The Roles of Customary Institutions in Adaptation and Coping to Climate Change and Variability among the Issa, Ittu and Afar Pastoralists of eastern Ethiopia

• Published in: Change and adaptation in socio-ecological systems Vol. 2; no. 1
• Main Authors: Tadesse, Bamlaku, Beyene, Fekadu, Kassa, Workneh, Wentzell, Richard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter Open 01-01-2015; De Gruyter
• Subjects: (agro) pastoralists; adaptation; Climate change; coping; Ethiopia
• ISSN: 2300-3669; 2300-3669
• DOI: 10.1515/cass-2015-0025

(Agro) pastoral communities who reside in
the arid and semi-arid environments of Ethiopia are
vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and variability
specifically to the recurrent drought, floods and conflicts.
From their long years of rich experiences of how to survive
on such environmental pressures, (agro) pastoralists
have also developed various forms of adaptation as well
as coping strategies to the impacts of climate change
and variability. Such strategies are closely guided and
supervised by their customary institutions which have
rich experiences in addressing the socio-economic/
cultural, political and environmental/ecological aspects.
To mention some of the adaptation mechanisms in the
study area are pastoral mobility; relying on traditional
early warning mechanisms; area enclosures and preparing
of hays/forage; diversifying livestock and selection of
their species; the shift from pure form of pastoral to agropastoral
production systems; and among others. Some of
the coping strategies employed by the (agro) pastoralists
are also their engagement in charcoal production and fire
wood collections; the sell of their livestock, government support in the form of safety net and MERET project
and their indigenous social support mechanisms; petty
trading especially by women; brokering on livestock
trade; engagement in contraband trade; searching for
daily labor, and among others. The paper also tried to
assess the roles of customary institutions in social support
mechanisms to the problems posed by the impacts of
climate change and variability to their age old traditional
ways of livelihood mechanisms.