fed farming, the livelihoods of the majority of the population are sensitive to climate-related shocks, including drought and flooding. Climate change is likely  exacerbate the impacts of degradation of the country’s environmental resources – including arable land, water, pasture and forest – with connected impacts on Ethiopia’s food and water securities. Consequently, Ethiopian communities in both rural and urban settings will be impacted by this predicted climate change variability.

Currently, 8.2 million people are already considered “chronically” food insecure in Ethiopia, with 6.7 million people facing food insecurity. Both categories are characterised by a weak resilience to withstand climate-related shocks, such as severe droughts. Addressing climate change is of critical importance in Ethiopia as the economy remains reliant on: i) climate-sensitive agriculture and natural resources management; ii) rainfall; and iii) natural resource dependent energy – biomass and hydropower. Recent assessments have estimated that economic growth could decrease by up to 2.5% per year unless capacity building and climate change adaptation measures are implemented. Further to this, climate change is expected to further impact Ethiopia’s income inequality, affecting both rural and urban communities.

The long‑term preferred solution is for adaptation to be an integral part of Ethiopian livelihoods, specifically among vulnerable communities. The proposed project will empower communities to plan and implement adaptation interventions in a deliberate and proactive manner, reducing reliance on the Government of Ethiopia to provide already scarce resources for climate change adaptation. Building community self-reliance will enable them to tailor adaptation tools and technologies to their specific needs. At the local level, new technologies – or traditional technologies used in new ways – will be promoted to ensure that productivity and sustainability of livelihoods are maintained under a range of future climate change scenarios. These adaptation actions and associated technologies or practices will build on the natural resilience and innovativeness of Ethiopian communities to build their self-reliance and capacity to continue the adaptive process iteratively.

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Key results and output

Ouctome 1 - Strengthened institutional and technical capacity for coordination of climate‑resilient planning and investment

Output 1.1. Training provided on tools and methodologies for gender-sensitive climate vulnerability and risk assessments and gender-responsive adaptation planning at the kebele, woreda and city levels.

Output 1.2. Integrated climate change adaptation/disaster risk reduction plans – with gender action plans – developed at the regional, city and local levels for key sectors.

Outcome 2 - Access to climate-smart technologies and practices for cost-effective adaptation is enhanced

Output 2.1. Training-of-trainers undertaken for decision‑makers and technical staff in targeted woredas and cities on implementation of gender-sensitive adaptation technologies tailored to local socio-economic and environmental contexts, including using climate data and forecasts to inform adaptation interventions at the community level.

Output 2.2. Targeted training to farmers in selected woredas on climate-smart agricultural practices, including the use of seasonal forecasts and climate advisories in their farming decisions.

Output 2.4. Localised weather and climate advisories disseminated to provide real time agro-meteorological information to farmers, pastoralists and local decision‑makers.

Output 2.5. Adaptation technologies and climate-smart agricultural practices introduced and scaled in targeted woredas and cities.

Outcome 3 - Knowledge management system to store and disseminate the best adaptive practices for further upscaling and replication established

Output 3.1. Woreda learning centres established to share lessons learned and best practices outside of targeted communities.

Output 3.2. Cost-benefit analyses of the field-demonstrated adaptation measures to inform strategies and action plans.

Output 3.3. Knowledge-sharing mechanisms developed to ensure that best practices and knowledge generated through this and other initiatives is documented for replication and upscaling.

Output 3.4. Awareness-raising campaigns undertaken on climate risks and adaptation options for government staff and local communities.

Output 3.5. Monitoring and evaluation conducted.

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