Spatial Variability and Temporal Trends of Climate Change in Southwest Ethiopia: Association with Farmers’ Perception and Their Adaptation Strategies

The impact of climate change is a global threat, and its effect is more pronounced in developing countries. It is vital to link physical data analysis with endogenous knowledge and practices of farmers to strengthen their adaptive capacity. This study was conducted to explore spatial variability and temporal trends of temperature and rainfall in association with farmers’ perceptions and their adaptation strategies in Southwest Ethiopia. Daily rainfall and temperature data of twelve weather stations were collected from the National Meteorological Agency of Ethiopia for the period 1983 to 2016. Farmers’ perceptions about climate change and its impact and their adaptation strategies were assessed through a survey. Spatial variability and temporal trends of rainfall and temperature were analyzed using ArcGIS and R software. Sen’s slope estimator and Mann–Kendall’s trend tests were used to detect the magnitude and statistical significance of changes in rainfall and temperature. Spatial analysis of rainfall showed high variability over the region. There were no consistent and significant temporal trends of annual and seasonal rainfall of the area. Significant and upward trends of annual maximum and minimum temperatures were reported for all stations. Accordingly, annual maximum and minimum temperatures were increased by 0.71 and 0.65°C, respectively, over the period 1983 to 2016. Farmers had a good awareness of climate change and its impact. Adaptation strategies used by farmers included soil and water conservation practices (66.21%), crop diversification (62.16%), modifying planting date (42.56%), agroforestry practices (35.13%), use of drought-tolerant variety (33.95%), use of early maturing crop (27.03%), and livelihood diversification (25.42%). As most of these adaptation strategies were familiarized by a small number of farmers, further effort is needed to identify factors limiting the adoption of these strategies. Furthermore, additional planned strategies and supports that widen available options at the farmers’ disposal should be introduced to strengthen their adaptive capacity.