livestock form an important source of gdp at of the total and generate of the country s foreign exchange earnings yet cattle numbers are exceeding the land s canying capacity in many areas and some rangelands are degraded fao the impact of climate change in ethiopia is already apparent in the increasing temperature and declining rainfall particularly in northern parts which are exceptionally vulnerable to drought with annual rainfall being only mm in the northeast such changes can be catastrophic for agricultural production deteriorate infrastructure and worsen the livelihoods of the rural poor