Abstract
Ethiopia is one of the countries affected by the adverse effect of climate change, other biophysical environmental factors and dependency on rain-fed agriculture. Tigray region has a problem of land degradation in general and particularly the study area 'Enabered'.
The study area is known with many problems such as recurrent drought, flood, food insecurity, and chronic famine. To overcome the problems in the study area, several watershed management measures have been implemented by the government, non-governmental organizations and the community. This study needed in order to focus on watershed managements such as physical and biological activities for rehabilitation. The contribution of integrated physical and biological soil and water conservation measures to climate change adaptation have not been scientifically studied and documented in the study area. The objective of the study was to examine the role of soil and water conservation measures for resource and environmental rehabilitation and socio-economic improvement as a means of leveraging adaptation to climate change in Adwa Enabered catchment. Stratified random sampling technique was implemented to select sample households. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaire from 120 randomly selected HHs. KII, and FGD were conducted to complement the data from the survey. Data analysis was carried by using spreadsheets, statistical packages such as SPSS version 20 and descriptive analysis such as tables, graphs and summary statistics such as mean, percentages, and frequency. The result showed that a decreasing trend in the amount and duration of rainfall over the past 30 years. From the survey, group discussants and interviewees it was indicated that temperature has been showing increasing trend. This finding was consistent with the meteorological data analysis. Various types of physical and biological soil and water conservation measures have been implemented in the study area. The implemented different structures enabled households to improve crop production, increase water availability and increase irrigation utilization, improve households' income, reduced land degradation and improved households' adaptation to climate change in the study area. The total output of the sampled households increased from 61650Kg before intervention to 70075Kg per year after intervention. The study also showed that structure destruction, lack of integration among sectors, and lack of follow up are the main challenges in the watershed. The study recommends that expansion of integrated physical and biological watershed management practices is important. Follow up is necessary in order to get households' continuous benefit to climate change adaptation from the watershed.
Keywords: climate change adaptation, rainfall, temperature, climatic hazards, household income
