Rural Women-headed Households’ Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change: Evidence from Omo Nada District, Jimma Zone, South-Western Ethiopia

Climate change imposed challenges to small-holder farmers in Ethiopia, with women headed-households being particularly more vulnerable, threatening livelihoods, and achieving sustainable development goals such as poverty reduction, food security, and gender equality. Yet, women’s adaptive capacities are often overlooked. This study assessed climate change adaptation strategies among women-headed households in Omo Nada district, Jimma Zone, south-western Ethiopia, and analyzed factors influencing their choices. Data generated from a cross-sectional survey were examined using descriptive statistics, chi-square test, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and a Multinomial logit model. Results showed that 92.1% of respondents perceived climate change, and 69.7% had adopted at least one or more adaptation strategies such as integrating crops and livestock, small-scale irrigation, agroforestry, and soil and water conservation practices. Education, access to credit, livestock holdings, extension contact, and climate perception significantly influenced adaptation choices among the women. Specifically, small-scale irrigation choices increased with education and credit access; crop-livestock integration choice increased with education and climate perception but decreased with larger livestock holdings, and agroforestry adoption was positively linked to education, livestock size, credit, and climate perception. The study highlights the need for tailored institutional support to women-headed households, strengthening their adaptive capacity and promoting climate resilient while advancing sustainable development.