Impacts of climate change on crop production and food security in Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract The agricultural sector in Ethiopia is highly dependent on rainfall patterns, making it especially susceptible to climate change. As a result, climate change significantly affects crop production and food security in the country. However, the impact of these changes remains inadequately understood. Consequently, this paper aims to review the impact of climate change on agricultural production and food security in Ethiopia. Keywords such as climate change, impact, crop production, food security, and Ethiopia were used to extract data from reputable databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and Sherpa Romeo to ensure that only the most relevant information was included. The review showed that Ethiopia has experienced a reduction in crop yield in general and occurrences of food insecurity. For instance, due to climate change, corn yields decreased from 45.6 quintals per hectare in 2011 to 32 quintals in 2021, and wheat yields dropped from 33 quintals per hectare in 2011 to 29 quintals in 2021. Therefore, policymakers, extension agents, and farmers need to scale up indigenous and improved crop production technologies along with different management practices to address food security and crop production loss in the country. Moreover, capitalizing on existing development policies and programs, enhancing research and extension services, strengthening linkages between stakeholders, and raising awareness among local communities about climate change and crop production is necessary.

Keywords

• Climate change
• Impact
• Crop production
• Food security
• Ethiopia