Climate Change Impact on Livelihood, Vulnerability and Coping Mechanisms: A Case Study of West-Arsi Zone, Ethiopia

Agriculture is one of the sectors most vulnerable to climate change impact. The impact is even stronger in Africa, where agriculture is truly important for the daily subsistence, and where adaptive capacity is low. Therefore, it is crucial to increase the understanding of the actual climate change dynamics on agricultural activities and on the societies at the lower levels. This study uses the West-Arsi zone in Ethiopia, as a case study and examines the local climatic trends and its impacts on the livelihood in the region. It also answers the questions who is more vulnerable and why, what are the local and institutional coping mechanisms, and what are the constraints that exacerbate vulnerability. The study uses semi-structured interview to garner data from local society, government officials and experts, and secondary data from published and unpublished sources, and systematically analyses this material both using qualitative and quantitative analysis.

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