DOI: 10.11648/j.ijeee.20261104.12 ISSN: 2575-5021

Enhancing Agricultural Resilience Through Climate-Smart Practices: A Case Study of Smallholder Farmers in Horro Guduru Wallaga Zone, Hababo Guduru Woreda

Gamachu Meskele
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Climate variability and environmental stressors, including erratic rainfall, recurrent drought, and soil degradation, increasingly threaten the sustainability of smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia, where rain-fed farming remains the main source of livelihood and food security. Although climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is widely promoted as a strategy to increase productivity, build resilience, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, evidence on its effects at the local level remains limited. This study therefore investigates how CSA practices enhance the resilience of smallholder farmers in Hababo Guduru Woreda, Horro Guduru Wallaga Zone, and Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. A mixed-methods research design was employed, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches. Primary data were collected through household surveys, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions with smallholder farmers, development agents, and local officials. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while qualitative data were analysed thematically. The findings reveal that the adoption of CSA practices, such as soil and water conservation, improved crop varieties, agroforestry, crop diversification, and organic fertilizer use, improves crop productivity, soil health, and household food security while reducing vulnerability to climate shocks. Policy support, farmer training and extension services, and access to financial incentives and credit were identified as key enablers of CSA uptake, whereas limited access to climate information, inputs, and capital constrained wider adoption. The study concludes that CSA is an effective pathway for strengthening agricultural resilience among smallholder farmers in the study area. It recommends that local and national stakeholders strengthen extension and training programs, expand access to finance and climate information, and integrate CSA into agricultural development policies to promote climate-resilient agriculture.

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