Agropastoral Livelihoods Vulnerability to Climate-Related Shocks in the Selected Agropastoral Districts of the East Hararge Zone, Eastern Ethiopia

Agropastoral Livelihoods Vulnerability to Climate-Related Shocks in the Selected Agropastoral Districts of the East Hararge Zone, Eastern Ethiopia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Agropastoral Livelihoods Vulnerability to Climate-Related Shocks in the Selected Agropastoral Districts of the East Hararge Zone, Eastern Ethiopia Hakel Abrahim, Yesihak Yusuf, Takele Wolkaro, Ketema Bekele, Titay Zeleke, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8149012/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Vulnerability to climate change related shocks has become one of the greatest world challenges. In developing countries, especially agropastoral communities those mostly dominated lowland areas and heavily reliant on rainfed agricultures among severely affected. This study assessed vulnerability of agropastoral livelihoods to climate change-related shocks among households in the Kumbi, Gola Oda, and Mayumuluke districts; sought to ascertain the extent and sources of livelihood vulnerabilities. Data of desired indicators for LVI was collected through survey from 196 randomly selected households across all three districts, key informant interviews, and participatory rural appraisal tools. In the study to measure agropastoral livelihood vulnerability situations integrated indicator approach and livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) developed by Hahn et al. ( 2009 ) was applied. Findings show that Mayumuluke is more vulnerable (LVI = 68), primarily due to recurrent droughts, limited infrastructure, food insecurity, low credit services and fragile biophysical condition. Gola Oda followed with moderate vulnerability (LVI = 55), although it reveals significant vulnerability extents linked to erratic rainfalls, frequent droughts, and restricted water resources. In contrast, Kumbi was showed relatively lower vulnerability (LVI = 49), reflecting greater adaptive capacity through livelihood diversification, institutional support and strong social networks. Overall, significant inter-district disparities were observed, underscoring urgent needs for location-specific interventions to enhance climate resilience in agropastoral systems. Vulnerability Climate-related Risks Agropastoral Livelihoods Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8149012","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":547331732,"identity":"27d6965a-66d1-42cc-b77e-73a5b621cf3d","order_by":0,"name":"Hakel Abrahim","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABD0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCQYGZgYDIIOZuflBQoWEHEjwwAPitDC2GXw4Y2MM1pJAUAsYMDZIzmxJS2wAsfFp4Z/d+/BzQcE2eb7jjA3GvA2H0+eHHX4ItMVOTrcBhyV3jhtLzzC4bTjzMGPDY94dh3M33k4zAGpJNjY7gMOaG2kM0jwGtxk3HAbZcgaoZXYCSMuBxG04tMjfSGP+DdRiD9Iizdt2ON1wdvoHvFoMbqSxgWxJBGmRnNmWliAvnYPfFsM7x9isgVqSgX4BB7LhBumcggMJBrj9Ine7jfk2z5/btn3nDx8GRaW8/Oz0zR8+VNjJ4fQ+HMAUGIAZBoSUI2uRbyBG9SgYBaNgFIwkAAAHsWm4up9atwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Haramaya University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hakel","middleName":"","lastName":"Abrahim","suffix":""},{"id":547331733,"identity":"04f23ec1-e612-46c6-8aef-159d1a655fa2","order_by":1,"name":"Yesihak Yusuf","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Haramaya University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yesihak","middleName":"","lastName":"Yusuf","suffix":""},{"id":547331734,"identity":"cd6085d7-b11f-497b-b483-7de9448c5493","order_by":2,"name":"Takele Wolkaro","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Haramaya University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Takele","middleName":"","lastName":"Wolkaro","suffix":""},{"id":547331737,"identity":"c5fb5095-5b90-4c1e-97db-097ee5d4c743","order_by":3,"name":"Ketema Bekele","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Haramaya University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ketema","middleName":"","lastName":"Bekele","suffix":""},{"id":547331740,"identity":"1ef226a7-f846-4556-9358-098e5e70d042","order_by":4,"name":"Titay Zeleke","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Haramaya University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Titay","middleName":"","lastName":"Zeleke","suffix":""},{"id":547331741,"identity":"ef077141-2bc8-40bf-ae8a-a70a8e362932","order_by":5,"name":"Michael Abara","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Haramaya University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Michael","middleName":"","lastName":"Abara","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-11-18 21:08:14","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8149012/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8149012/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":96342835,"identity":"f41b828f-905a-432b-b251-bcbbce0867ec","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 05:08:09","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":326592,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Figures.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/caa2a2ad47ed56799a7ff259.docx"},{"id":96342831,"identity":"60294033-fcf7-43fc-83c9-c51bb0148e16","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 05:08:09","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":385800,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"CompulosaryManuscript.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/00e022c4d2cc008fa7e07a1b.docx"},{"id":96366918,"identity":"e57e990f-fe56-40b8-b99a-864af0147ea6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 10:12:02","extension":"docx","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":16944,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Tables.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/4e688cab1a943fe915d9352f.docx"},{"id":96366896,"identity":"a3f531be-ebed-46c2-85f9-4ec9bb726aca","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 10:12:01","extension":"json","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":7444,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"886bd8dd4a464b5280673b595ef75de7.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/43eb4c6895e369d1d1dbc99e.json"},{"id":96366509,"identity":"33ec941e-5e88-4a20-bb75-11e2224591c7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 10:11:31","extension":"xml","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":180841,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"886bd8dd4a464b5280673b595ef75de71enriched.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/cf926acf5d01642e7ad310dd.xml"},{"id":96366205,"identity":"406a7997-545f-45a2-b143-d2a33fe9fa4f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 10:11:17","extension":"jpeg","order_by":11,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":110805,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/06759bed388e32024e228a87.jpeg"},{"id":96342824,"identity":"fdb9eba4-87ca-4723-8a68-0f2976e58afc","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 05:08:08","extension":"png","order_by":12,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":122465,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/3b859ed0331efc71561d747a.png"},{"id":96342826,"identity":"6b068754-2ea4-4980-b388-720180ec4cf8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 05:08:08","extension":"jpeg","order_by":13,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":110805,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/c467d6ae8aa5ae8fcb8eda47.jpeg"},{"id":96366914,"identity":"e1ecae36-53da-4598-a4cb-1391f6a3aa75","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 10:12:02","extension":"png","order_by":14,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":122465,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/9b403fc38591b7ee4f01a7aa.png"},{"id":96366538,"identity":"aa9d2606-1ad1-4358-bc33-fcdd7f1319c0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 10:11:32","extension":"png","order_by":15,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":39139,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/584f91736543ea7f96327531.png"},{"id":96342833,"identity":"137cb79d-f337-4f09-8680-74f109687c08","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 05:08:09","extension":"png","order_by":16,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":40872,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/9a62cef54026cf25f9ee010f.png"},{"id":96366190,"identity":"3c9e6390-9958-4c1d-81b9-288257b08786","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 10:11:16","extension":"png","order_by":17,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":39139,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/98519aa66c7c813ba893298a.png"},{"id":96342829,"identity":"a706260d-f52f-423d-8b1f-8230aae6c167","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 05:08:08","extension":"png","order_by":18,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":40872,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/4f5936ef1e7ee646b0b3fc96.png"},{"id":96342837,"identity":"45518799-e4b8-4d5e-9832-b7b6e7a281a0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 05:08:09","extension":"xml","order_by":19,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":174569,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"886bd8dd4a464b5280673b595ef75de71structuring.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/3946fc1a98dd948dcd4e441b.xml"},{"id":96342838,"identity":"c965037a-bb54-416d-b037-780d1ca160f8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-20 05:08:09","extension":"html","order_by":20,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":192937,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1/f377dc102d991d9e2f87e83b.html"},{"id":97673353,"identity":"d5b0720d-d6a9-421b-87ec-e738176ae3d4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-08 09:39:57","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":739977,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"CompulosaryManuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8149012/v1_covered_1cc67e6a-5124-4e55-9f8a-349ba16769db.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Agropastoral Livelihoods Vulnerability to Climate-Related Shocks in the Selected Agropastoral Districts of the East Hararge Zone, Eastern Ethiopia","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Vulnerability, Climate-related Risks, Agropastoral Livelihoods","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8149012/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8149012/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eVulnerability to climate change related shocks has become one of the greatest world challenges. In developing countries, especially agropastoral communities those mostly dominated lowland areas and heavily reliant on rainfed agricultures among severely affected. This study assessed vulnerability of agropastoral livelihoods to climate change-related shocks among households in the Kumbi, Gola Oda, and Mayumuluke districts; sought to ascertain the extent and sources of livelihood vulnerabilities. Data of desired indicators for LVI was collected through survey from 196 randomly selected households across all three districts, key informant interviews, and participatory rural appraisal tools. In the study to measure agropastoral livelihood vulnerability situations integrated indicator approach and livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) developed by Hahn et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e) was applied. Findings show that Mayumuluke is more vulnerable (LVI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;68), primarily due to recurrent droughts, limited infrastructure, food insecurity, low credit services and fragile biophysical condition. Gola Oda followed with moderate vulnerability (LVI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;55), although it reveals significant vulnerability extents linked to erratic rainfalls, frequent droughts, and restricted water resources. In contrast, Kumbi was showed relatively lower vulnerability (LVI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;49), reflecting greater adaptive capacity through livelihood diversification, institutional support and strong social networks. Overall, significant inter-district disparities were observed, underscoring urgent needs for location-specific interventions to enhance climate resilience in agropastoral systems.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Agropastoral Livelihoods Vulnerability to Climate-Related Shocks in the Selected Agropastoral Districts of the East Hararge Zone, Eastern Ethiopia","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-20 05:08:04","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8149012/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"bcd1459d-ba6b-4038-9a8d-969750251d0f","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 20th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-20T17:58:37+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-20 05:08:04","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8149012","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8149012","identity":"rs-8149012","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}