Farmers’ perceptions and adaptation strategies to climate change and variability in the Gobu Sayo district, Western Ethiopia

This study aimed to analyze farmers’ perceptions and adaptation strategies toward local climate change and variability in the Gobu Sayo district, western Ethiopia. Monthly rainfall and temperature data from 1989 to 2019 were provided by the Ethiopian Metrology Institute. A cross-sectional research design was used to collect primary data. Various indices were employed to analyze rainfall variability. Trend detection and magnitude estimation used Mann-Kendall’s and Sen’s Slope statistical tests, respectively. Farmers’ perceptions and adaptation strategies were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results showed minimum temperature had decreased by 0.21°C over 30 years, while the maximum and average temperatures rose by 0.034°C and 0.065°C, respectively. The total annual and small rainfall of the observed period decreased by 2 and 0.54 mm, respectively. The main rainy season rainfall showed increasing trends at 0.05 mm. Rainfall variability was low for the annual and main rainy seasons at 16.51% and 14.5% CV, respectively, but high for the short rainy season (32.8% CV). The PCI analysis showed uniform distribution for the annual and main rainy seasons rainfall, with 96% and 87.1%, respectively. RAI indicates the interannual variability of rainfall, with 48.39% dry and 51.61% wet. Farmers’ perceptions of past climate were consistent with temperature increases and precipitation decreases. The most commonly adopted adaptation measures were soil and water conservation, followed by crop diversification and irrigation. This information would lead policymakers to a better understanding of how the past climate has changed and offer particular consideration for developing suitable adaptation measures.