Assessing the Role of Fruit Tree-Based Agroforestry in Climate Change Adaptation: A Case Study in Sofi District, Harari Regional State, Ethiopia

Assessing the Role of Fruit Tree-Based Agroforestry in Climate Change Adaptation: A Case Study in Sofi District, Harari Regional State, 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 Assessing the Role of Fruit Tree-Based Agroforestry in Climate Change Adaptation: A Case Study in Sofi District, Harari Regional State, Ethiopia Daba Bogale Sima, Solomon Estifanos, Zebene Asfaw This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3872331/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 The article investigates the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity in the Sofi District of Harari Regional State, Ethiopia, with a focus on smallholder farmers practicing agroforestry and monoculture. The study aims to understand smallholders' perceptions of climate change, identify climate change indicators, analyze observed climate trends, and explore adaptation strategies. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, combining focus group discussions, semi-structured surveys, key informant interviews, and meteorological data analysis. The study area, Sofi District, was described in terms of geography, climate, geology, soil, and land use. Results indicate that smallholders in Sofi District have observed rising temperatures, decreased rainfall, and increased drought frequency over the last three decades. Smallholder farmers practicing agroforestry are found to be more resilient to climate change impacts compared to monoculture practitioners. The study reveals that farmers perceive frequent droughts, erratic rainfall, shortness of rainy seasons, and temperature increases as significant indicators of climate change. Furthermore, respondents attribute climate change to anthropogenic factors such as deforestation, rapid population growth, and lack of soil and water conservation. Adaptation strategies employed by smallholders include crop diversification, adjusting planting dates, fruit tree-based agroforestry practices, reducing the number of animals kept, compost preparation, and improved animal feed production. Agroforestry practitioners exhibit significant differences in adaptation strategies compared to monoculture practitioners, emphasizing the importance of diverse coping mechanisms. Major constraints faced by farmers include pests and diseases, soil erosion, livestock deaths, crop loss, decreased farm income, and poor soil fertility. The study underscores the role of agroforestry in mitigating these challenges and enhancing smallholders' adaptive capacity. The findings suggest that agroforestry provides shade, fruit for income and consumption, reduces evapotranspiration, and minimizes soil erosion, making it a valuable approach for climate change adaptation. The research implies that promoting agroforestry practices can contribute to sustainable agricultural development and resilience in the face of climate change. Policymakers and agricultural stakeholders should consider supporting and implementing agroforestry initiatives to enhance the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers in similar contexts. Land use Agroforestry agriculture smallholders livelihoods Climate change Adaptation Mitigation Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Tables 1 to 8 are available in the Supplementary Files section. Supplementary Files Table.docx 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-3872331","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":267576652,"identity":"718bf354-11a8-4cd8-a7e2-933d23a8f2b7","order_by":0,"name":"Daba Bogale 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3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":36696,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eAverage yearly received rainfall (mm) at Sofi district (1991-2020)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3872331/v1/aab6c77af8afbeb1af609435.png"},{"id":49829228,"identity":"25d6558a-00db-49b4-af2c-6469e024ea3f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-18 16:09:38","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":30300,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eObserved average annual air temperature (1991-2020) at Sofi district\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3872331/v1/ef4dfd3eca5134fe1a8fbbb4.png"},{"id":49829230,"identity":"dab3d662-e64e-4f27-958c-4ab864f4c198","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-18 16:09:39","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":44011,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003ePercent of respondents and their perception on climate change indicators at Sofi district\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3872331/v1/5df1e5e961393db3d3514f28.png"},{"id":49829232,"identity":"efd45a36-74e5-4460-9087-f023e49b61ab","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-18 16:09:39","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":75956,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMain negative effects of climate change\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3872331/v1/0f6bece141fb0c0333051022.png"},{"id":49829235,"identity":"a2695678-f483-499b-9b79-b5f2d57e9c6f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-18 16:09:39","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":28071,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMajor constraints other than climate change-related to farmers in Sofi district\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3872331/v1/704ca8c0673be96e30b77a66.png"},{"id":49829234,"identity":"e25c9964-e4df-4f81-b6cd-7c21ac891c0a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-18 16:09:39","extension":"png","order_by":8,"title":"Figure 8","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":23319,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eRespondents’ evaluation and rating of agroforestry by sofi smallholders\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image8.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3872331/v1/8062ca914ccd23183c1f3240.png"},{"id":50102514,"identity":"68c040a9-afde-41b5-a0b6-c4fe51f39f7e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-24 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The study aims to understand smallholders' perceptions of climate change, identify climate change indicators, analyze observed climate trends, and explore adaptation strategies. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, combining focus group discussions, semi-structured surveys, key informant interviews, and meteorological data analysis. The study area, Sofi District, was described in terms of geography, climate, geology, soil, and land use. Results indicate that smallholders in Sofi District have observed rising temperatures, decreased rainfall, and increased drought frequency over the last three decades. Smallholder farmers practicing agroforestry are found to be more resilient to climate change impacts compared to monoculture practitioners. The study reveals that farmers perceive frequent droughts, erratic rainfall, shortness of rainy seasons, and temperature increases as significant indicators of climate change. Furthermore, respondents attribute climate change to anthropogenic factors such as deforestation, rapid population growth, and lack of soil and water conservation. Adaptation strategies employed by smallholders include crop diversification, adjusting planting dates, fruit tree-based agroforestry practices, reducing the number of animals kept, compost preparation, and improved animal feed production. Agroforestry practitioners exhibit significant differences in adaptation strategies compared to monoculture practitioners, emphasizing the importance of diverse coping mechanisms. Major constraints faced by farmers include pests and diseases, soil erosion, livestock deaths, crop loss, decreased farm income, and poor soil fertility. The study underscores the role of agroforestry in mitigating these challenges and enhancing smallholders' adaptive capacity. The findings suggest that agroforestry provides shade, fruit for income and consumption, reduces evapotranspiration, and minimizes soil erosion, making it a valuable approach for climate change adaptation. The research implies that promoting agroforestry practices can contribute to sustainable agricultural development and resilience in the face of climate change. Policymakers and agricultural stakeholders should consider supporting and implementing agroforestry initiatives to enhance the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers in similar contexts.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Assessing the Role of Fruit Tree-Based Agroforestry in Climate Change Adaptation: A Case Study in Sofi District, Harari Regional State, Ethiopia","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-01-18 16:09:34","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3872331/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":"f343822a-a018-4cba-989f-a4d162c36417","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 18th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-01-24T14:59:18+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-01-18 16:09:34","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-3872331","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3872331","identity":"rs-3872331","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}