Browsing by Author "Esayas, Befikadu"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Vulnerability to the changing climate and the quest for livelihood resilience: Agro-ecology based analysis in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia
    (Addis Ababa University, 2019-06) Esayas, Befikadu; Simane (PhD), Belay
    Building livelihood resilience requires reducing exposure and sensitivity while improving capacitates to absorb, adapt, and transform from recurring climate shocks. The general objective of this study was to explore households’livelihood vulnerability conditions tothe changing climate and investigate livelihood resilience from absorptive, adaptive, and transformative perspectives in the three agro-ecological Zones of Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Being governed by the pragmatist philosophical view, the study employed a convergent parallel mixed research design whereby most of the study objectives were centered on quantitative data collected through multistage sampling techniques from 403 farm households. Gridded time series data were also obtained from the National Meteorological Agency of Ethiopia for the years between 1983 and 2014. Purposively selected 11 focus group discussions, 15 key informant interviews, and personal observations were used to complement both the survey and the meteorological data. The livelihood vulnerability approach framed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was tailored for the agro-ecology specific vulnerability analysis whereas the livelihood analysis was rooted in the three-dimensional resilience framework consisting of absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacities. The study was based on climate trend analysis methods, including World Meteorological OrganizationExpert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices, and Non-Parametric-Sen’s Slope Estimator and Mann–Kendall’s trend tests, Standardized Rainfall Anomaly, and Precipitation Concentration Index. The econometric models employed include Binary Logit, Ordinary Least Square, and Quantile Regression. The results show that the three agro-ecological Zones have experienced both positive and negative trends of change in temperature extremes. Warm extremes are increasing, whereascold extremes are decreasing, suggesting considerable changes in the agro-ecological zones. Similarly, a consistently positive trend was observed in the annual minimum temperature in all agro-ecological Zones while the annual maximum temperature trend was positive in all except the midland agro-ecology. An upward trend in the annual total rainfall was recorded in the midland while it was a non-significant downward trend in the other agro-ecological Zones. Over 60 % of farmers perceived increasing temperature and decreasing rainfall across the agro-ecological zones. Farmers' climate change perceptions are significantly influenced by their access to climate and market information, agro-ecology, education, agricultural input, and village market distance. The livelihood vulnerability analysis suggests that lowland agro-ecology has relatively a higher exposure and sensitivity to climate shocks with a comparatively limited adaptive capacity. On the contrary, the midland agro-ecology unveils the lowest vulnerability with a relatively lower perceived exposure and a higher adaptive capacity. The quantile regression shows that education, family size, food-secure months, use of soil and water conservation, and role in the community are the major determinants of household's level of resilience. Therefore, the study recommendsencouraging the practice of drought-tolerant varieties, high yield crops, practice small-scale irrigation, and agroforestry that fit the specific agro-ecology. It is also suggested to capitalize on resilience building ix schemes, such as the design of viable livelihood diversification strategies, promote agricultural cooperatives, extensions services, inputand output markets, and reinforce the early warning system and disaster risk management to reduce further vulnerability to climate impacts and improve their livelihood resilience capacities. Keywords: Agro-ecology, climate extremes, livelihood vulnerability, livelihood resilience, perception, shocks, Wolaita Zone.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Women Empowerment Through Micro Finance: The Case of Omo Micro Finance Programs in Arba Minch Town, Southern Region
    (Addis Ababauniversity, 2011-07) Esayas, Befikadu; Tolossa, Degefa (Professor)
    through Omo micro finance programs in Arba Minch town, Southern Ethiopia. It also attempts to assess the ways in which the programs bring economic and social impacts on women status at household and community level. In order to achieve the study objectives, mixed research methodology was used to generate data both from primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected by means of survey questionnaire, in-depth-interview of cases, key informant interview, focus group discussion, non-participant observation, and field notes. Secondary data were generated by reviewing the works of scholars, which are both published and unpublished documents. Specifically, alternative development theory was applied as a theoretical framework of the study, where the alternative proposals of the theory and its link with empowerment were mainly discussed in attempt to investigate the research problem. Equally, an analytical framework was applied for better understandings and measuring empowerment in the context of this study. The collected data were analyzed, summarized, and interpreted through qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis. In the later case, statistical package for social sciences software was employed to code, compile, and analyze one hundred one credit beneficiaries selected for the study purpose and present the findings in various forms. The former method was used to explain and supplement the numerical data. In spite of the entry barriers into micro finance programs in the study area, it was revealed that participation in the programs has brought positive economic and social impacts on the lives of the beneficiary women. The economic impacts are more pronounced both at household and community level. But, the social impacts at household level exceeds the community level, which are in one way or another linked with long existed societal negative attitude towards women/ less recognition of women roles. It was found that there is relatively a different understanding on the meaning of micro finance in the academic literatures and the reality. Alternatively, women perception and experiences of empowerment through micro finance programs is truly interesting as viewed in the eyes of the women themselves. Women participation in Omo micro finance programs were constrained by three different yet interrelated factors (institutional, personal, and context specific). Nevertheless, institutional related factors were found to be the most serious factors holding women back from participating in the programs in the study area. The major recommendations forwarded include: revisit some of the rigid client selection criteria of the credit program; strengthen co-operations of the institute with different stakeholders and promote saving mobilizations; upgrade employees‟ capacity through various trainings and experience sharing with neighbouring micro finance institutes; scale up initiatives/best practices of women affair office of the town so far made to inculcate the roles and values women play; and uphold experience sharing mechanisms between participant and the non-participant women in the study area. Key words: Micro finance, Omo micro finance programs, empowerment, and perception