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Issues concerning household livelihood strategies and households' reliance on forest goods around Ethiopia's protected areas have not been adequately addressed. Thus, the purpose of this study is to quantify and determine the influence of livelihood assets on the choice of livelihood strategy, as well as the contribution of forest goods to rural livelihood and its effect on park conservation. The data was collected in 2020 through a survey of 384 households. To discover livelihood strategies, cluster analysis was employed. According to the study's findings, the livelihood asset indicators that significantly affected the likelihood of the household being in one of the identified livelihood strategies were forest income, labor, education level, number of livestock in TLU, agricultural income, off-farm income, non-farm income, access to credit, membership in a cooperative, and ethnicity. The study also discovered that forest income accounted for 17 % of the total income of the sample households, which varies across livelihood strategies (10 %–24 %) and ethnic backgrounds (43 % for Kunama). Households in low-income livelihood strategies (small-business and mixed-activity operators) generate more total and relative forest income than households in high-income livelihood strategies (large-scale and small-scale). There was no safe livelihood strategy for conserving park resources, as households in the entire livelihood strategy were involved in unlawful exploitation of park resources, which resulted in the deterioration of the park's ecological resources over time. Policy on agricultural intensification and encouraging livelihood choices less dependent on natural resources through creating opportunities (credit access, skill and knowledge development, and technology) should be applied, and the use of natural resources should be regulated and evaluated regularly.

Background Institutions can play a key role in coordinating how natural resources are effectively managed and used without over-exploitation. Institutions are laws, policies, and organizational arrangements that permit, forbid or regulate human action. This study aimed to look into the roles of formal and informal institutions, and their interactions in water resources governance in the Central Rift Valley (CRV), Ethiopia. Methods Key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and secondary data sources were employed to collect relevant data. Results The result of the study indicated that the influence of informal institutions on formal institutions or vice versa was insignificant, and unable to change the actions of water users in the CRV. Other limitations observed in water resources governance in the CRV include a lack of actors’ clear roles and responsibilities, absence of meaningful decentralization, limited engagement of key actors in policy development, lack of synergy between the institutions, and absence of enforcement mechanisms. Conclusion Considering the local contexts and community’s traditional knowledge of water governance in water-related policy, rules, and regulations, and enhancing the capacity of local-level institutions, strong interplay among all institutions involved in water governance, and meaningful actors’ engagement were recommended to advance the role of institutions in water resources governance in the CRV and in the country. Hence, a mechanism that enables to harmonize formal and informal institutions in water management system can enhance the governance of water resources in the study area and elsewhere in the country.

This study investigated the relationship between land use/land cover (LULC) changes and forested landscape fragmentation in the southwestern region of Ethiopia. Satellite images from 1986, 2002 and 2019 were collected and analyzed using standard procedures in ERDAS 2015 software. Fragstat 4.2.1 software was utilized to assess landscape fragmentation by examining a raster datasets derived from the classified LULC map over the research period. The study identified seven LULC classes in the study area. Findings revealed a substantial reduction in shrubland by 46.3%, dense forest by 23.75%, open forest by 17.3%, and wetland by 32.63%, while cropland increased by 38.06%, agroforestry by 20.29%, and settlements by 163.8% during the study period. These changes varied across different agroecological zones and slope gradients. Landscape metrics results indicated an increase in the number of patches and patch density for all LULC classes, demonstrating significant fragmentation of the landscape. The largest patch index, mean patch areas, and the percentage of landscape occupied by open forest, dense forest, shrubland, and wetland declined as a result of conversion to cropland, agroforestry, and settlement. Conversely, the largest patch index, the mean patch area and the percentage of the landscape occupied by agroforestry, cropland and settlement increased, indicating their increasing dominance in the landscape over the study periods. The findings highlighted the potential deleterious impacts of ongoing land use change and fragmentation on the environment, ecosystem function and local livelihoods. Therefore, it is crucial to implement appropriate conservation efforts and sustainable land management practices to mitigate the rapid change and fragmentation of land use and its negative impacts on sub-watershed ecosystems.

Abstract Background Following global pledges to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% by 2030 compared to the baseline level of 2020, improved quantification of GHG emissions from developing countries has become crucial. However, national GHG inventories in most Sub-Saharan African countries use default (Tier I) emission factors (EFS) generated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to estimate enteric CH4 emissions from animal agriculture. The present study provides an improved enteric CH4 emission estimate (Tier II) based on animal energy requirements derived from animal characteristics and performance data collected from about 2500 cattle in 480 households from three smallholder farming systems to represent the common dairy farming in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Using average seasonal feed digestibility data, we estimated daily methane production by class of animal and farming system and subsequently generated improved EF. Results Our findings revealed that the estimated average EF and emission intensities (EI) vary significantly across farming systems. The estimated value of EF for adult dairy cows was 73, 69, and 34 kg CH4/cow/year for urban, peri-urban, and rural farming systems, respectively. Rural dairy farming had significantly higher emission intensity (EI) estimated at 1.78 CO2-eq per kg of fat protein-corrected milk (FPCM) than peri-urban and urban 0.71 and 0.64 CO2-eq kg−1 FPCM dairy farming systems, respectively. The EF estimates in this study are lower than the IPCC's (2019) default value for both stall-fed high-productive and dual-purpose low-productive cows. Conclusions The current findings can be used as a baseline for the national emission inventory, which can be used to quantify the effects of future interventions, potentially improving the country's commitment to reducing GHG emissions. Similarly, this study suggests that increased animal productivity through improved feed has a considerable mitigation potential for reducing enteric methane emissions in smallholder dairy farming systems in the study area.

Payments for ecosystem services have recently been introduced into the ecosystem management landscape to counter ecosystem degradation. This study examines the experiences of sustainable use and management of watersheds using a compensation for ecosystem service model in the Koga watershed, Northern Ethiopia. The study primarily employed qualitative methods. Thirteen informants, chosen from a group of project implementers, were contacted for telephone interviews, and a document analysis was also conducted. Thematic approaches were employed to analysis the data. The study findings revealed that a project had been introduced to implement an innovative payment/compensation for ecosystem services (CES) scheme to manage watersheds and to alleviate poverty in the watershed. The scheme connected upstream and downstream communities and cooperatives through CES, earning praise for its effectiveness in combating dam siltation and watershed degradation. The initiative also established various enabling conditions, such as capacity building, bylaw formulation, and payment procedures for beneficiary communities. However, the CES scheme still has a long way to go to deliver the anticipated positive impacts on local livelihoods and watershed management. It is believed that a comprehensive legal framework, a stable political and social environment, and sustainable financing mechanisms are crucial for the success of any CES project. Therefore, Ethiopia should strive to meet these requirements to ensure that any future CES projects are designed and implemented sustainably.

Charcoal production is one of the main sources of households’ income in some part of rural Ethiopia. However, existing literature has rarely explored the presence of an entry barrier that might prevent the poorest from participating in this lucrative activity nor have they accounted for heterogeneity in the welfare effects of participation. To provide evidence for these issues, this study assesses the determinants of participation in charcoal production and its heterogeneous impact on household welfare using primary data from 390 households in selected rural villages of Awi zone, Ethiopia. This study uses a probit regression model to identify the determinants of participation and the quantile treatment effect (QTE) regression model to examine the welfare gap between participants and nonparticipants at different points of the welfare distribution and a decomposition technique to investigate whether the welfare gap is attributed to differences in characteristics or returns to these characteristics. Our probit model estimation result shows that poor households are less likely to participate in charcoal production, implying the existence of an entry barrier which may be attributed to the requirement of higher capital investment in the study area. Our QTE result suggests that participation affect welfare heterogeneously across the welfare distribution and the welfare gap is higher at the upper quantiles, suggesting that poor participants gain lower return from participation. Finally, our decomposition analysis reveals that the welfare gap exists due to coefficients effect. Although the results suggest the importance of policy to improve the participation of households in charcoal production for greater welfare, they also indicate the existence of uneven returns against poor participants.

The Ethiopian government has exerted efforts to rehabilitate degraded agricultural lands using a range of sustainable land management (SLM) initiatives to enhance agricultural productivity. One of the key components was improved structural soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies. This study examines the effects of continuous SLM practices on agricultural land productivity, with particular emphasis on SWC technology adoption in Central Ethiopia. The analysis was based on the data collected from 525 sample household surveys in two districts, namely Kewet and Sebeta-hawas. A propensity score matching (PSM) model was used to investigate the effects on treated and non-treated plots. The study findings revealed a substantial and positive effect on treated agricultural plots compared to non-treated ones in the Kewet district. At the same time, the difference was found positive but not significant in the Sebeta-hawas counterpart. The insignificant impacts are justified because SWC efforts focused on constructing structures rather than tailoring them with soil-replenishment and productivity enhancement functions. The important conclusion is that continuous SWC adoption efforts positively impact agricultural productivity; however, its effect is more noticeable when SWC structures are integrated with productivity enhancement functions and applied in low moisture areas. Thus, policymakers and project planners should consider the role of integrating physical SWC structures with soil replenishment and agronomic activities.

Abstract Background Abiotic factors exert different impacts on the abundance of individual tree species in the forest but little has been known about the impact of abiotic factors on the individual plant, particularly, in a tropical forest. This study identified the impact of abiotic factors on the abundances of Podocarpus falcatus, Croton macrostachyus, Celtis africana, Syzygium guineense, Olea capensis, Diospyros abyssinica, Feliucium decipenses, and Coffea arabica. A systematic sample design was used in the Harana forest, where 1122 plots were established to collect the abundance of species. Random forest (RF), artificial neural network (ANN), and generalized linear model (GLM) models were used to examine the impacts of topographic, climatic, and edaphic factors on the log abundances of woody species. The RF model was used to predict the spatial distribution maps of the log abundances of each species. Results The RF model achieved a better prediction accuracy with R 2 = 71% and a mean squared error (MSE) of 0.28 for Feliucium decipenses. The RF model differentiated elevation, temperature, precipitation, clay, and potassium were the top variables that influenced the abundance of species. The ANN model showed that elevation induced a negative impact on the log abundances of all woody species. The GLM model reaffirmed the negative impact of elevation on all woody species except the log abundances of Syzygium guineense and Olea capensis. The ANN model indicated that soil organic matter (SOM) could positively affect the log abundances of all woody species. The GLM showed a similar positive impact of SOM, except for a negative impact on the log abundance of Celtis africana at p

Background Institutions can play a key role in coordinating how natural resources are effectively managed and used without over-exploitation. Institutions are laws, policies, and organizational arrangements that permit, forbid or regulate human action. This study aimed to look into the roles of formal and informal institutions, and their interactions in water resources governance in the Central Rift Valley (CRV), Ethiopia. Methods Key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and secondary data sources were employed to collect relevant data. Results The result of the study indicated that the influence of informal institutions on formal institutions or vice versa was insignificant, and unable to change the actions of water users in the CRV. Other limitations observed in water resources governance in the CRV include a lack of actors’ clear roles and responsibilities, absence of meaningful decentralization, limited engagement of key actors in policy development, lack of synergy between the institutions, and absence of enforcement mechanisms. Conclusion Considering the local contexts and community’s traditional knowledge of water governance in water-related policy, rules, and regulations, and enhancing the capacity of local-level institutions, strong interplay among all institutions involved in water governance, and meaningful actors’ engagement were recommended to advance the role of institutions in water resources governance in the CRV and in the country.

The Ethiopian government has made efforts to rehabilitate degraded lands using a range of sustainable land management (SLM) initiatives. One of the key components was the use of improved structural soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies. However, the effectiveness of technology adoption varies greatly among households and abandoning previously accepted measures is a typical occurrence. Thus, this study sought to discover factors influencing smallholder farmers’ decisions to abandon already accepted SWC measures. The analysis was conducted based on data collected from 525 sample households surveyed in two districts in Central Ethiopia. An ordered cumulative logistic (POM) regression model was used to examine variables explaining households’ decision behavior. The study findings have revealed that sampled households were at different adoption stages, i.e., dis-adopters (22%), pilot-level adopters (14%) and adopters (64%). The results from the POM model also show that a range of variables influenced farmers’ dis-adoption decisions. Factors such as awareness about the risks of land degradation, access to training, incentives, land fragmentation, gender, full-time labor size, gentle slope plots, economic returns on investment and post-adoption follow-up were found to substantially influence smallholder farmers’ adoption discontinuance decisions. Thus, policymakers should consider these variables in designing strategies to overcome barriers to SLM practices.

LULC variation has increased in many parts of the world recent years. Analyzing LULC is valuable to ability to grasp for spatial extent, patterns and impacts of the dynamics. This research examines the magnitudes and trends of LULC dynamics of Wayu-Tuka District, Western Ethiopia for a period of 1990–2020. Data were acquired from Landsat images (i.e, TM from 1990 to 2000, ETM+ from 2010 and OLI 2020). LULC classes were classified (from Landsat images) to develop land use land cover change maps for the study area. Landsat images were grouped via supervised classification method and maximum likelihood classifier (MLC). Accuracy scores and kappa a coefficient was used to confirm the accuracy categorized for LULC classes. Forest, settlement area, cultivated area, water body, and bare land are the main land use land cover categories identified in the study area. At the study district, forest coverage decreased progressively within the past three decades (1990–2020) from 12.4% in 1990 to 2.6% in 2020. The settlements, cultivated lands and water bodies have been explained by a average rate of 0.41% per year and forest land has been reduced by 0.33% per year. The study identified the major drivers of land use/land cover dynamics such as expansion of agricultural land, extraction of fuel woodland, illegal settlements and illegal logging was the key factors of LULC changes in the field of the study. In expressions of historical and current LULC, the analysis indicated that in the three decades years’ viewpoint; changes in agriculture land expansion and expansion of settlement land have had a strong impact on the LULC dynamics. The few remaining forest area coverage of the District shall be completely vanished unless measures are taken to curb these declining trends. Therefore, relevant stakeholders should take integrated actions to rehabilitate degraded landscapes through afforestation and reforestation programmes.

Fast coppicing plantations like Eucalyptus are becoming an ever increasingly important land use system globally, including the Eucalyptus hotspot highlands of Northwestern Ethiopia. However, comprehensive information regarding species composition is essential for proper planning and policy decisions. The current study mapped the spatial distribution of Eucalyptus globulus (hereafter referred to as Eucalyptus) and identified the key push factors for its expansion. The study used a mapping procedure that uses Landsat imagery together with ground truth data based on supervised training of a pixel-by-pixel classification algorithm within image regions to distinguish areas of Eucalyptus plantations from other classes. High-resolution multispectral and multi-temporal remote-sensing images were combined with ground truth data to produce robust features of Eucalyptus plantation distribution maps. Heckman's Two-Stage econometric model was also employed for determining the major driving factors of Eucalyptus expansion. The results of the mapping algorithm were Eucalyptus plantation distribution maps of 30 × 30 m resolution that showed temporal changes from 1999 to 2021. The findings revealed that Eucalyptus coverage increased by 55% during the period from 1999 to 2010 and the change expressively increased to 69% in 2021 with respect to the reference period. The study also found that a number of push factors influenced the size of land planted with Eucalyptus. The developed maps showing the spatial distribution and expansion of Eucalyptus will help policymakers properly manage the ecosystems and agricultural landscapes of Eucalyptus growing areas.

The government of Ethiopia has undertaken several projects to restore degraded farmlands using a variety of sustainable land management (SLM) techniques. One of the critical elements of the program was the rehabilitation of farmlands using physical soil and water conservation (SWC) strategies. This study examines household determinants of continued SWC adoption performances using areas representing a variety of contexts. The analysis was conducted using a binary logit model based on data collected from 525 sample households in two districts, namely Kewet and Sebeta-hawas. Of the study participants, 276 households were from the Kewet district in the Amhara region, and 249 households were from Sebeta-hawas in the Oromia region. The study findings revealed a significant difference between sampled households in the study areas regarding continued adoption performances, i.e. (25%) in the Sebeta-hawas and (41%) in the Kewet districts. Among others, productivity gains, consistent follow-up, sufficient farm labor, livestock holding, assistance-free efforts, the experience of soil erosion risks, and sloppy farm plots provided incentives for households to embrace the already introduced measures. Aside from that, there appeared to be differences in the relative contributions and significance of determinants influencing the likelihood of continued adoption. The important conclusion is that adoption effectiveness may differ under different circumstances and agro-ecosystems. Variables influencing continued adoption are also context-specific. Thus, decision-makers should consider contextual variations in designing policies and strategies that promote adoption continuities and utilizations.

Sustainable livestock farming practices have the potential to improve productivity and high income, reduce greenhouse gases, and improve household food security. Despite previous efforts to disseminate these technologies, the rate of adoption has remained very low in Ethiopia. In this study, we investigate the determinants of adoption and the impact of improved dairy farming practices (IDFP), which include improved breed, improved feed, and improved feeding conditions, on household food security in the central highland of Ethiopia. Methods: A multi-stage stratified random sampling technique was used to select 480 smallholder farmers from four districts. The study employed principal component analysis (PCA) to group IDFPs, and the endogenous switching regression model (MESR) was used to examine household food security status. Results: Our findings showed that IDFP adoption had a significant and positive impact on per capita food consumption and increases the likelihood of smallholder farmers being food secure compared to non-adopters. The adoption of integrated IDFP had a greater impact on household food security when smallholder farmers used a package that incorporates improved breeds, feeds, and feeding systems (B1F1S1). The implementation of this package increased food security by 31% in terms of household food consumption score (HFCS) and 26% in terms of household diet diversity score (HDDS). Additionally, the size of livestock holdings, off-farm income, extension services, and milk collection centers all influenced the adoption decision of this package. Conclusions: It has been confirmed that improving dairy farming practices for sustainable development can significantly contribute to the food security of smallholder farmers when used in combination. Interventions that address access to farm resources, the supply chain for technological inputs and services, and output markets may assist in the adoption of dairy technologies.

Background: Indigenous Knowledge-based (IK) prediction of weather is an activity as old as humanity. The objective of this study is to examine indigenous knowledge-based seasonal weather indicating features of astronomic stars. Methods: This study is based on primary data that were generated through using focus group discussion, key informant interviews, experimental groups, and direct observation. Results: The findings revealed that, in the study area, one of the widely used practices of indigenous-based weather indicating astronomic objects that exhibit change naturally within a continuum of varying temporal and spatial contexts are observable external features of stars. In the study area weather indicating outlooks of stars are: temporal patterns of star-moon alignment/defect of star-moon alignment; position/direction of the stars and physical/colors of stars. The indicators were displayed in a more than three months lead time ahead of the actual occurrence of weather events. The occurrence of the forecasting of the weather event actually happened in 2021. The severe drought of 2021/2022 was mainly caused by naturally driven defects of star-moon alignment. These practices are still regularly used in decision making. However, these practices are not yet mainstreamed in to formal structures. Conclusion: Curtailments of mobility, severity of drought, weakening of traditional institution, leaving of traditional life-style and death of the knowledgeable elders are the major challenging factors to these practices.

Abstract Background The need for understanding spatial distribution of forest aboveground carbon density (ACD) has increased to improve management practices of forest ecosystems. This study examined spatial distribution of the ACD in the Harana Forest. A grid sampling technique was employed and three nested circular plots were established at each point where grids intersected. Forest-related data were collected from 1122 plots while the ACD of each plot was estimated using the established allometric equation. Environmental variables in raster format were downloaded from open sources and resampled into a spatial resolution of 30 m. Descriptive statistics were computed to summarize the ACD. A Random Forest classification model in the R-software package was used to select strong predictors, and to predict the spatial distribution of ACD. Results The mean ACD was estimated at 131.505 ton per ha in this study area. The spatial prediction showed that the high class of the ACD was confined to eastern and southwest parts of the Harana Forest. The Moran’s statistics depicted similar observations showing the higher clustering of ACD in the eastern and southern parts of the study area. The higher ACD clustering was linked with the higher species richness, species diversity, tree density, tree height, clay content, and SOC. Conversely, the lower ACD clustering in the Harana Forest was associated with higher soil cation exchange capacity, silt content, and precipitation. Conclusions The spatial distribution of ACD in this study area was mainly influenced by attributes of the forest stand and edaphic factors in comparison to topographic and climatic factors. Our findings could provide basis for better management and conservation of aboveground carbon storage in the Harana Forest, which may contribute to Ethiopia’s strategy of reducing carbon emission.

A variety of socioeconomic and environmental drivers have contributed to changes in LULC around the world in recent years. This study examines the socioeconomic drivers that accelerated LULC in western Ethiopia. The data were generated from terrestrial satellite images primary and secondary sources. Primary data sources include household surveys, field observations, group discussions, interviews, key informants, and interpreting remote sensing data. Secondary data were reviewed mainly from relevant literature both published and unpublished materials. Landsat images were classified using the supervised classification technique and maximum likelihood classifier using arc GIS 10.3 to create LULC maps of the study area. Accuracy score and kappa coefficient were used to confirm the accuracy of the classified LULC, and agricultural land, settlement, bare land, forest land, and water body were the main LULC classes in the district. Forest cover in three decades (1990–2020) in the study area decreased from 12.1% in 1990 to 2.6% in 2020. The data were also analyzed using a descriptive model, Pearson correlation, and binary logistic regression. The independent variables (age and gender) show a Pearson’s positive correlation with the drivers of LULC dynamics; that is, as these independent variables increase, the drivers of LULC dynamics also increase, whereas educational status and land holding size show a negative correlation. This shows that the drivers of the anthropogenic forces of LULC dynamics decreased as the number of educated populations and the size of land holdings increased, and vice versa. Then, the binary logistic regression model examined the relationship between the dependent and the major socioeconomic (independent) variables. Logistic regression was performed to determine how independent variables and the drivers of LULC (natural forces or anthropogenic forces) change and the model was statistically significant (x2 = 23.971, df = 5, P

This study examines smallholder farmers’ conservation agriculture (CA) adoption decisions from a soil management perspective in two semiarid areas of southwestern Ethiopia. The analysis was based on a survey of 392 household heads in each of the mixed maize/sorghum/teff + Moringa stenopetala of Derashe district and maize/teff + banana fruit tree in Arba Minch Zuriya district farming systems. Two groups of smallholders that practice different land management, i.e., conservation agriculture and conventional tillage, were selected. A binary logistic regression model was used to answer the question of factors that determine smallholders’ initial decision to adopt CA. Nine explanatory variables including the age of the household head, level of formal education, family size, size of total landholding in hectares, size of livestock owned in the tropical livestock unit, farming experience, net income from annual + perennial crops, provided extension service by development agents, and lack of access to small-scale irrigation were included in the analysis. The study result revealed that nonpracticing groups have higher schooling, farmland holding, and livestock relative to CA-practicing households. Households with increasing age, schooling, total livestock holding, and higher net per annum income were less likely to practice CA. However, the CA practicing decision was high with an increase in extension service and lack of access to small-scale irrigation. Though CA with the Targa-na-Potayta mulching technique is an age-old practice in the Derashe area, the impact of extension service has indispensable benefits in extending the knowledge to younger smallholders.

This study examines the impact of two hydropower dam reservoirs, Amerti and Neshe, on the adjacent rural household food insecurity in the Abay Chome district, northwestern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional method was employed to collect data from 485 households (268 affected and 217 non-affected households) following a probability proportional to the size sampling procedure. Households’ food insecurity access scale (HFIAS) and households’ dietary diversity score (HDDS) were used to examine households’ food insecurity status in the study area. The Endogenous Switching Regression model was employed to identify the impact of the dam construction on household food insecurity. The results revealed that the average HDDS and HFIAS in the study area were 5.1 and 10.29, respectively. The study also demonstrated that the affected household’s average HDDS and HFIAS were 4.48 and 10.98, respectively. The study results further revealed that the construction of dams has significantly increased the HFIAS of displaced households by 14.6% while reducing HDDS by 24%. This study found a negative relationship between dam construction and food security, although dam construction is supposed to increase food security by increasing access to water. Thus, we recommend that hydropower reservoirs be effectively designed to reduce the impacts on adjacent communities.

AbstractAgroforestry systems are thought to reconcile biodiversity protection with food production and as a means of climate change adaptation and mitigation options. The contribution of a coffee-based agroforestry system to tree diversity and carbon stock along altitudinal gradients in Western Ethiopia was assessed. At 500-m intervals, six transect lines were methodically set up throughout the altitudinal gradient. There were made a total of 60 sample plots, each measuring 40 m by 40 m. A total of 34 woody species were identified. Biomass carbon stocks and tree diversity were quantified across altitudinal gradients. In the middle altitude, there were more woody species (28) than in the top altitude, where there were only a few species (16). The tree plants stored around 40.6 t ha−1 of biomass carbon on average. Aboveground biomass had a carbon stock of 32.22 C t ha−1, whereas belowground biomass had a carbon stock of 8.38 C t ha−1. The lower altitude biomass carbon stocks were substantially bigger than the upper altitude, which were 48.4 C t ha−1 and 25.67 C t ha−1, respectively. With increasing altitude, the study found a statistically significant negative link between tree diversity and biomass carbon storage (P

Indigenous knowledge is still widely used by communities around the world to overcome social-ecological challenges. Borana Oromo pastoralists of Southern Ethiopia have been searching for future weather phenomena using their indigenous knowledge. This study examines indigenous knowledge-based seasonal weather forecasts through using observable physical and temporal patterns of astronomic objects. Data were generated through using focus group discussion, experimental knowledgeable groups and direct observation in the year 2021. The finding reveals that Borana Oromo pastoralists commonly define physical and temporal outlooks of the Moon that are changed and/ or displayed periodically within a range of varying contexts. The observation of the Moon features have been offering sufficient lapse time in a more than/within ahead of a season/ and is relatively more accurate than the other traditional forecasting objects. The study showed that both temporal and spatial dimensions of the forecasting were actually happened in Ganna (March to May rainfall), Adolessa dry season (June to September) and Hgayya rainfall (October to November) seasons of 2021. This indigenous weather forecasting practices are still regularly used in every livelihood decision making process. However, this indigenous weather knowledge of Borana Oromo pastoralists of Southern Ethiopia is not yet mainstreamed in the formal institutional structures. Curtailments of mobility, severity of drought, weakening of traditional institution, leaving of traditional life style and death of the knowledgeable elders are the major factors that are challenging the potential effects of the indigenous weather forecasting indicators of the features of moon in the study area.

Indigenous knowledge is still widely used by communities around the world to overcome social-ecological challenges. Borana Oromo pastoralists of Southern Ethiopia have been searching for future weather phenomena using their indigenous knowledge. This study examines indigenous knowledge-based seasonal weather forecasts through using observable physical and temporal patterns of astronomic objects. Data were generated through using focus group discussion, experimental knowledgeable groups and direct observation in the year 2021. The finding reveals that Borana Oromo pastoralists commonly define physical and temporal outlooks of the Moon that are changed and/ or displayed periodically within a range of varying contexts. The observation of the Moon features have been offering sufficient lapse time in a more than/within ahead of a season/ and is relatively more accurate than the other traditional forecasting objects. The study showed that both temporal and spatial dimensions of the forecasting were actually happened in Ganna (March to May rainfall), Adolessa dry season (June to September) and Hgayya rainfall (October to November) seasons of 2021. This indigenous weather forecasting practices are still regularly used in every livelihood decision making process. However, this indigenous weather knowledge of Borana Oromo pastoralists of Southern Ethiopia is not yet mainstreamed in the formal institutional structures. Curtailments of mobility, severity of drought, weakening of traditional institution, leaving of traditional life style and death of the knowledgeable elders are the major factors that are challenging the potential effects of the indigenous weather forecasting indicators of the features of moon in the study area.

Addressing ecosystem destruction and unsustainable development requires appropriate frameworks to comprehensively investigate social-ecological systems. Focusing on woody plant management in southwestern Ethiopia, we combined social-ecological resilience and a leverage points perspective to (1) assess how stakeholders perceive and operationalize resilience principles; (2) investigate resilience challenges and solutions across different levels of systemic depth; and (3) assess how different stakeholder groups noted challenges and solutions at different levels of system depth. Data were collected in focus group discussions with multiple types of stakeholders and analyzed via quantitative content and descriptive analysis. All stakeholder groups identified two principles currently applied in the landscape, while other principles were not currently applied widely. In total, we identified 37 challenges and 44 solutions to resilience, mainly focused on “deeper” systemic change. This trend was noted across stakeholder groups, but particularly by local people. Based on our work, we suggest to foster bottom-up changes in system goals, rules, paradigms, and intent, drawing explicitly on local people and their knowledge. More broadly, we suggest that further research on combining social-ecological resilience and leverage points perspectives could be helpful to better navigate and transform social-ecological systems.

Since the early 2000s, Ethiopia has been implementing one of the largest land certification and digitalization programs in Africa, underpinned by technological and policy innovations. The reform indicates a promising avenue for increasing the collateralization of land use rights for smallholder households who have been credit constrained. However, there is scant evidence to what extent these reforms have influenced access to credit. To help generate new insights and fill this gap, the study employed administrative data generated from 11 districts’ digital land registers, survey data from 2296 households in 19 districts, key informant interviews, and policy and legal framework review. Descriptive and inferential statistics complemented by qualitative explanations are employed to analyze the results of the study. The results revealed that accessibility of information from the digital rural land registers increased the credit-worthiness of small landholders and reduced transaction costs and risks. The reform related to collateralization of land use rights also incentivizes financial institutions to establish new loan products for small landholders. The study concludes that while the two-stage land certification programs allow smallholders to possess documented land rights, their credit-worthiness may likely remain negligible without further technological and policy innovations. This implies two policy issues: the need to reform secured transaction laws and digitalizing registries for higher land rights trade ability.

Forest decline and degradation are particularly high in the tropics and pose a risk to those who depend on forest resources. The in-migration of smallholders to forest frontiers can fuel transitions of livelihoods and land and resource use. However, the conditions under which in-migration contributes to such transitions remain poorly understood. With this study, we aim to investigate the influence of in-migration, together with other non-demographic factors, on the livelihoods of local and migrant communities. As a case study, we chose the Guraferda district, a hotspot of rural in-migration and forest loss in southwest Ethiopia, where the forest-based local population experienced a rapid transition to agriculture-based livelihoods. We used 224 household surveys in three different kebeles (smallest administrative unit in Ethiopia) and applied descriptive and analytical statistics to understand how and why the forest activities of local and migrant groups have changed since a major resettlement program was launched in 2003. The findings were contextualized by local expert knowledge to assess forest loss and the role of in-migration in livelihood transitions and deforestation. Forest cover in Guraferda declined partially because of the in-migration of smallholders from agricultural-based systems, and insecure land tenure, but also considerably because of the expansion of commercial agriculture. With the decline in forest, the local population adopted migrants’ agricultural practices, a trend further encouraged by agricultural policies and barriers to participation in forest management for locals. Our study challenges simplified assumptions in in-migration–deforestation debates by showing that governmental policies, land tenure, and natural-resource access are mediating the impact of migration on livelihood transitions and deforestation. We conclude that securing land tenure and equal access to natural resources for frontier residents and promoting a mix of agricultural and forest livelihood activities can reduce adverse impacts in in-migration areas.

Ethiopia is a country of diverse historical, cultural, geographical, archeological, and ecological resources and is well known as the cradle of humanity. It is also the tenth-largest country in Africa and endowed with vast land and water resources. This country was unable to translate these potential resources into positive development outcomes. This paper examines the historical perspective of Ethiopia’s underdevelopment mystery under the last three regimes (i.e., Haile Selassie (Imperial), Derg, and the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)). Qualitative approaches mainly interview, discussion, document analysis, and personal experiences were employed in generating relevant data that were analyzed and presented thematically. The results show that Ethiopia ranked the least in many global human development indexes such as Human Development Index, Corruption Index, and Global Hunger Index in the last decade. The underlying historical development challenges include political instability, despotic leadership, corruption, dependence on foreign aid and assistance, controlled freedom of expression, lack of diversity within unity, and inconsistent development policies. Over the last three successive regimes, the state-society relationship has been characterized by conflict, disagreement, and supremacy of state which messed up available national development opportunities. If Ethiopia has to come out of poverty and underdevelopment, it needs to improve its political stability and governance. It must be governed by ‘popularly elected’ not by ‘self-elected leader’ and put in place a system of accountability for a better future and wellbeing of its population. Consistent and pro-poor policy, good working culture, and unity in diversity must be other areas of concern for future development.

We studied food security and biodiversity conservation from a social-ecological perspective in southwestern Ethiopia. Specialist tree, bird, and mammal species required large, undisturbed forest, supporting the notion of ‘land sparing’ for conservation. However, our findings also suggest that forest areas should be embedded within a multifunctional landscape matrix (i.e. ‘land sharing’), because farmland also supported many species and ecosystem services and was the basis of diversified livelihoods. Diversified livelihoods improved smallholder food security, while lack of access to capital assets and crop raiding by wild forest animals negatively influenced food security. Food and biodiversity governance lacked coordination and was strongly hierarchical, with relatively few stakeholders being highly powerful. Our study shows that issues of livelihoods, access to resources, governance and equity are central when resolving challenges around food security and biodiversity. A multi-facetted, social-ecological approach is better able to capture such complexity than the conventional, two-dimensional land sparing versus sharing framework.

In Ethiopia, soil degradation has been ongoing for centuries and caused the population to be food insecured. To cope with the challenges of soil fertility loss and related stress, various indigenous reclamation practices have been developed and implemented by local smallholder farmers. However, the contributions of indigenous soil management in augmenting soil quality and crop productivity were not well studied. This study selected two neighboring districts, Derashe and Arba Minch Zuriya, with different indigenous soil management practices. The Derashe people as an adaptation strategy designed indigenous soil management, locally known as Targa-na-Potayta with zero tillage, and mixed/rotational cropping. However, in the neighboring Arba Minch Zuriya district, smallholder farmers use conventional tillage using animal power. Representative soil samples were collected from selected four adjacent kebeles of the two districts. Eight farm plots per kebele were selected and a total of 32 composite samples were collected following a zigzag pattern to the depth of 30 cm. Bulk density (BD), field capacity (FC), permanent wilting point (PWP), particle size, soil textural classes, power of hydrogen (pH), cation exchange capacity (CEC), available potassium (Av. K), available phosphorous (Av. P), total nitrogen (TN), exchangeable bases (Na, Mg, Ca, and K), and soil organic carbon (OC) were analyzed. To assess crop production and income, a total of 392 household heads were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using an independent sample t-test. The results showed, soils under indigenous management, clay content was 53.74 ± 2.68%, FC 47.8 ± 1.09%, AWHC 15.2 ± 0.37%, pH 8.02 ± 0.07, SOC 1.8 ± 0.02%, and sum of cations 68.2 ± 1.66 meq/100 g. The values in the tested parameters were statistically significant (P

Many people in less developed countries depend on woody plants, but sustainable management of woody plants often remains a challenge. We assessed people’s use, perceived property rights and management of woody plants in farmland and forests in a landscape of southwestern Ethiopia. We interviewed 180 households and surveyed woody plants in 192 plots. We found that 95 species were used for eleven major purposes. The majority of plants (52) were used for house construction followed by farming tools (42), fuelwood (38) and honey production (37). These benefits were sourced from farmland, forest with coffee management and forest without coffee management. Our study found that local people perceived land tenure security and tree use rights to be limited, especially for forests. We found abundant regeneration of the most widely used tree species in all land use types. However, some of these species, including important pole and timber species, appeared to be overharvested in forests. To improve biodiversity outcomes and sustainable use, it would be beneficial to recognize local people’s diverse needs for woody plants and grant them appropriate property rights. Conservation policies should encompass the entire landscape and empower local farmers to proactively manage tree populations while providing safeguards against overuse.

The northwestern highlands of Ethiopia are characterized by severe land degradation and apparently low agricultural productivity. This situation is continuously threatening the livelihoods of smallholder farmers who mainly sustain their living from the cultivation of annual crops. In recent years, however, smallholder farmers have started converting their croplands to plantations of Eucalyptus, a non-native tree species to Africa, for its rewarding economic contributions. In this study, we aggregated data from 388 smallholder Eucalyptus growers located in three agroecology zones (onwards called farm typologies). We measured the economic impact of Eucalyptus succession on croplands using a farm household model which is provided in the GAMS (General Algebraic Modeling System) platform. The results of the model varied between farm typologies and showed that households’ gross margins increased with a corresponding increase in the conversion of croplands. Results also showed that gross margins from plantations of Eucalyptus were higher than that of cultivation of food crops. Furthermore, evaluation of farm portfolios indicated a higher benefit-cost ratio (BCR) for the plantation of Eucalyptus. We concluded that the conversion of croplands in the study area is an incentive-driven process in a dynamic farming system, which strongly demands bringing policy-emanated livelihood alternatives. With this arena, the expansion of Eucalyptus is recommended for lands of terrain features, high marginality and low suitability for the cultivation of food crops and setting aside fertile arable lands. We generalized that an increase in Eucalyptus plantation pays off given the implementation of proper land resource management and the apparent impacts of Eucalyptus on biodiversity and cultural landscape is managed with sustainability perspectives. However, it demands collaborative policy efforts that can especially meet socioeconomic, environmental and public interests.

Despite the recent successful establishment of systematic land registration programs in some African countries including Ethiopia, updating the land registers has become a growing concern. However, there is limited empirical evidence about whether landholders’ behavior is driving the lack of updating land registers in Ethiopia. Using the theory of planned behavior, this study examines the factors that influence landholders’ behavior of formalizing rural land transactions in Ethiopia. Primary and secondary data were collected using surveys, key informant interviews, and a literature review. A total of 206 respondents participated in the survey from the Basona Worena district of the Amhara region, central Ethiopia. A structural equation model and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the survey data and supplemented by qualitative findings. The study findings revealed that landholders’ attitudes and subjective norms have positively and significantly influenced their intentions to formalize land transactions. However, perceived behavioral control has a negative and insignificant influence. The predictive relevance of the research model is significant and indicates strong intentions to formalize but less actual behavior. This behavior can influence the currency of the information in the land register in the near future and degrade the functions and sustainability of the land registration system in Ethiopia. The study findings recommended facilitating the behavioral changes of landholders to transform their strong intentions into actual practice. Policymakers should develop and implement an innovative information value creation strategy including landholder-oriented services that incentivize the formalization of land transactions and helps landholders overcome hurdles created by subjective norms.

Untreated industrial effluents have often caused environmental pollution and human health concern. This study analyzed the pollution of wastewater from some selected industries in the Sabata town of Ethiopia. The composite sampling techniques were used to collect wastewater from industries in dry (April–May) and wet (June–July) seasons and analyzed physicochemical properties using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. All parameters investigated were analyzed using mean and Analysis of Variance. The results depicted that the conductivity, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, and pH were all beyond the safe limits of World Health Organization along the studied Sabata River and industries. This indicates pollution of the water that not apt for drinking, farming, and industrial uses. Furthermore, the electrical conductivity, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solid, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus were statistically significant (p < 0.05), which indicates the disruption of river water quality by industrial effluents. Therefore, the government should take this into account and devise mitigation strategies through enforcing existing standard of industrial pollution control regulation, installation of treatment plant, transforming of industrial residual into biogas products, awareness creation for the society, initiation of sustainable corporate industrial responsibility, and the implementation of environmental protection regulation.

Ethiopia has embarked on one of the largest digitalization programs for rural land registration in Africa. The program is called the national rural land administration information system (NRLAIS). Over the past couple of years, NRLAIS was rolled-out and made operational in over 180 woredas (districts). There is, however, limited empirical evidence on whether and to what extent NRLAIS has been successful. This study explores the factors that influence the acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS to gauge its operational success in Ethiopia. Data were collected both from primary and secondary sources using surveys, key informant interviews, and a literature review. Survey data were collected from 201 staff of 50 woreda land administration offices in three regional states (Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP) and analyzed using a structural equation model. The results revealed that system quality, information quality, service quality, and perceived usefulness of NRLAIS have positively and significantly influenced the acceptance and actual use of the system. However, perceived ease of use has an insignificant influence. The predictive relevance of the research model is significant and indicates substantial operational success of NRLAIS. The quick acceptance and use of NRLAIS will likely improve service delivery, promote data integration, and strengthen informed decision-making. The study recommends strengthening behavioral changes of the land administration experts through two enhanced service quality measures—technical and operational capacity to a robust and sustainable digitalization. Policymakers could leverage operational success to upgrade the NRLAIS into a unified national land registration information system that bridges the urban–rural land governance divide.

Social-ecological systems are complex and involve uncertainties emerging from interactions between biophysical and social system components. In the face of growing complexity and uncertainty, stakeholder engagement with the future is important to proactively manoeuvre toward desirable outcomes. Focusing on the interrelated challenges of food security and biodiversity conservation, we conducted a participatory scenario planning exercise in a rural landscape in southwestern Ethiopia. We involved 35 stakeholder organizations in multiple workshops to construct causal loop diagrams, elicit critical uncertainties, and draft scenario narratives. Jointly, we developed four plausible future scenarios for the studied landscape: (1) gain over grain: local cash crops; (2) mining green gold: coffee investors; (3) coffee and conservation: a biosphere reserve; and (4) food first: intensive farming and forest protection. These scenarios differ with respect to their main social-economic dynamics as well as their food security and biodiversity outcomes. Importantly, three of the four scenarios, i.e., all except "coffee and conservation: a biosphere reserve," focused on increasing efficiency in agricultural production through intensification, specialization, and market integration. In contrast, "coffee and conservation: a biosphere reserve" was driven by agroecological production methods that support diversified livelihoods, a multifunctional landscape, maintenance of natural capital, a governance system that supports local people, and social-ecological resilience. Similar agroecological trajectories have been advocated as desirable for sustainable development in numerous other smallholder farming systems worldwide. Given fewer trade-offs and better equity outcomes, it appears that an agroecological development pathway stands a good chance of generating synergies between food security and biodiversity conservation. Pathways prioritizing agricultural efficiency, in contrast, are more likely to degrade natural capital and cause social inequity.

Land acquisitions for expansion of industries through expropriation have affected means of income generation of evicted people in Ethiopia. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and endogenous switching regression. Results showed that the expropriated households have lower total income and higher personal expenditures than the non-expropriated household's. Besides, the total income of the expropriated households was significantly lower than that of the non-expropriated households. Thus, there should be a restoration mechanisms through the implementation of livelihood improvement fund; provision of share stock from company; training of expropriated people at financial accounting and management system, provision of infrastructure and service facilities, and creation of safe environment for the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]