By Ricki Watkins, LCC CRSP
Villagers from the Afar Regional State in northern Ethiopia show the fruits of their labor made possible by their clever climate-change adaptation strategies. Photo by Melaku Berhe.
Quick Points:
- A 15-year drought has led Ethiopian pastoralists to develop adaptation strategies.
- Melaku Berhe, a LCC CRSP Graduate Fellow is recording pastoralist adaptation strategies through villager interviews and surveys.
The 15-year drought has severly affected the Afar Regional State of northern Ethiopia forced pastoralists and agro-pastoralists to develop clever climate-change adaptation strategies. These strategies, which are responsible for saving the pastoralists’ way of life, have caught the interest of LCC CRSP Gradute Fellow Melaku Berhe, who is gathering information on drought mitigation in the nine villages.
Berhe and two recently trained enumerators met with a total of 42 key informants; these informants were key representatives of each village from the farmers association, youth association, women’s association, religious leaders, clan leaders, development agents and village leaders.
One of the adaptation strategies utilized by the villagers of the Afar Regional State of northern Ethiopia to mitigate climate-change is to harvest rain-water, as shown here. Photo by Melaku Berhe.
Over a period of 10 days in August 2012, the team was able to gather important information on drought adaptation strategies by way of informant interviews. The interviews and surveys focused on finding out information on how farmers respond to climate change, the type of water harvesting methods in use, the mobility patterns of pastoral farmers during drought, the practice of agro-forestry in agro-pastoral areas and the role of clan leaders in climate-change mitigation.
Informants were asked questions such as, “Describe any adaptation strategies or measures employed to deal with climate change, either traditional practices or recent innovations” and “Have you noticed any change in your yield due to your adaptation methods in response to climate change? How?”
Pastoralists from the Afar Regional State of northern Ethiopia drink milk from their camels. The pastoralists have developed clever climate-change adaptation strategies in the face of a 15 year drought. Photo by Melaku Berhe.
In September 2012, the team interviewed tribe leaders to gather information on the role of the leaders in resolving conflict, specifically in relation to pasture-related disputes between villages. In response, the clan leaders said their roles were widely accepted in resolving issues such as development mobilization, coping with drought, and management of water and pasture.
The research gathered from these trips has given Berhe valuable information necessary to complete his research work; more qualitative information is needed, however.