CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY AND ITS ADAPTATION OPTIONS IN RURAL ETHIOPIA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Food security is highly sensitive to climate risks in Ethiopia. More recent climate related events such as the 2016/2017 food security crises in the Horn of Africa specifically in Ethiopia have highlighted the impact of droughts and floods on food production, access to markets, and income from agricultural activities. However, assessing the ways in which livelihoods and specific vulnerabilities are linked to climate is a difficult task given the complex relationships between other environmental and socioeconomic factors in determining food security outcomes. The purpose of this review is to contribute to a quantitative and qualitative assessment of climate risk impacts (including climate variability, change, and extremes) on food security and livelihoods and adaptation options. The analytical method carried out for this review consists of two main components qualitative and quantitative approach and a dynamic analysis to evaluate the relationship between historic and current climatic variability and food security indicators, using long-term historical data; and a descriptive analysis to establish a baseline against which vulnerability to future risks can be assessed. The review reveals that Climate: In addition, some analysts suggest that there has been a shift in the timing of rainfall, leading to more erratic and unpredictable precipitation patterns.. Households depend heavily on markets and in-kind contributions during the agricultural lean seasons. If March-September precipitation continues to decline, food access could be affected in two inter-related ways. First, reduced crop production due to lower precipitation would force households to purchase more of their food. Second, climate-induced food price volatility could require households to spend more of their income on food. In addition, climate-related disasters limit physical access to markets. Climate impacts on livelihoods. The poorest farmers rely especially on food-based coping strategies and options such as reducing the quantity or quality of meals. Similarly, they rely on livestock sales or temporary labour migration. In recent years, however, there has been limited capacity of host areas to offer employment due to increasingly erratic rainfall which is reducing labour availability. KEY WORDS: climate change, food security, adaptation, systemic review