This ACCRA brief summarises research conducted by the Africa Climate Change Resilience Alliance (ACCRA) in three sites in Ethiopia in 2010-11. The brief analyses the impacts of climate hazards, variability and change on livelihoods in all three locations, and concludes with key recommendations for action, which suggest:

• Government and development partners must support climate change adaptation and disaster risk-reduction planning by taking into account the broad range of climate and nonclimate related hazards and trends.
• Government and development partners must avoid supporting unsustainable livelihood strategies.
• The National Meteorological Agency (NMA) should increase efforts to improve data collection and climate models, and Sector Line Ministries must ensure that they use weather and other relevant information more effectively in their planning.
• The NMA and the Ministry of Agriculture should invest in providing timely and easy-to-understand, short-term and seasonal weather forecasts and advisories to communities and local government staff.
• Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Institutes, NGOs and donors need to increase investment in strategies to promote appropriate crop varieties, manage crop diseases, control weeds and combat invasive species.