My CIRCLE Experience to date – Exploring climate change effects on land use management in Ethiopia

By Dr. Wondye Admasu Molla, Wollo University, Ethiopia
Cohort 2 CIRCLE Visiting Fellow

My study aims to investigate land-use management practices and climate change adaptation and mitigation measures being implemented in the three districts of the South Wollo Zone, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia. From 26, April 2016 to 12 June 2016 I was in the field collecting data in the rural districts of Borena, Sayint and Mehal Sayint. The data collection went well apart from a small challenge when our car got stuck in the mud for one full day due to unexpected heavy rains. It was very difficult for my driver to remove the car, however, thanks to the local community and administrators we were able to get the car out.

I conducted group discussions and interviews with farmers, elderly people, local government sector offices, with the three district administration leaders, community representatives and honey bee farmers. The discussions mainly focused on sustainable land management practices in Borena, Sayint and Mehal Sayint and on the adaptation and mitigation measures by the communities and the local government.

Group discussions with local farmers

What was learnt from the discussions and interviews is that, generally, the farmers are aware of the observed climate variability/change in terms of rainfall and temperature in their locality. Every farmer also remembers every historical year during which critical drought shocks caused severe loss of animals and crops. Farmers also understand that there has been a gradual change in cropping systems following continuous temperature increases (crops like maize which were mainly grown in the lowland encroached upward to the highland which were predominated by barley).

The 1991-1992 land distribution allowed the people to resettle in Borena Sayint National Park which led to severe deforestation. As a result, dramatic land use changes have occurred through violating previous boundaries of the Park particularly from Mehal Saynt district side. The locality is affected seriously by the effects of climate change, which has led to increasing temperatures and a reduction of rainfall, intensified by deforestation for the purpose of agricultural land, firewood and construction.

However, efforts are currently underway to mitigate the effects of climate change. Currently, farmers in the study districts, along with national Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategies, have been assigned 30 to 60 days/year free labour for soil and water conservation activities to restore the ecology and adapt to climate change. Large area closures are developing with the aim of restoring the land and biodiversity.

Farmers working on terracing for soil and water conservation

Since returning from the field I have now organized and analysed my data and am currently writing articles for publication in this quarter, based on these observations.

Capacity Building Training

With the recommendation of my supervisors and the Department of Environmental Sciences, I had the privilege to participate in the academic writing training workshop organized by my host institution, the University of South Africa (UNISA). The training was presented by Emerald Publishing Group on “scholarly publishing” from 10-11, March 2016 and by Elsevier on 06 September 2016. The two training workshops were very useful because they targeted how to write publishable articles for academic journals.

I also took 5 days international training on GIS and Remote Sensing for Climate Change Impact Analysis and Adaptation at IRES Training Centre Nairobi, Kenya. I am now using the methods and techniques gained from the training, such as Landsat Imagery to detect the land Use/ Land cover change in Borena Sayint National Park since 1972.

Conference Participation

With the sponsorship of CIRCLE I have participated in the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa(EEASA) 2016 conference from 3-6 October 2016 in Johannesburg, South Africa. I presented some of my research findings and gained much from the workshop. It helped me to create networks with experienced professionals from different countries within and outside Africa to work together in the future. 

Support during CIRCLE

Since the start of the programme the support obtained from the CIRCLE team- ACU, AAS, Wollo University (home institution), UNISA (host institution) has been excellent. As far as my questions have been aligned with the CIRCLE objectives and policies, the support from all the CIRCE team in every aspect of my career development has been great.    

I am also very grateful to my supervisors, Dr Muchaiteyi Togo, and Dr. Munyaradzi Chitakira Senior Lecturers in the Department of Environmental Sciences at UNISA for their warm welcome to my host institution, consistent and stimulating guidance, valuable and constructive discussions and suggestions; and critical reading to reshape my proposal for the submission of ethical clearance. I would also thank my specialist advisor Dr. James Cheshire for his consistent follow-up and critical reading and comments on my proposal.

Experience with CIRCLE so far

By Dr Oluwole Johnson Akintonde, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Nigeria
Cohort 2 CIRCLE Visiting Fellow

Dr Akintonde spent his fellowship year at Makerere University, Ethiopia. He reflects on the CIRCLE Programme in the final weeks of his Fellowship.

Preamble

To start with, my thanks go to God, the CIRCLE team, my home institution (LAUTECH, Nigeria) and host institution (Makerere, Uganda) for this rare opportunity which enables me to have a different exposure in terms of academic environment and additional knowledge of research approaches. I considered the offer as a rare one, because it came into view weeks after the final defence of my Ph.D programme. When my name was shortlisted I was so happy, but thereafter I was downcast when I read that my participation in the programme is subject to the readiness of an assigned supervisor at the host institution. “Johnson, the most favoured man”, of course thumbs-up for the CIRCLE programme when I heard that my supervisor had been assigned.

Coordinator and Supervisor relationship

We had a warm reception from the host institution especially from Dr. Bamutaze, who is the CIRCLE Coordinator here in Makerere. Always attentive and responsive when need arises. I am also under the supervision of a lively, friendly, understanding and approachable supervisor- Prof. Shuaib Lwasa. A versatile man in research approaches, especially on research in climate change issues.

Research focus and progress

I have observed that crop farmers are not novices on changes in climatic conditions and how these affect crop production. Several strategies have been introduced, adopted and used to mitigate different effects of climate change. It is on this note my research work was designed to assess the level of use of climate change adaptation strategies among arable crop farmers of Oyo and Ekiti Sates, Nigeria. So far this work is progressing as expected. I engaged the services of two Village Extension Agents (VEAs) each from the two States (part of the stakeholders) and two research assistants. The data collection exercise was smooth and convenient. It was another opportunity which enabled me to meet rural farmers in their real state and have wonderful interactions about their knowledge on climate change, how it affects arable crop production in the area and what they are doing to combat its effects. Farmers cited different climate change associated risks/hazards experienced with arable crop production, which include; rainfall fluctuation, drought, heat, diseases infestation, soil erosion, stunted crop growth, depletion of soil fertility among others. All of these have affected both the quality and quantity of arable crop yield.

Dr Akintonde with community members

The above risks/hazards accounted for the use of a number of adaptation strategies in the area. For instance, cultivation of improved seed varieties, mixed cropping, construction of ridges, application of fertilizer and compost include other strategies used against climatic risks/hazards such as depletion of soil fertility, stunted plant growth, undesirable crop yield quality and quantity. In the same vein, construction of ridges across the slope, planting of cover crops, mulching were among other strategies used against soil erosion and water loss. Again, planting of improved seed varieties (drought resistant), irrigation, altering of crop planting date strategies were also used against drought, late/early rainfall, etc. It was observed that most of the arable crop farmers used combinations of adaptation strategies and some of these strategies were on used more frequently (eg. fertilizer application, mixed cropping, mulching, etc). Constraints associated with the use of various climate change adaptation strategies in the area include capital unavailability; irregularity of extension service; inadequate information on climate variability, inadequate required production inputs (eg. land, seeds, chemicals, etc); no subsidies of planting materials; poor access to information on climate change, etc.

Conducting focus group discussions in the community

So far, I am done with the data collection and focus group discussions (FGDs), including part of the analysis, and seriously working hard on the interpretation of the research results. I am working faster so as to have some publications during this quarter with the guidance and encouragement of my supervisor. Hopefully, he’s also going to put me through for training in a particular package/analysis software, which I intended to apply to this work. It would be part of my take home innovation that can be applied to my future research work and shared with colleagues after returning from the programme.

Of course my supervisor is ever ready to receive the complete research write-up in order to make necessary corrections and inputs, with additional support from my specialist adviser so as to come up with possible publishable manuscripts. This would be my joy and of course the joy of my supervisor and CIRCLE, being part of their objectives.

Some challenges

My initial challenge was inability to access my cash from the Ugandan bank (ATM-machine), but the CIRCLE organization is so perfect that I was not the only CVF in Uganda. When this occurred to me, I stood up and contacted my colleagues and I was relieved of the mess I found myself until the situation was resolved. The second is, there are foods but Uganda’s people don’t eat pepper, and their common food includes matooke, posho, rice, sweet potato and to round it up, no solid food. All these are prepared without pepper, just with onion and tomatoes. Our coordinator tried to encourage me to eat some of these foods but I have found it a bit difficult.

Appreciation so far

My appreciations go to CIRCLE team for this programme, my supervisor for his attention, CIRCLE programme coordinator for being there and the entire staff members of the Department of Geography Geo-informatics and Climatic Sciences, Makerere University (Host institution) for their cooperation and LAUTECH (Home institution) for releasing me to participate and enjoy various packages embedded in the CIRCLE programme.

To colleagues (CVFs)

Just a quarter to go! Let’s buckle up and bring out the best out of the CIRCLE programme. Please let’s consider it as a bird at hand…