Farmers' perception of drought and its socioeconomic impact: the case of Tigray and Afar regions of Ethiopia

A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2016 to June 2016 to assess the perception of farmers on drought and its socio-economic impact, and their mitigation and adaptation strategies. A total of 240 respondents from three districts in Tigray and one district from Afar were considered. The study indicated a significant reduction in the farm income (from 21,882 to 6482 ETB) and income from the livestock sector (12,833 to 5659 ETB). The average market price of cattle has reduced from 8228 to 4096 ETB due to the 2015/2016 drought. The environmental impacts such as increase in average temperature, pasture-forest degradation and deteriorated water quality were perceived by farmers to a high extent. In spite of good perception of severity of drought impacts by farmers, their preparedness to deal with its impacts was found minimal. Therefore, it is recommended that policy-makers and government authorities should look for more appropriate and locally adaptable mitigation and adaptation strategies that ensure the participation of the local community.