Abstract
The impact of precipitation variability on food production is very significant. For food-insecure rural areas, understanding the nature of precipitation variability and its teleconnection has paramount importance in guiding regional and local-level decisions. In this study, we analyzed the monthly, seasonal, and annual precipitation variability and the strength of its teleconnection with the global sea-surface temperature (SST) and El Niño/La Niña Southern Oscillation (ENSO) indices in the food-insecure rural areas of Tigray region, Ethiopia. The precipitation, SST, and ENSO indices data for the study were used from 1979 to 2019. A summary of descriptive statistics and Mann-Kendall test methods were applied to detect the existence of trends, and Sen’s slope and coefficient of variation are used to analyze the magnitude of the trend and degree of variation in the precipitation pattern. Further, Pearson’s correlation is used to determine the effect of ENSO, and SST variations on the precipitation using the canonical correlation analysis. The results revealed that the precipitation over the three districts is characterized by a distinctive bimodal pattern with limited rains in March–May preceding the main rainy season June–September. The limited amount of precipitation, exacerbated by a higher degree of variability, makes the food production in the three districts more uncertain. Besides, there was a very significant decline in the trend of March–May average precipitation and a significant decline in the trend of the annual average precipitation in Hintalo area. The SST of central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, and northeast and northwest equatorial Atlantic Ocean was strongly correlated with the April average precipitation of the three districts. Further, SST of the south, west, and southwest of the equatorial Indian Ocean, and west equatorial Pacific Ocean was associated with July–September average precipitation with greater variation in strength among of the three districts. Moreover, July’s average precipitation of the three districts, April’s average precipitation of Atsbi and Eirop, and May’s precipitation of Hintalo are found significantly associated with the ENSO indices of JFM, FMA, MJJ, and MAM. Therefore, the task of achieving food security in the three districts should incorporate the design of informed food production strategies that can adapt to the limited and variable precipitation based on these SST and ENSO indices.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
We declare that data and materials will be made available on reasonable request.
Code availability
Code for data cleaning and analysis will be provided once the paper has been conditionally accepted.
References
Abebe BA, Grum B, Degu AM, Goitom H (2022) Spatio-temporal rainfall variability and trend analysis in the Tekeze-Atbara river basin, northwestern Ethiopia. Meteorol Appl 29(2):e2059
Addisu S, Selassie YG, Fissha G, Gedif B (2015) Time series trend analysis of temperature and rainfall in lake Tana sub-basin, Ethiopia. Environmental Systems Research 4(1):25
Afifi T, Liwenga E, Kwezi L (2014) Rainfall-induced crop failure, food insecurity and out-migration in Same-Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Climate and Development 6(1):53–60
Agidew AMA, Singh KN (2018) Determinants of food insecurity in the rural farm households in South Wollo Zone of Ethiopia: the case of the Teleyayen sub-watershed. Agricultural and Food Economics 6(1):10
Alemayehu A, Bewket W (2016) Local climate variability and crop production in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Environmental Development 19:36–48
Alhamshry A, Fenta AA, Yasuda H, Kimura R, Shimizu K (2020) Seasonal rainfall variability in Ethiopia and its long-term link to global sea surface temperatures. Water 12(1):55
Alkire, Sabina, Chatterje, Mihika, Conconi, Adriana, Seth, Suman, & Vaz, Ana. (2014). Poverty in rural and urban areas: direct comparisons using the global MPI 2014.
Asfaw A, Simane B, Hassen A, Bantider A (2018) Variability and time series trend analysis of rainfall and temperature in northcentral Ethiopia: a case study in Woleka sub-basin. Weather and climate extremes 19:29–41
Bayable G, Amare G, Alemu G, Gashaw T (2021) Spatiotemporal variability and trends of rainfall and its association with Pacific Ocean Sea surface temperature in West Harerge Zone, Eastern Etiopia. Environmental Systems Research 10(1):1–21
Berhe AG, Misgna SH, Abraha GGS, Abraha AZ (2023) Variability and trend analysis of temperatures, rainfall, and characteristics of crop-growing season in the eastern zone of Tigray region, northern Ethiopia. Theor Appl Climatol 152(1-2):25–43
Cook KH, Fitzpatrick RG, Liu W, Vizy EK (2020) Seasonal asymmetry of equatorial East African rainfall projections: understanding differences between the response of the long rains and the short rains to increased greenhouse gases. Clim Dyn 55(7):1759–1777
Darwin R (2001) Climate change and food security. Agric Inf Bull 765(8):1–2
Degefu MA, Rowell DP, Bewket W (2017) Teleconnections between Ethiopian rainfall variability and global SSTs: observations and methods for model evaluation. Meteorog Atmos Phys 129(2):173–186
Demeke AB, Keil A, Zeller M (2011) Using panel data to estimate the effect of rainfall shocks on smallholders food security and vulnerability in rural Ethiopia. Clim Chang 108(1-2):185–206
Dile YT, Srinivasan R (2014) Evaluation of CFSR climate data for hydrologic prediction in data-scarce watersheds: an application in the Blue Nile River Basin. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 50(5):1226–1241
Dittus AJ, Karoly DJ, Donat MG, Lewis SC, Alexander LV (2018) Understanding the role of sea surface temperature-forcing for variability in global temperature and precipitation extremes. Weather and climate extremes 21:1–9
Dubache G, Ogwang BA, Ongoma V, Islam ARMT (2019) The effect of Indian Ocean on Ethiopian seasonal rainfall. Meteorog Atmos Phys 131(6):1753–1761
Endalew B, Muche M, Tadesse S (2015) Assessment of food security situation in Ethiopia: a review. Asian Journal of Agricultural Research 9(2):55–68
FAO (1986) Irrigation water management: irrigation water needs. Tranining Manual no. 3. FAO, Rome
Fuka DR, Walter MT, MacAlister C, Degaetano AT, Steenhuis TS, Easton ZM (2014) Using the climate forecast system reanalysis as weather input data for watershed models. Hydrol Process 28(22):5613–5623
Gebru TA (2020) Rainfall intensity-duration-frequency relations under changing climate for selected stations in the Tigray Region, Ethiopia. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 25(11):05020041
Gobie BG, Miheretu BA (2021) Effects of El Nino southern oscillation events on rainfall variability over northeast Ethiopia. Modeling Earth Systems and Environment:1–7
Hayelom B, Chen Y, Marsie Z, Negash M (2017) Temperature and precipitation trend analysis over the last 30 years in Southern Tigray Regional State, Ethiopia
Kahsay HT, Guta DD, Birhanu BS, Gidey TG (2019) Farmers’ perceptions of climate change trends and adaptation strategies in semiarid highlands of Eastern. Advances in Meteorology, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, p 2019
Kasie TA, Demissie BS, Bahry MJ, Gessesse GM, Wale LE (2019) The impact of the 2015 El Niño-induced drought on household consumption: evidence from rural Ethiopia. Clim Dev:1–10
Kinda SR, Badolo F (2019) Does rainfall variability matter for food security in develo** countries? Cogent Economics & Finance 7(1):1640098
Lewis K (2017) Understanding climate as a driver of food insecurity in Ethiopia. Clim Chang 144(2):317–328
Looby EL (2019) Late Holocene climate change in the Tigray Plateau. (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Utah), Ethiopia
Mekonnen DA, Gerber N (2017) Aspirations and food security in rural Ethiopia. Food security 9(2):371–385
Molla M (2020) Teleconnections between ocean-atmosphere coupled phenomenon and droughts in Tigray region: Northern Ethiopia. Am J Clim Chang 9(3):274–296
Ongoma V, Chen H, Gao C (2018) Projected changes in mean rainfall and temperature over East Africa based on CMIP5 models. Int J Climatol 38(3):1375–1392
Onyutha C, Tabari H, Taye MT, Nyandwaro GN, Willems P (2016) Analyses of rainfall trends in the Nile River Basin. J Hydro Environ Res 13:36–51
Philip S, Kew SF, Jan van Oldenborgh G, Otto F, O’Keefe S, Haustein K et al (2018) Attribution analysis of the Ethiopian drought of 2015. J Clim 31(6):2465–2486
Schmidhuber J, Tubiello FN (2007) Global food security under climate change. Proc Natl Acad Sci 104(50):19703–19708
Seleshi Y, Demaree GR (1995) Rainfall variability in the Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands and its links with the Southern Oscillation Index. J Biogeogr:945–952
Singh R, Worku M, Bogale S, Cullis A, Adem A, Irwin B, Lim S, Bosi L, Venton CC (2016) Reality of resilience: perspectives of the 2015-16 drought in Ethiopia. BRACED Resilience Intel 6:1–28
Tang Y, Zhang RH, Liu T, Duan W, Yang D, Zheng F et al (2018) Progress in ENSO prediction and predictability study. Natl Sci Rev 5(6):826–839
Tefera AS, Ayoade JO, Bello NJ (2020) Analyses of the relationship between drought occurrences and their causal factors in Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia. Tellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography 72(1):1–18
Torres M, Howitt R, Rodrigues L (2019) Analyzing rainfall effects on agricultural income: why timing matters. EconomiA, Article in press
Von Braun J (1991) A policy agenda for famine prevention in Africa. In: Food Policy Statement No.13. IFPRI, Washington DC
Weldearegay SK, Tedla DG (2018) Impact of climate variability on household food availability in Tigray, Ethiopia. Agriculture & Food Security 7(1):6
Wheeler T, Braun V, Joachim. (2013) Climate change impacts on global food security. Science 341(6145):508–513
Woldehanna T (2000) Economic analysis and policy implications of farm and off-farm employment: a case study in the Tigray region of Northern Ethiopia. Dissertation, Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group, Wageningen University and Research
World Bank (2010) Development and climate change: 2010 World Development Report. The World Bank, Washington DC, New York
World Bank (2016) Poverty and shared prosperity 2016: taking on inequality. The World Bank Group, Washington, DC
World Finance. (2017). Ethiopia economy: poverty in Ethiopia. Retrieved from http://www.eiiff.com/economy/ethiopia/poverty.html on April 16, 2019.
Yibrah M, Korecha D, Dandesa T (2018) Characterization of rainfall and temperature variability to guide wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Horduem vulgare) production in Enderta District, Southeastern Tigray, Ethiopia. International Journal of Research in Environmental Science 4(2):35–41
Zeleke TT, Giorgi F, Diro GT, Zaitchik BF (2017) Trend and periodicity of drought over Ethiopia. Int J Climatol 37(13):4733–4748
Funding
We declare that we have received 60,000 Birr from Mekelle University for this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
TG Analyzed data and wrote up the paper
Dr. ZA Contributed to the design of the methodology
Dr. AZ Contributed to the methodology of the paper and its analysis
Dr. WZ Wrote the discussion part and essential literature reviews
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical approval
This article does not contain any studies with human or animal participants performed by any of the authors.
Consent to participate
All authors and research participants have agreed to contribute equally to the achievement of the objectives of the study in data collection, analysis, writing up, and revision.
Consent to publish
All authors and research participants have agreed to get published the submitted manuscript.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Gebre, T., Abraha, Z., Zenebe, A. et al. Precipitation variability and its teleconnection with the global SST and ENSO indices in the food-insecure rural areas of Tigray. Theor Appl Climatol 155, 1699–1711 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-023-04717-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-023-04717-5