COMMUNITY PERCEPTION OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACT ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN ASAGIRT DISTRICT, NORTH CENTRAL ETHIOPIA: IMPLICATION FOR LOCAL LEVEL ADAPTATION STRATEGY

Climate change is common phenomena in Ethiopia which affects the livelihood of millions of the rural community. An increase in temperature, fluctuation of rainfall intensity and frequency induces extreme environmental impacts through drought and floods. This study was conducted on three villages/ kebeles in Asagirt District of North Shewa Zone, Amhara Regional State. The objective of this study was to analyze community perception on existence of climate change and its impact on socio-economic activities for designing local level adaptation and mitigation strategy. Both primary and secondary data were analyzed to generate information. Simple systematic random sampling techniques were employed to select 121 household heads and purposive sampling was employed for data collection from 28 Key informants and 21 focus group discussant. Findings of our study indicated that men households which are adolescence in age are the main components of the community categorized as illiterate have good perception and awareness on the existence of climate change. The analyses of 28 years climate pattern showed that the average temperature has increased by 0.99ºC for with corresponding annual increment of 0.033ºC. Similarly, there was higher yearly trend of fluctuation in rainfall pattern between 1989 -2018 in which the average annual rainfall is 891 mm. Findings of the study indicated that mixed farming as the dominant type agricultural practice was highly affected by climate change reducing crop productivity and animal production. Findings of our study have also indicated that even though the impact of climate change is imminent which affected water availability in all districts, the forest cover has increased in all villages because of afforestation interventions. Hence, results of present study draws conclusion of for designing local adaptation and mitigation strategies including small-scale irrigation, tree planation, climate smart agriculture area ex-closure, integrated soil management using organic fertilizer for increasing above and below ground carbon sequestration to manage the local micro climate and build the livelihood and strengthen community resilience.