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Handbook of Climate Services pp 463–479Cite as

Food Security in the Face of Climate Change at Kafa Biosphere Reserve, Ethiopia

Part of the Climate Change Management book series (CCM)

Abstract

Diversification of crops is a critical risk management strategy for famers in the south-western part of Ethiopia and may play a vital role in adapting to a changing climate. This study explores opportunities of climate resilient and adaptive crops for farmers’ adaptation for food security at Kafa Biosphere Reserve. In order to understand farmers’ perception of local impacts of climate change and adaptation means through reintroduction and fostering of old and resilient crop varieties, a combination of qualitative and descriptive statistics methods have been used. Focus group discussions, Participatory Rural Appraisal and direct matrix methods were set in relation to the variety of crops grown in the area and other environmental, social and economic factors. A group of climate adaptive or resilient crops were identified by the farmers and favoured as tolerant against the increasingly variable rainfall and temperature. The study reveals that the farmers’ perceptions are in accordance with the trend analysis done on the metrological variables using the Mann-Kendall test as well as the Sen’s slope estimator. Against this background, NABU, a German based NGO, initiated an agricultural adaptation programme for local farmers aiming ultimately for long-term food security.

Keywords

  • Climate change adaptation
  • NABU
  • Climate resilient crops
  • Perception
  • Food security
  • Kafa Biosphere Reserve
  • Ethiopia

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Acknowledgements

The study was part of the project ‘Biodiversity under Climate Change: Community-Based Conservation, Management and Development Concepts for the Wild Coffee Forests’ implemented by NABU with financial support by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). The authors therefore would like to thank NABU’s subcontractor for the field study, ABEL PLC, in particular the assigned experts Shewaye Deribe Woldeyohannes (botanist), Dr. Tesfaye Awas Feye (botanist), Gashaw Shibabaw (agriculture expert) and Abebe Tsegaye for their contribution. Moreover, we would like to thank our always dedicated colleagues at NABU’s Project Office Bonga, in particular Mesfin Tekle and NABU’s close partner, the Kafa Zone and the Kafa Biosphere Reserve administration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague, Czech Republic

    Teowdroes Kassahun

  2. The Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), Charitéstr. 3, 10117, Berlin, Germany

    Svane Bender

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  1. Teowdroes Kassahun
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  2. Svane Bender
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Correspondence to Teowdroes Kassahun .

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  1. FTZ-ALS, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Prof. Dr. h. c. Walter Leal Filho

  2. Climate Service Centre Germany (GERICS), Hamburg, Germany

    Prof. Dr. Daniela Jacob

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Kassahun, T., Bender, S. (2020). Food Security in the Face of Climate Change at Kafa Biosphere Reserve, Ethiopia. In: Leal Filho, W., Jacob, D. (eds) Handbook of Climate Services. Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36875-3_23

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