Agroclimatic Zone-Based Analysis of Rainfall Variability and Trends in the Wabi Shebele River Basin, Ethiopia

The amount and annual distribution of rainfall caused a major socioeconomic environmental problem where rainfed agriculture is predominant. This study assessed the long-term variability trends in Wabi Shebele River Basin (WSRB), Ethiopia. basin was discretized into 9 local agroclimatic zones (ACZ) based on elevation. coefficient variation (CV) used to check while modified Mann-Kendall (MK) Innovative Trend Analysis (ITA) methods were detect trends. For each ACZ, stations with records less than 10% missing data selected for further analysis. mean ranges from 227.2 mm 1047.4 mm. revealed most ACZs showed very high Belg/Spring (CV% > 30) Kiremt/Summer rainfall. Seasonal trend analysis that no uniform detected all ACZs. However, arid semi-arid areas non-significant decreasing From seasonal analysis, Belg Kiremt relatively increasing respectively. In comparison, similar result observed using MK ITA methods.