El Niño in Ethiopia: Early impacts of drought in Amhara national regional state

These field notes describe some of the impacts of the failed spring and the 2015 El Niño-induced erratic and poor summer kiremt rains on rain-fed smallholder farming communities in North and South Wollo and Wag Himra zones, Amhara National Regional State. These are based on visits to communities in November and December 2015, and the use of focus group discussions, key informant interviews and participatory methods with smallholder farmers, traders and government staff.