Abstract:
Climate change is happening and perceived as a worldwide environmental issues. It is a
major threat to people's lives and livelihoods. This study identifies the major methods used by
farmers to adapt climate change in Awabel district, the factors that affect farmers’ adaptation
methods, and their perceptions of climate change existence. Both primary and secondary data
were used. Primary data were collected from 175 sample households through interview and
focus group discussion. Relevant secondary data were obtained from national meteorology
agency. The research deploys descriptive statistics, Mann-Kendall trend and binary logit
regression. The data collected from households revealed that 96% of respondents perceived
that climate change is observed in their locality. Maximum, minimum and mean temperatures
were found to be statistically significantly increasing; whereas average annual rainfall
showed increasing but no significant change. Smallholder farmers practiced irrigation,
terracing, planting trees, crop diversification, improved crop varieties and adjustment of
planting date as a climate change adaptation strategies. Household head level of education,
farm experience, access to climate change information and training, family size, total land
holding of the family, access to credit were found significant adoption determinants of climate
change adaptation strategies by farmers in the study site. Therefore, we recommend future
policies should focus on farmers’ technical capacity through adult education on climate
change and its adaptation strategies.