Perception of effect of climate change and adaptation strategies of beekeepers of Welmera district, Ethiopia
Abstract
This study identifies factors affecting smallholder beekeepers’ decisions to choose strategies to adapt to climate change in Welmera District, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia. Accordingly, quantitative data analysis and a multinomial logit model was used to identify perception of effects of climate change and adaptation strategies, and factors influencing beekeepers’ choice of adaptation strategies to climate change, respectively. Results signified that skip honey harvesting, additional feeding, bee hive shade and improved bee forage planting are the dominant adaptation strategies that smallholder beekeepers used to limit the negative impact of climate change. The result from the multinomial logit analysis showed that age, education, family size, farm size, income, perception of effects of climate change, membership to beekeeping group, and access to beekeeping extension contact were significance factors influencing adaptation strategies of beekeepers. This would be a catalyst in developing and implementing appropriate as well as viable adaptation strategies in beekeeping practices context.
Keywords
Download Options
Introduction
Climate change affects agriculture (higher temperature, reduced rainfall, etc.) [1].With a relatively low capacity to absorb the shocks of such events, Ethiopia’s economy is at risk of losing out on the gains that the country has made through its impressive economic growth in recent years [2].
Plant-pollinator interactions are important for food production, and maintaining biodiversity ([3], [4]). Honeybees are the most effective pollinators of flowering plants [5].
Beekeeping is a long standing practice in Ethiopia and it accounts for 1.3% of agricultural GDP [6].
Climate change is reported to influence honeybees through its effects on their resource bases [7]. This impact of climate change on honey yields is poorly understood; this lack of understanding of the effects of climate change on honey yields is prevalent in developing regions [8].
Climate change adaptation is crucial [9] in response to damage due to climate change. Because of the huge contribution of honey production to beekeeper farmers’ economy and its high susceptibility to climate change, it is important to study beekeepers’ adaptation strategies to overcome the anticipated adverse impacts of climate change.
Various studies on adaptation strategies to climate change and determinants of farmer’s adaption decision in Ethiopia ([10], [11]) have significant limitations. It emphasizes crop production and disregards the adaptation measures to climate change on beekeeping activity and its links with crop production. This oversight may underestimate the factors affecting beekeepers with regard to climate change. Next, most of the studies are conducted in lowland and rift valley areas of Ethiopian and overlook highland area. However, climate change expected to have an influence on both moisture-sufficient highlands and the drought-prone areas. Once more, none of the works focused beekeeping related climate change in the study area. Therefore, the study focused on i) to examine beekeepers’ perception of effects of climate change on honey production ii) to identify beekeepers’ adaptation strategies in response to climate change, and assess the factors influencing beekeepers’ choice of climate change adaptation strategies.
Conclusion
The study used cross-sectional data collected on 164 sample households in the production year 2018/2019, and applied descriptive and econometric approaches to analyze the data.
The majority of respondents in the study area perceived effects of climate change on honey production and they have taken at least one adaptation measure in response to effects of climate change.
The result from the MNL analysis shows that age, education, family size, farm size, total income, perception, member of beekeeping group, and access to beekeeping extension contact of the household heads have a significant influence on beekeepers’ choice of climate change adaptation strategies in the study area.
Being a member of beekeeping group would increase the probability of beekeeper to share beekeeping information related to impact of climate change to adjust their beekeeping to adverse effects of climate change. Hence, concerned bodies either at district level, zonal or higher level should encourage beekeepers to participate in beekeeping organization.
It is important that, extension providers should intensify the provision of beekeeping extension services by insuring increased interaction between smallholder beekeepers and extension agents to complement indigenous knowledge from fellow beekeepers.
Increasing promotion of agroforestry and beekeeper’s access to improved bee forages provision along with develop micro-irrigation to enhance their adaptive capacity and long-term resilience to adverse impacts of climate change and variability is very important.
Amidst changing climate and dwindling water availability, the introduction and dissemination of less water consuming bee forage varieties, drought tolerant, shorter cycle, and higher bloom and with good nectar and pollen in the area is important.
REDD++ has a potential has to support various adaptation activities in the developing countries. In so doing, country will be able to address underlying drivers of deforestation and forest degradation while supporting communities to adapt.
As a policy issue to support adaptation, the need for the government to enhance collaboration with a spectrum of stakeholders such as civil society and the private sector in ensuring that smallholder beekeepers have access to appropriate information, and training on beekeeping activity related climate change adaptation strategies is very necessary.
References
- Anderson S, Morton J, Toulmin C,“Climate change for agrarian societies in dry lands: Implications and future pathways”,Mearns R, Norton A, editors. Social dimensions of climate change: Equity and vulnerability in a warming world. World Bank Publications; p. 199–230, 2010.
- Fikreyesus, D., Kaur, N., Kallore, M., Ayalew, L.”Public policy responses for a climate resilient green economy in Ethiopia.International Institute on Environment and Development Research Report”.London, 2014.
- Fernando, C., Otesbergue, A., and Blochtein, B, The dilemma of agricultural pollination in Brazil:Beekeeping growth and insecticide use. PloS one, 13(7),2018
- Potts, S. G., Jacobus C. B., Claire Kremen, Peter Neumann, Schweiger,O. and William E.K, Global pollinator Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104 (50), 2010, pp.19680–19685.
- Klein A.M., Vaissiere B.E., Cane J.H., Steffan-Dewenter I., Cunningham S.A., Kremen C. and Tscharntke T, “Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops,” Proceeding of royal Society of London B, biological Science, 274 (1608), 2007,pp.303-313.
- Akessa, D.W. Driving socio-economic transformation in Africa. The role of commercial beekeeping. Situation Paper ApiTrade Africa 2016 held in Kigali, Rwanda from 21st to 26th September, 2016.
- Barons, M.J., Hanea, A.M., Wright, S.K., Baldock, K.C., Wilfert, L., Chandler, D., Datta, S., Fannon, J., Hartfield, C., Lucas, A. and Ollerton, J, Assessment of the response of pollinator abundance to environmental pressures using structured expert elicitation. Journal of Apicultural Research, 57(5), 2018,pp.593-604.
- S. R. Carpenter, R. DeFries, T. Dietz. “Millennium ecosystem assessment: research needs,” Science, vol. 314, no. 5797, pp. 257–258, 2006.
- McCarthy, N., Lipper, L. and Branca, G, Climate-smart agriculture: Smallholder adoption and implications for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Mitigation of Climate Change in Agriculture Working Paper, 3, pp.1-37,2011.
- Melka, A., Scheffran, Jet, Schneider, U.A and Ashfaq, Farmers’ perceptions of adaptation strategies to climate change and their determinants: The case of Punjab province, Pakistan. pp.225–243,2015.
- Abraham Belay, Recha, J. W., TeshaleWoldeamanuel and Morton, J. F, Smallholder farmers’ adaptation to climate change and determinants of their adaptation decisions in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia.Agriculture and Food Security, pp.1–13, 2017.
- Samuel B, How many subjects does it take to do regression analysis? Multivariate behavioral research, 26(3), 1991, pp.499-510.
- Greene H.W, Econometric Analysis, 5th Edition, Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA, 2003,P. 720-723.
- Gujarati D, Basic Econometrics, 4th edition, McGraw Hill Book Company, New York,2003.
- Kumsa T and Gorfu B, Beekeeping as integrated watershed conservation and climatic change adaptation: An action research in Boredo Watershed. Journal of Earth Science and Climate Change 5(7), p.1, 2014.
- Howland Blackiston, Beekeeping for Dummies, 3rd edition,2017.
- Melaku, B., Girmay, M. and Bereket, G, Identifying beekeepers’ adaptation strategies in response to climate change in Tigray. Ethiopia Wudpecker Journal of Agricultural Research, 2, p.5.2013.
- Deresa, T.T., R.M. Hassan, and C. Ringler, Perception of adaptation to climate change by farmers in the Nile basin of Ethiopia. The Journal of Agricultural Science 149: pp.23-31, 2011.
- Gbetibouo, GlwadysAymone, Understanding farmers’ perceptions and adaptations to climate change and variability: The case of Limpopo Basin, South Africa. Vol.849.international Food Policy Research Institute, 2009