Drylands Coordination Group

In Ethiopia, there are strong indications that climate change is having a direct impact on rural livelihoods, and awareness of climate change is increasing among planners and policy makers. However, much is still unknown about the effects of climate change on different livelihood systems and the adaptation and mitigation strategies that are being employed by the people living in different ecological zones. This is making it difficult to move forward on policies to combat the effects of climate change.

Little is also known about the synergies among mitigation, adaptation and sustainable development and more importantly, there is no agro-ecologically and socio-economically disaggregated information on effects of climate change and adaptation strategies.

To identify the actual and potential impacts of climate change on different Ethiopian ecological zones and related livelihood systems.

Inception workshop

The research begins with the inception workshop that brings together the key actors in climate change to debate on the purpose and relevance of the research, elaborate the research methodology, questions, and define roles and responsibilities of the research actors and key stakeholders.

Literature Review.

The research will undertake a desk based review previous similar research works with a view to establish links, build on them and push the frontier of the national debate on climate change.

Field survey and policy analysis

The research will take place in three regions; namely Amhara, Oromia and SNNPR regional states. The study areas within the three regions represent the major livelihood systems and agro-ecological zones of the country, thus, the research findings will have a wider geographical implications and national significance.

Besides, the field work, the research will review and analyze policy gaps and policy making processes pertinent to climate change in Ethiopia and assess the perceptions held by the key stakeholders of climate change. This process will lead to the identification, documentation and analysis of key policy issues for policy debate and dialogue.

Public Debate and dialogue on the research findings

At the end, the research will bring together local communities, policy makers, development practitioners, concerned public institutions, private sectors and donors to debate and dialogue on the findings of the research and agree the future course of action.

The research is expected to create a better understanding of the impact and realities of climate change and adaptation and mitigation strategies specific to different ecological zones and related livelihood systems. Socio-economically and agro-ecologically disaggregated empirical data generated from this research and the dialogue on the results is intended to result in refinement of current policies and formulation of more realistic and responsive climate change mitigation policies and strategies. The research findings will contribute to the national and global dialogue on climate change and used in regional and global climate change negotiations. The engagement during the research work will broaden farmers and herders understanding of climate change and enhance their resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change.

The research will produce a series of working papers, technical papers, policy briefs and research reports that will be published targeting development planners, practitioners’ researchers and policy makers indicating strategies and adaptation mechanisms for mitigating the negative impacts of climate change in different ecological zones in Ethiopia. The information generated as the result of the research will be used by development planners, research and academic institutions, policy and decision makers to develop new policies and in regional and global climate change negotiations.