Paper TL+MS+VT-TuM10
Impacts and Adaptation Strategies in Ethiopia

Tuesday, October 22, 2019, 11:00 am, Room A212

This paper highlights climate change and variability and its impact and adaptation strategies in Ethiopia. Due to low adaptive capacity and high sensitivity of socio economic systems, climate vulnerability is worsening over the last few decades in Ethiopia. Available evidences showed that since 1960, the mean annual temperature of the country has risen by about 1.3°C with an average rate of 0.28°C per decade imposing a significant challenge on food security, water availability, energy supply, poverty reduction and sustainable development efforts of the nation. Ethiopia has responded to the increasing impact of climate change and variability through developing relevant adaptation strategies, plans and policies largely focused on decreasing vulnerability in many different sectors including agriculture and food security, water resources, forestry, and health. To tackle the impact of climate change, the government has approved the National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA) in 2007 which includes projects that focused on promoting drought insurance program, strengthening drought and flood early warning systems, developing small-scale irrigation and water harvesting schemes in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas, and realizing food security through a multi-purpose large-scale water development project. Results, however, shows that although some progress has been made in addressing the impacts of climate change and variability, adaptation measures implemented over the last few decades were generally ineffective resulting in increasing losses as more and more people occupy vulnerable areas. This requires a sustained effort to further plan and implement the right mix of climate change adaptation strategies to address vulnerability to biodiversity and humanity to the increasing impacts of climate change. Addressing the impact of climate change requires a good understanding of the nexus between climate change adaptation measures and sustainable development as well as knowledge of climate change adaptation tools and techniques, which when used properly can minimize the total damage to life and property.