Ethiopia soil degradation and overpopulation writework. By modeling the decomposition of soil organic matter dynamics, crop systems models can simulate the effects of soil nutrient depletion under lowinput extractive field management practices, as well as soil carbon sequestration under regenerative management practices. According to45 the aim of soil and water conservation is both addressing proper use of soil and maintaining its productive capacity by minimizing soil degradation rate. Farmers perception on soil erosion and land degradation problems and management practices in the beressa watershed of ethiopia. Soil quality assessment strategies for evaluating soil. Land degradation is threatening biological resources and agricultural productivity, the. The direct causes of land degradaton are apparent and genelly agreed. The objective was to assess and identify an effective sq indicator dataset from among 25 soil measurements, appropriate. Soil erosion is the most widespread form of land degradation in the region and most research on understanding the degradation process and finding a solution to. Tesfa worku meshesha 1, 2, sangharsh kumar tripathi 2. Causes and impacts of land degradation and desertification. Deforestation reduces soil cohesion, so that erosion, flooding and landslides ensue. Soil and water conservation in ethiopia springerlink.
Very severe soil loss was observed in the narrower steep slope upper part of the watershed at a rate that exceeds the tolerable soil loss limit. Soil erosion is a natural process in mountainous areas, but is often made much worse by poor management practices. Research article soil quality assessment strategies for evaluating soil degradation in northern ethiopia gebreyesusbrhanetesfahunegn 1,2 college of agriculture, aksum universityshire campus,shire, ethiopia center for development research zef, university of bonn, walterflex street no. Land degradation is exhibited as deforestation, decreasing biodiversity resources, soil moisture stress as well as soil erosion. Cause of land degradation and its impacts on livelihoods of.
Effect of land use land cover changes on the forest resources. Soil conservation activities in tigray, ethiopia umb. Soil erosion is one of the features of watershed degradation. Farming households knowledge and perception on soil. Introduction two environmental problems in ethiopia would be soil degradation and overpopulation. Soil erosion is the main driver of land degradation in ethiopia, and in the whole region of east africa. Farmers perception on soil erosion and land degradation. Soil quality sq degradation continues to challenge sustainable development throughout the world. One reason is that degradation indicators such as soil quality index sqi are neither well documented nor used to evaluate current land use and soil management systems lusms. Forests enhance the recharge of aquifers in some locales. Strategies will be assessed as to the help ethiopia needs from inside and outside sources. Consequently, the government has invested in soil and water conservation swc measures, mainly farmland terracing and exclosure of degraded lands.
The fast growing population of ethiopia is playing significant role in hastening land. Land degradation is one of the major challenges in agricultural production in many parts of the world, especially in developing nations like ethiopia. Soil erosion and land degradation have been a severe problem in the ethiopian highlands due to dense population, high livestock density and intensive crop production in the area. The study analyzes the extent of forest conversion and soil degradation in the two farming systems. The annual soil loss of the watershed extends from 0 at koga reservoir to 265 t ha. Usaid united states agency for international development. Title page abstract introduction conclusions references tables figures j i j i back close full screen esc printerfriendly version interactive discussion abstract soil erosion is the main driver of land degradation in ethiopia, and in the whole region of east africa. The fast growing population of ethiopia is playing significant role in. This campaign is spearheaded by the ethiopian federal ministry of agriculture and natural resources in collaboration with the ministry of environment and forestry, ministry of environment and forest, unfao and international nongovernmental organizations. The physical parameters are primarily organic matter content. The impact of soil erosion and land degradation in ethiopia. Land degradation is an important problem in ethiopia, with more than 85 % of the land degraded to various degrees.
According to the global assessment of soil degradation map. Soil degradation refers to negative changes in the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil, whereas vegetation degradation is the reduction in the number of species and the vegetational composition. Watershed degradation not only decreased land productivity but also increased social problems sertse, 2007, darghouth et al. The major causes of land degradation in ethiopia are the rapid population increase, severe soil loss, deforestation, low vegetative cover and unbalanced crop and. Land degradation and rehabilitation in ethiopia society at large is also suffering from uncertain information about the rates of land use change and land degradation. Soil erosion is a common term that is often confused with soil degradation as a whole, but in fact refers only to absolute soil losses in terms of topsoil and nutrients. The paper estimates the effect of soil degradation on crop yields for dominant cereals in ethiopia at a nationwide level and analyses its relation with population density and fertiliser use. Soil degradation needs to be recognised, alongside climate change, as one of the most pressing problems facing humanity. Deforestation and land degradation on the ethiopian.
In ethiopia, soil erosion by water constitutes the most widespread and damaging process of soil degradation woldeamlak, 2003. International conference on the contemporary development issues in ethiopia, cadpr, and western michigan university. An assessment of smallholder soil and water conservation. Soil erosion has been severe throughout the highlands, but mainly on agricultural land. Nature and causes of land degradation in the oromiya region core.
Soil erosion is one facet of land degradation that affects the physical and chemical properties of soils. Soil degradation is thus the most immediate environmental problem facing ethiopia. Previously implemented soil and water conservation practice were not halted the threat, because it was mass mobilization without detailed study of real situation and without convicting farmers. Ethiopia soil degradation and overpopulation essay 2146 words. Soil degradation is defined as a change in the soil health status resulting in a diminished capacity of the ecosystem to provide goods and services for its beneficiaries. It is based on analysis of data collected from 734 randomly selected farm householdheads substantiated with focus group discussions and field observations.
Soil conservation and water harvesting rain foundation. Excessive irrigation and outdated tilling practices reduce the amount of nutrients in the soil and make it less fertile for natural vegetation and agricultural purposes. Soil degradation refers to the decline in quantity and quality of soil. Overview on degradation of land due to overgrazing in. Solutions need to be developed and introduced which address both issues simultaneously. Land degradation is a great threat for the future and it requires great effort and resources to ameliorate. Stocktaking understanding desertification, land degradation and drought dldd land is a vital resource for producing food and other ecosystem goods and services including conserving. In ethiopia erosion and land degradation on the livelihood resource had become a key issue, resulted for food insecurity and difficult to break through the poverty gap using subsistence farming. A soil degradation index is derived from an ordered qualitative classification on the degree of soil degradation and the area extension. Effects of land use changes on soil quality and native flora. Table i below clarifics the elrs estimate that net losses from cropland still amount to about 100. Soil loss by runoff is a severe ecological problem occupying 56% of the world wide area. Soil degradation is evident in the mountainous areas of ethiopia, is often represented as results of human pressure.
Adoption driver and constraints of resource conservation. Soil loss estimation using gis and remote sensing techniques. Soil quality assessment strategies for evaluating soil degradation in northern ethiopia table 4 principal component analysis results using 25 potential soil quality indicators to evaluate eight lusms in the mainegus catchment, northern ethiopia. Soilerosioninduced land degradation is a great challenge in the ethiopian highlands. This study is aimed at analyzing farmers perception and adaptation to climate change in the dabus watershed. In ethiopia, soil degradation in the form of soil erosion and soil fertility loss is a serious challenge to agricultural productivity and economic growth mulugeta, 2004. Degraded soils have a health status such, that they do not provide the normal goods and services of the particular soil in its ecosystem.
The recorded annual soil erosion surface soil movement in ethiopia ranges from low of 16 tonshayr to high of 300 tonshayr depending. Deforestation and land degradation on the ethiopian highlands. Land degradation can be prevented through different mechanisms depending up on the nature and form of degradation. The major causes of land degradation in ethiopia are the rapid population increase, severe soil loss, deforestation, low vegetative cover and unbalanced crop and livestock production. Federal democratic republic of ethiopia ethiopia land. Instead of using indigenous practices to deal with environmental catastrophes, african governments and policy makers prefer to. Soil and water resources and degradation factors affecting their productivity in the ethiopian highland agroecosystems. The study employed descriptive methods to assess farmers perception of climate change, localindicators of climate change and. A soil degradation index is derived from an ordered qualitative classification on the degree of. The soils of ethiopia can be classified into five principal types. It can be improved through different soil and water conservation swc measures.
Effectiveness of soil and water conservation measures for. The degradation of nutrients in soil is often a result of poorly conducted farming and agricultural practices that lead to soil erosion. The article contains information about the traditional soil conservation practices, the reasons for intervention with traditional soil conservation technologies, the historical background of instutionalized soil conservation activities, the institutional. Most types of soil degradation can be prevented or reversed by adding nutrients to nutrient depleted soil, rebuilding topsoil through soil amendments, reestablishing vegetation, or buffering soil acidity scherr and yadav 1996. Whilst soil degradation is recognised as a major aspect of land degradation, other processes which affect the productive capacity of cropland, rangeland and forests, such as lowering of the water table and deforestation, are captured by the concept of land degradation. Land degradation and soil and water conservation in. A case study in the denku microwatershed oromia region by kassu kebede beyene submitted in accordance with the requirement for the degree of masters in human ecology at the university of south africa supervisor. Using eucalyptus for soil and water conservation on the highland vertisols of ethiopia. This property is very essential and could be an opportunity for farmers especially where the soil degradation and nutrient depletion is the main causes of low agricultural productivity and high. Research by the economics of land degradation initiative in 2015 calculated that soil degradation is. The effect of soil degradation on agricultural productivity. Agriculture in ethiopia is the foundation of the countrys economy, accounting for half of gross domestic product gdp, 83. The loss of soil, and the deterioration in fertility, moisture storage capacity, and structure of the remaining soils, all reduce the countrys agricultural productivity.
Socioeconomic impact assessment of integrated watershed. Usually land degrad ation is described in terms of the loss. There are varieties of soil erosion, and rill and interrill erosion are the recurrent types of water erosion, involving detachment, transport, and accumulation of soil particles to a new. Soil erosioninduced land degradation is a great challenge in the ethiopian highlands.
Study by wakene and heluf 2003 have examined the impacts of different land uses on soil qualities and the study indicated, the rate of soil quality degradation depends on land use systems, soil types. Status of selected physicochemical properties of soils under. This is indeed the most visible effect of soil degradation, but does not cover all of its aspects. The paper suggests some rules of thumb for identifying the priority areas for government and donor intervention, including the need for targeted research on the productivity.
Status of selected physicochemical properties of soils. The following report will be assessing the socioeconomic as well as the environmental impacts of soil erosion and land degradation impacts in the ethopian highlands of tigray. The first type is composed of euritic nitosols and andosols and is found on portions of the western and eastern highlands. Even though a number of soil and water conservation methods were introduced to combat land degradation, adoption of these practices remains below expectations. Topography, soil types and agroecological parameters are playing significant role in the degradation processes influenced by man. Land degradation and rehabilitation in ethiopia world bank. Effects of land use changes on soil quality and native flora degradation and restoration in the highlands of ethiopia. These soils are formed from volcanic material and, with proper management, have medium to high potential for rainfed agriculture. Soil and water resources and degradation factors affecting. Livestock is the integral component of the agriculture on which 80% of the population depends. Natural resource degradation in general and land degradation in particular has a great effect on the economies of developing countries. Soil erosion soil and water science university of florida. Specialists in soil and water conservation, rainwater harvesting and rangeland restoration from west, east and southern africa discussed in various working groups a large number of the so called best practices with respect to their adoption potential and limitations, advantages and disadvantages.
Federal democratic republic of ethiopia ethiopia land degradation neutrality national report degraded land under pressure in hintalowajirat district, south eastern zone, tigray region, ethiopia 2015 photo by yared shumete this report summarizes the key outcomes of the national efforts carried out in 2014 and 2015 towards. Understanding desertification, land degradation and drought dldd land is a vital resource for producing food and other ecosystem goods and services including conserving biodiversity, regulating hydrological regimes, cycling soil nutrients, and storing carbon, among others. However, the degradation of soils is one of the crucial issues of environmental damage, not only at the local scale but also at the global scale hurni, 2002. The distribution of loans was organized by integrating a geographic information systembased land degradation priority map with the communities judgments and land tenure maps. The dominant man induced causes of land degradation in ethiopia are poor farming practices, population pressure, overgrazing, over cultivation, soil erosion, deforestation, salinity and alkalinity problems, and the use of livestock manure and crop residue for fuel as energy resource of the rural households. Still land degradation lingers and presents the greatest threat to the survival of the nation d. The soil and water resources of ethiopia although, still rich, is going through fast degradation processes. Soil mapping and process modeling for sustainable land use management, 2017.
While losses are uneven this represents a loss of 4 mm of soil a year, twenty or more times. The effects of fanya juu soil conservation structure on. Effects of land use changes on soil quality and native. Overview on degradation of land due to overgrazing in ethiopia. Farmers perception of climate change and adaptation. This presentation will cover the main questions of why this is happening and answers that could help and control ethiopias land and overpopulation problems. Both extent and severity of the problem of land degradation spatial variations depending on different relief, ecology, rainfall, land use, land cover and soil types being as proximate and underlying causes. The ethiopian soil campaign was launched in june 2015 with the theme of healthy soils for healthy life. Recent estimates using satellite imagery show that land degradation hotspots over the last three decades cover about 23 % of the land area in the country. An estimated 7075% of ethiopias livestock population is concentrated in the highlands. The article shows results of an international and interdisciplinary project with the title rainfall and its erosivity in ethiopia. Economics of land degradation and improvement in ethiopia.
Land degradation is, however, difficult to grasp in its totality. Degradation of soil is done by erosion wind and water, biological degradation, physical degradation referring to the over loss of structure and changes in permeability and chemical degradation, this refers to acidification, declining fertility, changes in ph levels, salinization and chemical toxicity. Estimated gross soil loss rates by land cover type. Research article soil quality assessment strategies for. Pdf the effect of soil degradation on agricultural. Effects of soil degradation by modeling the decomposition of soil organic matter dynamics, crop systems models can simulate the effects of soil nutrient depletion under lowinput extractive field management practices, as well as soil carbon sequestration under regenerative management practices. Soil degradation is a consequence of intensive land use management, which is assumed to be caused by human impact, poverty, and a response to economic opportunities at the global level lambin et al. Effect of land use land cover changes on the forest. Land use dynamics, soil degradation and potential for sustainable use in metu area, illubabor region, ethiopia. Ethiopia soil degradation and overpopulation essay 2146.
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