IMPACT OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY ON MAIZE (Zea mays L.) YIELD AND FARMERS’ ADAPTATION STRATEGIES IN HAWASSA ZURIA DISTRICT, SIDAMA REGION, ETHIOPIA

Climate variability and change are adversely affecting agricultural activities in many developing countries including Ethiopia. The purpose of this study was to analyze climate variability impact on maize yield and Farmers’ adaptation options in Hawassa Zuria district, Sidama Region, Ethiopia. Historical climate data of rainfall and temperature for the period of 1989 to 2019 were obtained from the National Meteorological Agency (NMA) of Ethiopia. After data quality control, onset date, cessation of the rainy season, length of the growing season, dry spell length and number of rainy days were analyzed using INSTAT+ v3.37. Mann–Kendall trend tests and Sen’s slope estimator were used to detect the magnitude and statistical significance of changes in rainfall and temperature. Moreover, data on farmers adaptation practice was collected from a total of 290 household heads through survey questionary, interviews and focus group discussions.The onset of rainy season and length of growing period were highly variable in the study area. The annual rainfall amount showed a statistically non-significant increasing trend by a factor of 4.34 mm/year in the study area. The annual mean maximum and mean minimum temperature significantly increased by a factor of 0.2940C and 0.640C per decade, respectively. In the study area, there was a negative correlation between maize yield and rainfall and temperature features. Due to climatic factors, about 94% of maize yield variation was observed in the study area. This maximum value of variation on maize yield was the combination of the start of the season, end of the season, number of rainy days, kiremt and belg rainy season, maximum and minimum temperature, and the rest 6% non-climatic factors in the study area. Over 50% of sampled farmers get information about climate through extension agents. Coping and adaptation strategies implemented to combat challenges of climate variability/change includes, planting trees (41.4%), inter-cropping system (43.8%), applying new cropping system and irrigation (19.7%), receiving aid safety net (19%), diversification of crops and livestock (38.3%), migration (3.4%), use of early maturing crops (26.6%) and using new varieties of crops (31.4%).