Agricultural Adapations to Climate Change

Some Ideas for Ethiopian Extensionists

Reimund Kube

Climate Change means for Ethiopia not only more droughts

but also more rainfall in some highland areas. As this rain

will very probably fall during extremely heavy precipitation

events, the sloping lands of many already food-insecure

small farmers are especially vulnerable to soil loss/erosion.

HOW TO PREPARE?

Deforestation and over-grazing have led to impoverished pastures and gully-erosion (in the foreground).

Many Ethiopians think that the European/North American-style of monocultural agriculture is the solution- but this only works on large tracts of fertile, flat land and needs many expensive inputs- additionally, it creates dangerous environmental and social side-effects.

TROPICAL SMALL FARMERS NEED MANY DIFFERENT PRODUCTS

and should follow a path of diversity- integrating bushes and trees into their various crops:

They should work along the contour lines, terrace the land or try to induce a natural terracing, for example by planting vetiver grass:

Even when the damage is done, stone walls can be used as dams to fight erosion:

Often women are the better farmers. Here they use draft animals and leave trees in the fields for fodder production, as fertilizer and as firewood:

It is a good idea to use visual media for education and for informing and enlightening the public about environmental issues like climate change and what everyone can do to mitigate it and adapt to its unavoidable consequences!