Ethiopia

Rainfall shortage is a major production risk for smallholder farmers. Due to rainfall shortage, smallholders limit the use of modern inputs such as fertilizer and improved seeds. This study investigates if water harvesting technologies (WHTs) induce fertilizer use and whether there is joint adoption of fertilizer and water harvesting technologies. Using panel data collected from Ethiopian farmers in two regions in 2005 and 2010, a random effects probit model and a bivariate probit model are estimated to investigate these two issues.

Data from the 2005 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) and the 2007 Zambia Demographic Health Survey (ZDHS) were analyzed to examine the association between World Health Organization (WHO) recommended IYCF indicators and nutritional status among children 0-23 months of age in Ethiopia and Zambia.  A total of 1810 and 2512 children within this age group from Ethiopia and Zambia, respectively, were included in the analysis. Exclusive breast-feeding among children 0-5.9 months of age is low  in both Ethiopia (43  %) and Zambia (51  %).

The present study employed the Heckman sample selection model to analyse the two- step process of adaptation to climate change, which initially requires farmers' perception that climate is changing prior to responding to changes through adaptation. Farmers' perception of climate change was significantly related to the age of the head of the household, wealth, knowledge of climate change, social capital and agro-ecological settings.

This study identifies the major methods used by farmers to adapt to climate change in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia, the factors that affect their choice of method, and the barriers to adaptation. The methods identified include use of different crop varieties, tree planting, soil conservation, early and late planting, and irrigation.