Perception of effect of climate change and adaptation strategies of beekeepers of Welmera district, Ethiopia

Abstract— This study identifies factors affecting smallholder beekeepers’ decisions to choose strategies to adapt to climate change in Welmera District, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia. Accordingly, quantitative data analysis and a multinomial logit model was used to identify  perception of effects of climate change and adaptation strategies, and factors influencing beekeepers’ choice of adaptation strategies to climate change, respectively. Results signified that skip honey harvesting, additional feeding, bee hive shade and improved bee forage planting are the dominant adaptation strategies that smallholder beekeepers used to limit the negative impact of climate change. The result from the multinomial logit analysis showed that age, education, family size, farm size, income, perception of effects of climate change, membership to beekeeping group, and access to beekeeping extension contact were significance factors influencing adaptation strategies of beekeepers. This would be a catalyst in developing and implementing appropriate as well as viable adaptation strategies in beekeeping practices context.