Impact of Climate Change on Enset Production (Published)

Climate change and variability may be due to natural internal processes or external forcings, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. Future climate change is expected to have a greater and global impact on people’s lives. Although Enset is among the climate resilient crops in the short term, it will be suffering from the long-term impacts. Climate variable interact with plant growth and yield. Climate change affects agriculture in a different way, including through changes in average temperatures, rainfall, and climate extremes. Climate change will affect developing countries like Ethiopia because of more dependence on rain-fed agriculture Enset is selected as “the tree against hunger” because it produces the highest energy output per time and area unit of crops grown in Ethiopia and because it remains green, saving many lives when cereals wilt before harvest or collapse due to untimely rain This aimed at investigating the possible and anticipated impacts of climate change and variability on productivity and distribution. Simulations within the horizons 2040s and 2070s showed a situation of an overall increase in temperatures that reaches 1.1, 1.2 and 1.2°C under RCP (2.6, 4.5 and 8.5) during 2040s and 1.2, 1.2 and 1.4°C under RCP (2.6, 4.5 and 8.5) scenarios during 2070s, respectively and a respective increase in rainfall of 29%, 28% and 27% under RCP (2.6, 4.5 and 8.5) during 2040s and 27%, 26% and 25% under RCP (2.6, 4.5 and 8.5) scenarios during 2070s, respectively. Therefore, the projected climate shows that the climate change and variability will have significant impacts on Enset production. Evaluation of potential climate change impacts of the future and selecting relatively more tolerant crop for adapting of climate change has no options

Keywords: Climate Change, Climate Variability, Enset, IPCC, Metane, forcing