STRATEGIES TO SURVIVE SOCIAL - ECOLOGICAL RISKS AMONG KONSO OF SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Konso people are known for their intensive agriculture and conservation practices that provide solutions to social and environmental problems. This research presents an empirical study on strategies to survive social-ecological risks among Konso of southern Ethiopia. The main aim of the study was to investigate how the Konso adults perceive social-ecological risks, the strategies they employ to deal with these risks and the mechanisms used to learn these strategies. To address the objectives of the study, both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed which includes: field observation, free lists, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The result of the study revealed that Konso adults have clear understanding about the risky times they experienced. The culture of sharing experiences and relating difficult times with natural and social incidences contributed to their perception of social-ecological risks. The research also identified that food scarcity, conflict, long dry season, and disease are the salient risks of the study area. Besides, saving, petty trade, spinning cotton, eating wild plants, birta, malota, wage labor, qapsisa (mortgage) are among the short term strategies employed to mitigate food scarcity, whereas intensive agriculture, social networks (i.e. labor organization), intercropping, mixed farming, diversification of farming and non-farming activities and planting fruit plants are adaptive strategies developed through time to increase their chance of survival in face of risky times. Moreover, the research result revealed that adults learn strategies to survive social- ecological risks primarily from parents through observation and listening of parents teaching and advice. To this end, recommendations such as developing and implementing strategies that initiate working culture, matching local coping and adaptive mechanisms with scientific knowledge and sustaining indigenous of conflict resolution institutions and/or mechanisms seems helpful.