Gender Specific Climate Change Impacts and the Role of Traditional Knowledge for Adaptation & Mitigation in Tatesa Dadesa and Bura Borema Kebeles of Shashemene Woreda

ABSTRACT Gendered People's vulnerability to climate change will vary depending on their gender and degree of adaptability. The impact of climate change on society at large have been extensively studied , but its implications on women in particular have received less attention. This study aims to investigate the gender-specific effects of climate change and the role of traditional knowledge in adaptation strategies in Tatesa Dadesa and Bura Borema kebeles, Shashemene woreda, west Arsi zone, Oromia regional state. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied. A total of 360 respondents were selected for the study using a cross-sectional and systematic sampling techniques approaches were performed. Rising temperatures (46%) and erratic rainfall (39%) were found to be the two main effects of climate change.In terms of the ways climate change affects various genders, 31.4% of women reported walking farther to get water, and 33.1% of women pointed out they occasionally neglected to feed the other members of the home. However, 29.7% of men said they had a disagreement over income loss from decreased agriculture or livestock productivity (28.1%) as a result of climate change, as well as grazing land or water points. When it comes to traditional coping methods, harvesting rainwater was the most common traditional practice (60%), although it is facing a significant challenge, including limited institutional support (30.3%) and pressures from modernization (14.2%). Despite these, participants reported important opportunities for improving climate resilience as 39.4% recognized the value of state-led watershed management programs. In terms of the analysis of traditional knowledge utilization, younger respondents (18-30 years old : AOR = 0.063, 95% CI: 0.006–0.636; 31–45 years old : AOR = 0.127, 95% CI: 0.0180.918) were significantly less likely to use traditional knowledge than those aged 46–60 years, and farmers with 1.1-3 hectares were more than seven times more likely to use it (AOR = 7.124, 95% CI: 1.768–28.703) .In conclusion, nearly one third of respondents had experienced gender specific impact of climate changes, including suffering from the extra domestic labor and food insecurity as well as conflicting on a common resource and loss of income. However, men gender dominance in this study might have significantly restricted the overall picture of gender specific impacts among women. Hence, further study with balanced gender participation is recommended 4