Our climate has changed for the worse due to the prolonged burning of fossil fuels, destruction of forest cover and use of livestock farming. These have collectively caused global warming due to the accumulation of greenhouse gasses (GHG). The rising temperatures have caused erratic weather and led to an unpredictable seasonal cycle. Ethiopia, a farming-dependant nation, has also faced the brunt of these impacts. They have, however, taken steps to mitigate the effects of climate change and enhance their farming production.
As noted by Susan Chacko in a Down to Earth article, 25 Ethiopian smallholder farmers were interviewed in a study led by Diana Feliciano of the University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom. The study used Mitigation options tool (MOT) to estimate the GHG emissions in farming, note mitigation choices to understand the mutual benefits, between farmers and the environment. They learned that the farmers noted changes in weather patterns, such as a rise in temperatures and reduced rainfall, rise in crop diseases, decreased yields, crop season delays and water springs disappearing. The small farmers began to use methods such as reduced tillage and adding manure to the soil to lessen the impact of climate.
Smallholders are farmers in developing countries, who own and also control a small patch of land and cultivate crops in it for commercial purposes and personal use. They create small volume yields with lesser resources than large-scale farmers. Smallholders are usually not part of the formal economy due to lack of government registration, proper legal documentation, and may fail to receive benefits of agricultural laws and initiatives by the government.
Smallholder farmers may produce a small volume of crops, but they are the chief food producers in third world nations and their success as noted above means an increase in food production for their nation, a better economy and a reduction in poverty.
In Ethiopia, traditional inversion tillage with ploughs and harrow was practised, which destroyed the qualities of the soil’s organic matter in the long term. Reduced tillage practises disturb smaller areas of a farm and are shallower. Such practises allow the preservation of the natural structure of the soil, which in turn helps prevent soil erosion. Reduced tillage also reduces reliance on machinery and saves fuel and labour. With the additional use of manure, the soil’s organic properties and its carbon content are protected and rejuvenated.
The above climate mitigation practises have led to an increase in the soil’s water retention capacity, which is a blessing for nations like Ethiopia which are largely dry and have very little rainfall. Increased water retention by the more nutrient-rich soils in Ethiopian small farms can lead to improved yields.
Other climate mitigation practises employed by Ethiopian small farmers are crop rotations and planting new types of crops, which increase soil fertility, increase yields, keep pests and diseases at bay, among others. The farmers are also adopting indigenous animal breeds in small numbers, and native Desho grass strips, for farming. They are utilising boundary planting and replacing wheat with barley, which does better in shallow soil and requires less moisture. The smallholders have increased the use of fertilisers, are sowing crops earlier and storing crops as a contingency for years in which yields are low. They are also, of late, seeking government help through agricultural officers and agents, to manage their farming better.
