Introduction
Ethiopian highlands:
 Areas above 1500 m
 About 500,000 km2 (45% of the landmass)
 Home for about 88% of the human
population
 Home for about 80% of the livestock
population
 Relatively favourable climate
 Land degradation is common
Reflections of the severity of land degradation
 Decrease in area cultivated

Reduced crop yield/ha

Low livestock productivity
1.2 ton for cereals
 0.6 tons for pulses
0.5 tons for oil crops
1-2 litres of milk/day
Low weight gains and
 Low draught power output
Cumulative effects:
Produce not sufficient to cover annual
consumption
Cyclic poverty and famine
The Study area
•
High human and livestock population
•
Loss of vegetative cover
•
Steep slope cultivation
•
Land degradation
•
Flooding of bottomlands
•
Loss of farmlands due to gullying
•Please insert map 1 here
Objectives of the study
General
 Identify major causes of LULC changes
 Study the effect of land use land and cover
changes
 Analyse implications of such changes on
human and livestock nutrition
 Recommend appropriate interventions
Specific
 Study long term land cover and land use
changes around Yerer mountain
 Study effects of long term land cover and
land use changes on human and livestock
nutrition
 Quantify soil loss due to sheet erosion and
area taken up by major gullies
Materials and Methods
i. Materials
a. Socio-economic study
i.. Structured questionnaires
ii. Census data
iii. Data from different offices
b. Land cover and Land Use study
i. 1971/72 aerial photos (EMA)
ii. 2000 Landsat ETM+ imagery
iii. CSA wereda map with PA boundaries (CSA)
iv. Topographic map (EMA)
v. Scanner, Digitizer, GPS
ii. Methods
a. Socio-economic data
i. Random selection of sample farmers (132)
ii. SPSS software (Correlation, Duncan test)
b. Land cover and Land Use
Landsat ETM+
2000
1971/1972
Aerial Photo
Scanning at 300 DPI
Orthorectification
Supervised
Classification
Land use/cover change
Results
Socio-economic characteristics
Table 2. Literacy level of sample household heads by sex and age
group
Literacy
level
< 50 years of >50 years of
age
age
Male
Total
Female Male Female Male
%
Female %
Illiterate
26
5
46
3
72 54.5
8
6.1
Read and
write
15
0
12
1
27 20.5
1
0.7
Primary
17
0
3
0
20 15.2
0
0
3
0
1
0
3.0
0
0
61
5
62
4
123 93.2
9
6.80
Secondary
and above)
Total
4
Table 3. Food grain production, consumption (kg grain) and
Kcal/person/day from different crops for sample
households, mean of 3 years (2001-2003)
Crop type
Annual
consumption
(kg grain)
Daily family
consumption
(kg grain)
Food energy
(Kcal/kg)1
Kcal/person/day
Wheat
552
1.5
3623
712.6
Tef
255
0.7
3551
322.2
Barley
142
0.39
3720
188.0
Chickpea
175
0.48
3723
231.8
Horse bean
104
0.28
3514
130.0
Rough pea
77
0.21
3470
95.1
137
0.38
3553
173.2
Field pea
Total
1852.9
1 source:
EHNRI
Land cover and land use
Table 4. Land cover classes their corresponding area and change (1971/72 and 2000)
Land cover
types
Cultivated land
Grasslands
Open
shrubland
Juniperus
procera Acacia
albida trees1
Wetland
Water body
Total
1 For
Area in
(%) Of land
1971/72 (ha) cover
(1971/72)
Area in
2000
(ha)
% Of
land
cover
Change between 1971/72
and 2000
(ha)
(%)
Average
rate (ha/yr)
56.38 +9018 125.5
+300.6
7186
25.00
16204
18784
65.35
9396
32.70
-9388
50.0
-312.9
256
0.89
478
1.66
+222
86.7
+86.7
2325
8.09
2219
7.71
-106
4.55
-0.2
0
0
132
0.46
+132
na
+4.4
190
0.66
312
1.09
+122
64.2
+4.07
28741
100
28741
100
2000 this cover category refers to “dense shrubland with remnant Juniper trees”
+2148 ha
-11536 ha
Net grassland
- 9388
Net cultivated
+ 9018
10,034 ha
+10453 ha
-1435 ha
1281 ha
369 ha
28 ha
839 ha
50 ha
1236 ha
266 ha
65 ha
89 ha
+1325 ha
-1208 ha
Net shrubland
+117
Figure 2. Land use and land cover dynamics 1971/72 and 2000
Net wet & water
body
+253
+331 ha
-78 ha
Ethiopia: Generalized highland landscape
a) Low population density/km2
Steep
slope
Moderate
slope
•
•
b) High population density/km2
Deforestation
Overstocking food/feed shortage
•
Soil erosion
• Low fertility
•
• Expansion of cropping
• Soil erosion
• Overstocking food/feed shortag
Flat land/
plateau
Waterlogging
Valleys
Courtesy: Kinde Engida
Table 5. Estimated yearly dry matter obtainable from different crop
residues for the sample farmers
Crop type
Total area (ha)
Grain yield
(t/ha)
Total
crop Conversion
production (t) factor (Straw:
Grain ratio)
Crop
residue
(t DM)3
Wheat
94.00
1.42
133.29
2.06
192.49
Tef
92.60
1.00
92.32
2.47
160.11
Chickpeas
34.50
1.05
36.23
1.31
33.22
Horse bean
11.20
1.10
12.30
1.42
12.25
Rough pea
6.70
0.92
6.18
1.54
6.64
Field pea
6.60
0.79
5.23
3.30
12.04
Barley
6.20
1.09
6.75
1.86
8.80
Lentils
1.10
0.55
0.61
1.56
0.66
Maize
1.80
0.78
1.40
2.04
2.00
Total
255.70
431.21
Table 6. Daily and annual DM requirement for MEm and 20% production
for animals, by livestock type for the study area
Livestock type
Daily
DM Total number of Total annual feed
requirement
livestock owned requirement (t)
(kg/head/day)1
(heads)
Cattle (local)
4.237
31462
48,656.14
Sheep
0.617
8153
1,836.10
Goats
0.651
9091
2,160.16
Donkeys
3.125
8164
9,312.06
Horses
5.000
633
1,155.23
Mules
4.375
231
368.88
Total
63,490.57
1 Source: Berhanu Gebremedhin (2004)
Table 7. Estimated yearly feed (DM) obtainable from
different land cover types for the whole study
area, based on 2000 imagery
Land cover type
Area
(ha)
DM
yield Annual
DM
(t/ha/year)
production (t)
Cultivated land
16204
1.52 + 0.5212 33,056.16
All other land cover 12224
categories except
water body
Total
28428
1
0.82562
10,092.13
43,148.29
DM from crop residue
Woody Biomass Inventory and Strategic planning Project
2 Source:
Table 8. Mean annual household energy consumption for different domestic uses
as reported by sample farmers
Mean annual household energy requirement
Fuelwood
Cow dung
Crop residue
Kerosene
Energy
utility
Kg
M3
N2
Kg
N
Kg
N
Litre N
Cooking
540
0.90
64 (49)
1932
132 (100)
432
110
(83.3)
6
3 (2.2)
Heating
280.8
0.47
54 (41)
552
127 (96.2)
312
9 (4.4)
0
0 (0)
Lighting
48
0.08
4 (3)
0
0 (0)
0
0 (0)
2.33
129 (97.7)
868.8
1.45
-
2484
-
744
-
8.33
-
Total
Table 9. Potential woody biomass for the study area (2000)
Land cover types
Area in 2000
(ha)
Cultivated land
Woody biomass
productivity
(t/ha/yr)1
Potential woody
biomass produced
(t)
16204
0.11
1782.44
8414
0.14
1177.96
Degraded grassland
983
0.03
29.49
Open shrubland
479
0.10
47.9
2217
0.20
443.4
132
0.20
26.4
28429
0.11
3507.59
Grassland
Dense shrubland
Juniper trees
with
Wetland
Total
1 Source:
remnant
Woody Biomass Inventory and Strategic planning Project
Area suffering from sheet erosion hazard (1971/72 and 2000)
80
Erosion hazard (%)
70
60
50
40
30
1971/72
20
2000
10
0
£ 3.125
3.125-6.25
6.25-12.5
12.5-25.0
Erosion class (t/ha/yr)
25.0-50.0
³ 50
Table 26. Total area, length, maximum width and depth of
two big gullies in the study area
Name of gully Length
(km)
Max. width
(m)
Estimated
depth (m)
Total area lost
due to gully
erosion (ha)
Kefele
13
85
18.
45.8
Eyitu
7
126
20
37.4
Total
83.2
Conclusion
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
There is very high illiteracy level in the area
Family size and population in general are very high
Daily minimum calorific requirements are not met
Livestock carrying capacity is surpassed
Crop residue is the major source of feed
Bio-fuels are the major source of energy, of which
cow dung is a major source
Cultivated land increased by 125% in three decades,
mainly at the cost of grasslands
Erosion rates were higher in 2000 than 1971/72
Population is the major driving force to these
changes
Recommendations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Increased access to primary school education required
Education on family planning is strongly recommended
Giving land use rights to individuals will encourage better
NRM
Improvement of non-timber products
Early planting for reducing erosion hazards
Soil and water management in some areas required
Convince communities to stop cultivating areas above 30%
slope
Diversification of crops should be encouraged
Forage improvement (indigenous and exotic) should be
more encouraged
Better livestock management systems (example tethering)
should be practised
Alternative energy resources are required
Thank you