Climate Change Impacts on Livestock Production and Adaptation Strategy used by Households in Loka Abaya District, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Climate change has affected the livelihoods of many households in many developing countries. The current study assessed the impacts of climate change on livestock production and the adaptation strategies used by households. A multistage sampling strategy was used to study select areas. In the first stage, four Kebele (lowest administration unit), two representing Moist-Weina Dega and other two representing Moist-Kolla were purposefully selected based on agroecological conditions and information indicating the involvement of different intervention works. A total of 160 households (73 from Moist-Weina Dega and 87% from Moist-Kolla) were selected using proportionally sampling strategy. About 6 – 8 focused group discussants were involved to complement household interviews. The finding revealed that households observed shifts in climatic indicators such as temperature, rainfall distribution/amount, and the occurrence of extreme events. Nearly 90% of households observed an increasing temperature trend, which was more commonly observed in moist Kolla (95%) than in moist Weina Dega (80%). About 61% and 76% of households perceived a decline in rainfall amount and a change in seasonal distribution, respectively, where it was more pronounced in the moist Kolla area than the moist Weina Dega area, which greatly affected crop and livestock production. Feed shortages and quality deterioration, reduced water availability, higher heat stress, and increased disease frequency were direct effects of climate change on livestock production, which ultimately reduced animals’ weight gain, reduced milk yield and increased livestock mortality. Collecting and storing rainwater, income diversification, livestock destocking and shifting from large ruminants to small ruminants (goats), and livestock feed storage and temporary migration were livestock production-related adaptation strategies used by households. The use of improved livestock breeds (goats and poultry) and the supply of modern bee hives were reported as some of the introduced technologies in the livestock sector aimed at enhancing the adaptive capacity of households to climate change. The present study concluded that climate change greatly affected livestock production and the livelihood of producers and that there should be interventions supporting the adaptive capacity of households.