Agro climatic Analysis of Ethiopia with more emphasis on policy perspectives

Food security, unless it is import oriented, is highly determined by the agro-climatic potentials and constraints found over a country. Thus there is a need for agro-climatic analysis by examining both the resources and the risks, which can affect the status of food security of a country. Ethiopia is largely characterized with a spectrum of climate types, ranging from the moisture deficit arid areas to the moisture surplus humid areas including the transition zones. There are areas with crop growing period of eight to nine months and there are areas with a growing period of barely 60 days and less than that. Moreover, the effect of climate variability on different types of agro-climatic zones is not the same. A dry spell extending for a few weeks during the rainy season may result in total crop failure, and thus ending with no agricultural production over marginal areas with a shorter number of growing period days, where as those areas with a longer number of growing period days may be forced to switch from the high yielding long cycle crops to the low yielding short cycle crops resulting in a decrease in agricultural production, but having more chance of survival than their compatriots found over areas of short growing period days. Thus it is important to note that climate variability problems addressed by food security policy perspectives may not be the same for different agro-climatic zones. There is a great need for development of different strategies for different agro-climatic zones, as the problems encountered may need different solutions. However, it is also important to note that there are also problems common to some of or all of agro-climatic zones. There is a great need for development of different strategies for different agro-climatic zones, which can be tackled on the basis of policy perspectives. For example, long-term policy perspectives should attend to the development of sustainable agriculture, where the problem of ecological degradation should be addressed and it is important to note that this is a common problem to all agro-climatic zones, though the immensity of this problem may vary from one agro-climatic zone to the other agro-climatic zone. Soil conservation activities may be critical in one agro-climatic zone, where as mountain afforestation may be indispensable in another agro-climatic zone. Thus in general it would be wise to address the problems of land degradation, deforestation, climate change and desertification, which can become catastrophic to the long-term food security prospect, if left unattended.