A Synthesis of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Research Findings at the Africa Center of Excellence for Climate Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation (ACE Climate SABC) of Haramaya University, Ethiopia

Climate change is posing challenges to the survival of mankind and sustainable development in the world. Its impacts are more pronounced in Africa, particularly the sub-Saharan Africa where the people’s livelihoods are over-dependent on the climate sensitive sectors like rainfed agriculture. Several researches have been conducted to evaluate the possible impacts of climate change on livelihoods and to study the performances of different climate smart technologies and practices in addressing the impacts. As part of these efforts, masters and doctoral students at the Africa Center of Excellence for Climate Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation at Haramaya University in Ethiopia conducted studies under five thematic areas namely, Climate smart production and management of crops and livestock, soil and water management; policy, institutions and innovations; and Biodiversity conservation. The findings revealed that smallholder farmers need to use climate smart agriculture (CSA) technologies and practices to increase their resilience to climate change through enhancing the productivity of crops and livestock and reducing GHG emissions. Hence, there is a need for a policy support to the farmers in adopting the CSA Technologies through implementing policies that focus on the poorer segments of the farming society to alleviate differences in the adoption of such agricultural technologies and embracing Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and Local Institutions (LI) in climate change adaptation. Key words: Adaptation, Adoption, Climate change, climate smart agriculture, Haramaya University, Smallholder farmers, Vulnerability