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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the patterns and trends of drought incidence in north east highlands of Ethiopia using monthly rainfall record for the period 1984-2014.

Standard precipitation index and Mann – Kendal test were used to analyze drought incident and trends of drought occurrences, respectively. The spatial extent of droughts in the study area has been interpolated by inverse distance weighted method using the spatial analyst tool of ArcGIS.

Most of the studied stations experienced drought episodes in 1984, 1987/1988, 1992/1993, 1999, 2003/2004 and 2007/2008 which were among the worst drought years in the history of Ethiopia. The year 1984 was the most drastic and distinct-wide extreme drought episode in all studied stations. The Mann–Kendal test shows an increasing tendencies of drought at three-month (spring) timescale at all stations though significant (p < 0.05) only at Mekaneselam and decreasing tendencies at three-month (summer) and 12-month timescales at all stations. The frequency of total drought was the highest in central and north parts of the region in all study seasons.

This detail drought characterization can be used as bench mark to take comprehensive drought management measures such as early warning system, preparation and contingency planning, climate change adaptation programs.

As climate change shocks and stresses increasingly affect urban areas in developing countries, resilience is imperative for the purposes of preparation, recovery and adaptation. This study aims to investigate demographic characteristics and social networks that influence the household capacity to prepare, recover and adapt when faced with prolonged droughts or erratic rainfall events in Mbale municipality in Eastern Uganda.

A cross-sectional research design was used to elicit subjective opinions. Previous studies indicate the importance of subjective approaches for measuring social resilience but their use has not been well explored in the context of quantifying urban resilience to climate change shocks and stresses. This study uses 389 structured household interviews to capture demographic characteristics, social networks and resilience capacities. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analysis.

The ability of low-income households to meet their daily expenditure needs, household size, and networks with relatives and non government organizations (NGOs) were significant determinants of preparedness, recovery and adaptation to prolonged droughts or erratic rainfall events.

The results imply that policymakers and practitioners have an important role vis-à-vis encouraging activities that boost the ability of households to meet their daily expenditure needs, promoting small household size and reinforcing social networks that enhance household resilience.

Even the low-income households are substantially more likely to prepare for and recover from prolonged droughts or erratic rainfall events if they can meet their daily expenditure needs. This finding is noteworthy because the poorest in society are generally the most vulnerable to hazards.

Traditionally prepared enset-based products like bulla are characterised by low protein and vitamin contents and are highly viscous; this causes protein-energy malnutrition especially in infants and young children. This paper aims to improve the nutritional and sensory qualities of enset-based food with pumpkin and amaranth.

Sixteen formulations of composite flour were generated using a D-optimal constrained mixture design with a range of 50-80 per cent bulla, 10-25 per cent pumpkin and 10-40 per cent amaranth flour. Nutritional and sensory qualities of the formulations were investigated using standard methods.

Ash, fat and protein contents increased from 1.1-2.8 g/100 g (p < 0.001), 1.7-3.9 g/100 g (p < 0.001) and 6.1-9.0 g/100 g (p < 0.001) respectively with the increased amaranth flour. Crude fibre content increased with increasing percentage of the amaranth and pumpkin flours. On the other hand, carbohydrate content increased from 78.2 to 84.3 per cent (p < 0.001) with an increase of bulla flour. A significant increase in Fe, Zn and Ca from 6.8-10.5 (p < 0.01), 1.5-3.0 (p = 0.022) and 1.8-148.5 mg/g (p < 0.001) respectively was achieved with an increase in amaranth ratio in flour. The total carotenoid content increased with increase in the percentage of pumpkin flour. The best sensory attributes of the developed product were around the centre point of the three ingredients.

The study showed that a product with good nutritional value and sensory acceptability could be prepared from enset-based ingredients and the optimal product was obtained by blending 57.8 per cent bulla, 18.9 per cent pumpkin and 23.3 per cent amaranth flour. The enriched flour can have application for snack food preparation.