Policies and strategies to build resilience and adaptation to climate change

Policies and strategies to build resilience and adaptation to climate
change: A review of the Ethiopian context
Roundtable on Building Resilience to Climate Change through Community Dialogues
International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
September 20, 2016, Addis Ababa

1. Background
2. Objective
3. Policies and Strategies
4. Concluding Points
Content

 Government’s commitment to provide a framework for sustainable use of land.
 To ensure that the country’s land and natural resources are put to their best use.
 Ethiopia has experienced the impacts of climate change for decades.
 For example, climate change has resulted in devastating effects on livelihoods and food security.
 However, climate change is relatively new policy concern.
 Rain-fed agriculture remains the mainstay of the national economy.
 In 2014, for example, 42% of GDP and 73% of employment was generated by the agricultural sector
(World Bank 2016)
Background

Background (cont.…)
 Exposure to the adverse impacts of climate change is very high.
 On the other hand, climate change has led to an opportunity of:
 An economic growth model that incorporates climate resilience.
 In line with this, a number of policies and strategies have been enacted to:
 Promote sustainable development
 Adapt to and mitigate climate change effects.
 Lead to a climate-resilient green economy (CRGE).
 Some of the policies are crosscutting that address the management of water and land
resources.

Objectives
Objective of the review: To review references of resilience building in key guiding policies
and strategies in Ethiopia related to agriculture, water resources and their management, and
climate change.
Process: About 21 policy, strategy, guideline and framework documents were reviewed to
understand how Ethiopia's environmental and CRGE policies have evolved over the years.

Reviewed documents by host Ministry/institution
Host Ministry/Institution Policies Strategies Guidelines Total
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
(MEFCC)
2 4 1 7
Ministry of Agriculture 1 7 1 9
Ministry of Finance and Economic Development 0 1 0 1
Ministry of Water Irrigation and Electricity 1 2 0 3
Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) 0 1 0 1
Total 4 15 2 21

Policies and Strategies that support the Vision of a Climate-Resilient Green Economy
 For this presentation we highlight some key policies and strategies that support Ethiopia’s vision of Climate-Resilient Green Economy.

Policies and Strategies that support the Vision of a Climate-resilient Green Economy
Strategic Investment Framework for
Sustainable Land Management (2010)
National policy on Natural Resource and
the Environment (1994 under revision)
 To meet the needs of the present generation without compromising
the needs of future generations
 Consideration of the full economic, social and environmental costs
and benefits of natural resource development
 The framework for SLM is grounded in the role of sustaining
biodiversity and ecosystem services to enhance productivity and
alleviate rural poverty.
 Watershed planning is a salient feature of the framework where local
communities articulate their needs and priorities through a
participatory planning process.

Community Based Participatory Watershed
Development Guideline (2005)
Agricultural sector policy and investment
Framework (2010)
The main objective of participatory watershed management is:
 To improve livelihood through integrated natural resource
development.
 To enhance productivity and resilience to climate shocks.
 To optimize use of natural resources
Strategic objectives:
 To achieve a sustainable increase in agricultural productivity and
production
 To accelerate agricultural commercialization and agro-industrial
development.
 To reduce degradation and improve productivity of natural resources.
 To achieve universal food security and protect vulnerable households
from natural shocks

Food Security Strategy and Productive
Safety-Net Program (2006)
Program of Adaptation to Climate
Change-EPACC (2014)
 The program was initiated to update the National Adaptation Program of
Action (NAPA) with a more participatory approach at the grassroots
level (Solomon 2014).
 It delegates communities with the responsibility for developing their
own work programs and bylaws to enhance climate resilience.
Disaster Risk Management (DRM) system was embedded in a host of
national policy documents such as,
Growth and Transformation Plans (GTP)
The Agricultural Sector Program and Investment Framework and
The Policy on Disaster Risk Management was developed to manage
and reduce disaster risk and impacts.

Concluding Points
The importance of this policy review is:
 To ensure the project’s products and recommendations fit within and complement the Government of
Ethiopia’s policies and strategies to support climate resilience through sustainable management of
water, land and ecosystems.
 To highlight the importance of
 a community participatory approach in watershed management
 considering ecosystem services and their critical role in transforming vulnerable livelihoods and
strengthening climate resilience.
 To support the project’s ultimate aim of strengthening climate resilience of agro-ecological landscapes by
identifying practical approaches to identify where, when and how water and land management
strategies can be enhanced.

Thank you for your attention.
For more information, please contact:
Gebrehaweria Gebregziabher
G.gebregziabher@cgiar.org

Policies and strategies to build resilience and adaptation to climate change

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