Ethiopia: Climate Change Increasing Poverty

Climate Change Increasing Poverty And Vulnerability in Ethiopia

Increased poverty, water scarcity, and food insecurity are just some of the negative impacts set to hit small-scale farmers and pastoralists in Ethiopia as a result of climate change in the region, according to a new Oxfam International report.

The international development agency’s report, ‘The Rain Doesn’t Come on Time Anymore: Poverty, Vulnerability, and Climate Variability in Ethiopia,’ was launched as part of a special Earth Day celebration organised by the Climate Change Forum-Ethiopia, in collaboration with other environmental organisations.

While Ethiopia is no stranger to climatic variability, having suffered droughts that have contributed to hunger and even famine in the past, the report details how climate change is set to make the lives of the poorest even harder.

“The rain doesn’t come on time anymore. After we plant, the rain stops just as our crops start to grow. And it begins to rain after the crops have already been ruined,” Safia Fungie Hasenna, a farmer in Adamitullu Jiddo Kombolcha district in Ethiopia told Oxfam. “Because of a lack of feed and water, most of my cattle have died. The few that survived had to be sold so that we could buy food to live on. As I no longer have the means to support my family, only three of my eight kids are still with me. Losing our assets was bad, but the fact that our family is separated is devastating.” With 85 per cent of Ethiopia’s population dependant on agriculture for their livelihood, the negative impacts of climate change couldn’t be more potent. Because it is rain-fed using relatively basic technologies on tiny plots of land, the agricultural sector is especially vulnerable to the adversities of weather and climate.

“People who are already poor and marginalised are struggling to cope with the added burden of increasingly unpredictable weather,” said Abera Tola, Oxfam’s Horn of Africa Regional Director. “Many have been forced to sell livestock or remove children from school – coping mechanisms that only increase the cycle of vulnerability. Even relatively small shifts in the growing season, can spell disaster for the poorest farmers and pastoralists who are already struggling in poverty,” he said.

Limited resources, few alternative sources of income, lack of expertise, and the absence of appropriate public policies and financing all decrease people’s capacity to cope. Resilience is about being able to bounce back from a shock. It’s about having the opportunities to shift strategies quickly as the need arises.

According to the report, coping mechanisms are being adopted by small-scale farmers and pastoralists with assistance from non-governmental organisations and the government. In farming areas, many are shifting to more drought tolerant crops and varieties, improved forest management practices, diversified energy sources, and alternative means of income from off-farm activities. Pastoralists have also divided pasture into wet and dry season grazing areas to better manage risk, while others have changed the composition of their heard from cattle to camels and goats, which can better tolerate dry, hot weather.

“I don’t know the reasons, but I know the climate is changing,” said Medhin Reda, a 45-year-old farmer making a living for her family from two rain-fed fields in northern Ethiopia. “I don’t really remember drought seasons as a child…the rain was good.”

Oxfam has made several recommendations – at the national, regional and community level – for the development of a holistic approach to increase resilience, so communities can bounce back from climatic shocks quicker. The agency also maintains that developed countries must not only take responsibility for quickly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but must also help Ethiopia and other vulnerable countries adapt to climate change impacts that will occur regardless off how quickly emissions are reduced.

ENDS

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