Community Based Watershed Development for Climate Change Adaptation in Choke Mountain: The Case of Upper Muga Watershed in East Gojjam of Ethiopia.

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Date

2011-06

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Addis Ababa University

Abstract

In recent years, climate change and its impacts on livelihood resource have become a key issue in Ethiopia. The main undesirable impacts on livelihood resources include land degradation, soil erosion, deforestation, loss of bio diversity, recurrent drought, flood, wet land, and water body dlying, and emergence of new crop and animal diseases. All these contribute to food insecurity ond subsistence farm ing with a difficulty to break through the poverty trap. Thus this thesis has ottempted to examine how community based watershed development project has a signijlcant impact to reverse the aforementioned undesirable impacts, and will contribute to the development of climate change adaptation mechanisms, adaptive capacity, and livelihood improvements. This thesis has also made the objective of assessing the positive impact of community based watershed development project on the development of climate change adaptation mechanism and livelihoods in Choke Mountain in the case of Upper Muga Ambaber Community Based Watershed Development Project. To address the investigation and assessment of the above objective the research method uses both qualitative and quantitative types of research design. In order to collect valuable information while semi structured questionnaire, focus group discussion guide checklist, key informant guide checklist, and observation check list tools are used The primGly data sources considering such things in the sampling process as gender, age, wealth status and CBO membership document review format is used to quick handling of the required documents as a secondGlY data source. Similarly, different statistical methods are usedfor the data analysis. These include percentage offrequencies, bar graphs, X test, independent and paired sample ttest and one way ANOVAs. The key finding of the thesis presents that the adaptive capacity of the area before the intervention was low/very low. However, afler the intervention the status of livelihood resources especially; income, soil fertility, land productivity, forest, water and food supply become improved, (biophys ical and financial resources). Even if it has some gaps in the process of implementation such as lack of participatory decision making process, targeting problem to address the poor, the young and the women, weak stakeholder linkage and some conflicts over utilization of communal livelihood resources (forest and range land), which means lacks for the development of social and human capital. It is concluded that the project can playa signijlcant role to improve the adaptive capacity and livelihood condition of the local people. Then to fill the gap and go along the sustainability of the project, the investigation recommended ji'equent negotiation and lobby from the concerned stakeholders to improve human and social capital and solve the confiict. Then the project stakeholders shall think to retarget for the benefit of disadvantaged group. Key wards: Community based organization, vulnerability, adaptation, and adaptive capacity

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Keywords

Community based organization, vulnerability, adaptation, and adaptive capacity

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