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Since the 1970s, the Government of Ethiopia has implemented villagization, whereby nomadic pastoralist groups are supported to develop (more) sedentary lifestyles and livelihoods. Villagization has been officially promoted to encourage diversification from livestock herding to agricultural cultivation, and to fulfil basic needs through infrastructure and services. From the late 2000s, villagization was reintroduced for arid and semi-arid regions as a strategy for adaptation to climate change, as part of the country's green growth agenda. The aim of this paper is to evaluate to what extent this phase of villagization has contributed to adaptation strategies among pastoral and agro-pastoral communities, based on an empirical analysis of four villagised sites in the Middle Awash Valley using qualitative data collected between 2014 and 2018. Perceptions and experiences of villagization varied across individuals, households, villages, and districts. While villagization has generally delivered infrastructure and services, and offered income diversification to those able to access irrigated agriculture, its implementation has been partial and uneven, and it has reproduced previous problems of resource scarcity while creating new risks and vulnerabilities. We argue that villagization may play a role in some aspects of adaptation, if programmes address the drivers of livelihood change, and embed equity and rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugarcane cultivation has been practiced over decades in a semi-arid area of the Ethiopian Rift Valley. This study evaluated the effect of sugarcane cultivation on soil C and N storages. We measured the differences in soil C and N along chronosequence fields. We estimated soil C and N losses associated with land conversion and the rate of changes over time. Results indicated that the soil C accumulation was lower under sugarcane field but slowly approached to never tilled (NT) condition. Land conversion resulted in soil C initial losses predicted to 37 Mg C ha −1 or 58%, which recovered with a net change of 0.35 Mg C ha −1 yr −1 or 0.29% yr −1 . Under the current management practices, the loss in soil C is projected to require a century to reach the sugarcane pre-establishment levels. Land conversion induced soil total nitrogen (TN) initial losses estimated to be 113 kg N ha −1 . However, the predicted net change in soil TN as a function of time appeared to be insignificant. Sugarcane as a direct replacement of native vegetation triggered losses in soil C levels. Yet, sugarcane cultivation as land use option established on marginal lands can have a great potential for soil carbon sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]