TITLE:
Perception of Fogera Cattle Farmers on Climate Change and Variability in Awi Zone, Ethiopia
AUTHORS:
Michael Abera, Yesihak Yusuf Mummed, Mitiku Eshetu, Fabio Pilla, Zewdu Wondifraw
KEYWORDS:
Climate Change and Variability, Fogera Cattle Farmers, Perceptions
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.10 No.4,
October
30,
2020
ABSTRACT: This study aimed at assessing perception of Fogera cattle farmers on climate change and variability in selected districts of Awi zone. The zone was classified as lowland (2500 m.a.s.l) based on altitudinal variation from which a total of three districts one per cluster were selected through random sampling. 150 households were selected through systematic random sampling targeting Fogera cattle owners for primary data collection. Over 36 years (from 1983-2019) of meteorological data were taken from the National Meteorological Agency. Meteorological data result confirmed that climate was changing across all the agro-ecological zones. Both the mean annual maximum and minimum temperature was considerably increasing for all agro-ecological zones whereas the mean annual rainfall was decreasing which is consistent with the farmers’ perception. Meteorological data result also showed that the short rainy and dry season rainfall indicated high interannual variability at all agro-ecological zones. Survey result revealed that 97.13% of the farmers recognized climate change and variability impact in all agro-ecological zones. About 80.91% of Fogera cattle farmers reported the incidence of negative impacts of climate change and variability on cattle. Chi-square test values of survey results show that in all agro-ecological zones frequency of drought, duration of dry spell, wind, and floods were ever-increasing (p