Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/96284 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2014/028
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
This paper examines the determinants and implied economic impacts of climate change adaptation strategies in the context of traditional pastoralism. It is based on a household level survey in southern Ethiopian rangelands. Pastoralists' perception of climate change in the region is found to be very consistent with the actually recorded trends of increased temperature and the evident secular declines in precipitation. Not only long-term declines, trends in the region's rainfall also appear to have taken a direction of more shifts towards unpredictability. Pastoralist adaptation response strategies broadly involve adjustments in pastoral practices and shifts to non-pastoral livelihoods. Results of the estimated models confirm that pastoral mobility is still quite essential in the present context of climate-induced household vulnerabilities. Increased mobility and diversification of pastoral herd portfolios in favor of a drought-tolerant species (camel) are found to have highly significant positive impact on pastoral productivity. A policy stance that ignores the detrimental impacts of the currently pervasive private rangeland enclosures or intends to hasten pastoralist sedentarization in the area is simply untenable in the present context of climate-induced risks and pastoral livelihood vulnerability.
Subjects: 
climate change
pastoralism
adaptation strategies
Borana
Ethiopia
JEL: 
O13
Q54
Z13
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9230-749-3
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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