Wasser in der Landwirtschaft - agriwaterpedia.info

and central Ethiopian highlands. Whilst global causes for climate change were debated with increasing
controversy on various international platforms, Ethiopia prepared itself for the next drought.
Measures taken include among others
• Improvement and expansion of the national and regional road network
• Establishment of a strategic food reserve
• Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP)
• A large-scale soil and water conservation supported by a series of Integrated Food Security
Projects (IFSPs) and the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP)
• Promotion of zero/controlled grazing practice
How will global warming and climate change
affect the region in future?
• Global warming may result in a change of
climatic conditions ranging from drought to
excessive rainfall and flood hazards.
• Total annual rainfall may not necessarily decrease,
but may even increase.
• Rainfall variability is likely to increase rendering
crop and livestock production a much more risky
endeavour.
• Commonly applied farming practices (agriculture)
may fail and lead to crop failure, poor livestock
production and food shortages.
Climate change adaptation principles
• Apply measure to reduce vulnerability of communities and households to climate change
• Apply measure to realize opportunities of climate change
• Harvest and store rainfall and runoff w ater
- Where it falls - on hillsides, on farmland, in planes
- When it falls - before it causes erosion
- As much as possible and economically and ecologically feasible
- Where it is needed - in the soil - through low cost in-situ water harvesting techniques
- Selectively apply more costly ex-situ water harvesting structures (household ponds, cisterns,
earth dams)
• Capacity building of agricultural extension services
• Awareness creation among farming communities
• Improve weather information system and weather forecasts
• Introduce a climate hazard (crop and livestock) insurance
Community-based participatory watershed management
Since 1986 75 per cent of the surface area of Tigray exposed to soil erosion has been treated with terraces.
After experiencing higher annual rainfall over the past five years, terracing and deep trenching is
commonly applied on hillsides as well as on farmland. Further in-situ water harvesting techniques have
been developed and tested. Gully treatment is common. All physical measures applied on hillsides,
farmland and in gullies are combined with biological rehabilitation measures ensuring short-term benefits
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