An Analysis of Land Use Land Cover Changes and Key Factors Enhancing Climate Change Adaptive Capacity in the Hadiya Zone, Ethiopia

<p>Climate change negatively affects agricultural production, the natural resources base, and the livelihoods of communities. As such, adapting to climate change through agroforestry practices is important for sustainable agriculture. This study aimed to assess farmers’ adaptation to climate change through agroforestry practices in the Hadiya zone, in Ethiopia. Stratified random sampling techniques were employed. Data were collected through Landsat images. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23, ArcGIS10.3 and Participatory Learning Action tools. The land use and land cover change analysis indicated that over four decades, land under agricultural use increased throughout the period while land under shrubs decreased throughout the years 1991–2017. Similar findings with the historical timeline analysis of land use land cover change discussed with a focus group or key informants, which state that population pressure resulted in expansion of extensive agriculture, which caused the loss of vegetation cover, and it is the actual situation on the ground observed during the transect walk. The one-way within-subjects repeated measures ANOVA analysis revealed that the 22 factors significantly influence adaptive capacity, F (13.93, 4052.46) = 299.21, p< .05 and that the four major factors have a statistically significant difference in enhancing adaptive capacity to climate changes, F (2.39, 695.59) = 4116.06, p< .05. Agroforestry systems and practices should be encouraged in the study area to enhance adaptation to climate change by addressing food, wood, and income needs. Therefore, community should engage in tree planting activities and conservation of closure areas to ensure agroforestry systems and practices.</p> <p>published by the<a href="https://innspub.net/international-journal-of-biosciences/"><strong>  International Journal of Biosciences (IJB)</strong></a></p>