DETERMINANTS OF HOUSEHOLDS RESILIENCE TO DROUGHT RELATED SHOCKS AND COPING STRATEGIES: THE CASE OF DARO LEBU WOREDA, OROMIA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOIPA

Drought is a common shock in Ethiopia affecting livelihoods of the community. The study area is one of areas in Ethiopia suffering from recurrent drought. The community lacks capacity to absorb shocks and recover back quickly after shock which determined by different factors. The objective of the study was to identify and analyse coping strategies during shock and determinants of household resilience to drought related shocks. Primary data from 123 sample households was collected using semi-structured questionnaire. Secondary data was also collected from Central Statistics Agency (CSA), Daro Lebu Woreda Agriculture and Natural Resource Office, Health and Education offices. Descriptive statistics and logit model were used to analyse the data. Drought, livestock disease and crop pests and disease were reported as common shocks in the study area where drought ranked first based on trends and severity of shocks identified. Sale of productive animals, sale of animal products and offspring, renting farm land, reduce amount and number of meals, sale of firewood/charcoal, migration/labour work, borrowing grain, borrowing cash, safety net and food aid were coping strategies the sample households used to adapt during shock. Out of twelve explanatory variables expected to influence household resilience, agro-ecology, educational level of head of household, capacity to forecast shock and preparing ahead, access to social safety net and total livestock owned in TLU found to be statistically significant influencing household resilience. Access to social safety net influence household resilience negatively while the rest four influence household resilience positively which is consistent with prior expectation. Interventions focused on asset building and protection, strengthening local institutions and community participation, farming techniques matching changing agro-ecology should be promoted in the study area. Besides such traditional ways of forecasting shocks, early warning systems and preparedness action need to be strengthened in the study area.