Sesame Production, Climate Change Adaptation and Food Security in Western Ethiopia
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Date
2020-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Ethiopia is the country mainly vulnerable to climate change which has already posed grave threats to
agricultural production, food security and human wellbeing. The purpose of this study is to examine
sesame production, vulnerability, adaptation and food security relationship of smallholder farmers in
West Ethiopia. Specifically, it is to examine the determining factors of farmers’ decision to participate in
sesame production; to explore adaptation options and identify factors impacting smallholders’ decision
in practicing adaptation to climate change measures; climate change; to examine the status and
determinants of food security of smallholder farmers’; to evaluate the impact of climate change
adaptation options sesame production and household food security. The research employed key informant
interviews, focused group discussions and a survey of 400 sampled households to collect data from the
study area. Descriptive methods, index, and econometrics models were used to analyze the data.
Descriptive statistics such as frequency, mean, chi-square, t-tests, and one way ANOVA were used.
Double-hurdel model (probit and truncated), rainfall satisfaction index, multinomial logit model,
household food insecurity access scale, binary logit model and two stage least square model were
employed to examine the data. The result indicates that sesame production decision is significantly
constrained by farmers’ resource endowment and market information. Smallholders with more education,
land, food access and credit access are more likely to plant sesame. The study discloses that households
experienced higher exposure to climate change and variability. The result reveal that agronomic
practices, livelihood diversification, soil and water conservation and small-scale irrigation were the main
adaptation strategies to overcome the adverse of changing climate in the study area. It is also observed
that adopting agronomic practices is significantly and positively impacted by availability of early
warning system, social capital and number of crop failure experience; while market distance and farm
size negatively influenced it. Soil and water conservation practices are influenced positively by farm size,
market distance and existence of early warning systems. Further, access to credit, social capital, and
educational status of household heads positively affected adoption of small-scale irrigation. The results
revealed that 65.8% of sampled households are food secure, while the remaining is not. The results shows
the effectiveness of climate adaptation strategies namely agronomic practices, small-scale irrigation and
soil and water conservation in reducing climatic hazards and ensuring household food security.
Additionally, land holding, family size and livestock ownership are significant factors influencing
household food security. The study further indicates that adoption of soil and water conservation,
livelihood diversification and employing different agronomic practices has significant impact on the level
of sesame production. The result also implicitly indicated that farmers continued to adapt sesame
production under changing climate and it contributes to farmers’ food security enhancement. The result
imply programs that endorse farmers’ access to credit, alternative income earning sources, and
establishing updated sesame market price information flow and appropriate selling channels would be of
paramount importance in improving and shifting rural farming in to market-oriented and export potential
high value crops like sesame. The study further suggests the importance of developing resilience-building
climate change adaptation strategies. Accordingly, a policy that promotes the adoption of agronomic
practices, livelihood diversification, soil and water conservation and small-scale irrigation practices
should be essential in food security program and improvement of sesame production in the study area.
Moreover, in order to enhance the role of adoption of adaptation options in reducing the impact of
changing climate the policy should give emphasis for: creating effective early warning system and
efficient micro-finance institutions, improving infrastructures and increasing farmers’ climate adaptation
awareness and stand by.
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Keywords
sesame production, climate change exposure, adaptation, food security, West Ethiopia