A Comparative Analysis of Vulnerability to Climate Change Between Pastoral and Agropastoral Households: A Case Study in Yabello Woreda of Oromia Regional State.

No Thumbnail Available

Date

2010-06

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Addis Ababa University

Abstract

There is naw scientific consensus that the global climate is changing. Though, impacts of climate change are not limited spatially and temporally, the vulnerability of regions, countries, social groups and households to effects of climatic variability and shocks are not uniformly distributed. To reduce or /idly tackle vulnerability to climate change in a certain community, a locally contextualized understanding and identification of the system's adaptive capacity, exposure and sensitivity playa crucial role.With this aspect, the study was aimed at measuring and comparing the relative degree of vulnerability by taking the case of agropastoral and pastoral households of Yabello worda in Borena zone of Oramia Regional state. To measure vulnerability, the study adopts the integrated vulnerability approach and used vulnerability indicator methods to determine the level of vulnerability of households and social groups. The indicators include socioeconomic and biophysical variables that show adaptive capacity, exposure and sensitivity of the system.To indicate the relative vulnerability of households and social groups, vulnerability index was constructed using systematic combinations of the indicator variables. A statistical method, principal component analysis (peA), was used to determine the relative weight of the indicator variables in constructing the index. Then household vulnerability index (VIHH) and social group vulnerability index (VIs,,) were calculated for the pastoral and agropastoral households of the study subjects using prim{llY data generated through househald survey. Information gathered Fom in-depth case studies, KII and second{llY sources were used to triangulate the quantitative results.The VIH/; result showed half of sample households have a VIH/; value less than 0, which implies the net effect of households' adaptive capacity to be less than their sensitivity and exposure. These groups of households were classified as 'highly vulnerable' to impacts of climate change. Analysis of VIHH by households' economic activity indicates, Fom households that are classed as 'highly vulnerable' the agropastoralists take the upper hand and constitute 60.53% of the class. This implies the relatively higher vulnerability of agropastoralist households in the study area. The comparison of VIsg score of agropastoralists ' (0.003) with that of pastoralists' (0.035) indicate the relatively lesser vulnerability of the pastoral social group. Holding exposure and sensitivity constant, this implies a relatively higher resilience of the pastoral livelihood system to climatic shocks and variability's in the study area.The reasons for higher vulnerability of agropastoralists in the study area include; lower economic status of members of the group, less experience of farming practice, and low application of modern inputs and new techniques of production. In addition to these higher exposure (erratic rainfall conditions) of the area makes rain[ed agriculture highly risky venture and hence, aggravated the relative vulnerability of the group.

Description

Keywords

Vulnerability to Climate Change Between Pastoral

Citation