Background: Land degradation is one of the major threats to food security and natural resources conservation Zikre watershed. The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of land use types, management practices and slope classes on soil physico-chemical properties.
Background: To identify and quantify the impact of climate change on socio-economic sectors and ecosystems, many global studies have been carried out and policy changes for mitigation and adaptation were recommended. However, the old-fashioned top-down approach, global study, has little local and regional specificity and has failed to address the regional and local consequences of climate change. Thus, this research was conducted in filling such knowledge gaps in Lake Tana sub-basin. The research was aimed at addressing the national and local issues of climate change and was done by analyzing time series temperature and rainfall trends in the highlands of Ethiopia and LTSB in particular. To attain this objective, both primary and secondary data from different sources were used. The collected data were analyzed following quantitative and qualitative analysis methods and Manna Kendall Trend test method was used.
Results:The main findings revealed that the mean, maximum and minimum temperature had a general increasing trend; whereas, rainfall amount showed a general decreasing trend in Lake Tana Sub-basin. Analysis of the 40 years annual total rainfall data from 109 representative ground based meteorological stations in Ethiopia indicated a coefficient of variation ranging from 20 to 89 %. Of the 109 stations considered, 17 had above 42 % coefficient of variation highlighting the extreme variability of rainfall over the country
Conclusions:To conclude, development planners should design strategies and plans by taking into account a declining summer rainfall and increasing temperature impacts on rural livelihoods.
Background: Agriculture is the most susceptible sector to climate change related hazards. Unusual temperature and rainfall occurrence in terms of amount and distribution usually lead to poor harvest and/or complete crop failure and shortage of pasture and animal feed in Ethiopia. Such extreme conditions ultimately result in drought with a resultant depletion of assets, societal vulnerability, mass migration and loss of life. This research work has been conducted to fill such knowledge gaps of the target population in Lake Tana Sub-Basin. The objectives of the research were to assess the perception of the rural people about climate change and adaptation models. To attain this research objective, both primary and secondary data from different sources were collected. The collected data statistical analyses were done by STATA version 11 computer program.
Results:Results of Heckman probit and multinomial logistic regression models revealed that age, educational level, wealth status, agricultural extension services, and distance to the nearest health center are found to be significant for determining climate change adaptation. The farmers 'perceptions to climate change found to be statistically significant related to those factors such as: marital status, farm size, climate change information access and the level of income generations. The majority of the respondents argued that the strategies and programs of climate change adaptations need further enforcement to implement it fully up to the level of expectations.
Conclusion:It is therefore recommended that the legislative bodies and development planners should design strategies and plans by taking into account impacts of declining summer rainfall and increasing temperature on rural livelihoods. Moreover, adverse impacts of climate change and adaptation strategies should be a crosscutting issue.
Assessing the potential impacts of different land management practices helps to identify and implement sustainable watershed management measures. This study aims to assess a change in soil erosion rate under different land management practices in the Gilgel Abay watershed of the upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model that was adapted to the Ethiopian highlands context was employed to estimate the rate of soil erosion. The impact of land management practices on soil erosion was estimated for three scenarios, which were baseline, intensive cultivation, and extensive cultivation scenarios. At the baseline scenario, the mean annual soil erosion was estimated at ~32.8 t ha
−1
yr
−1
, which is equivalent to a loss of ~13.66 Mt yr
−1
from the entire watershed. While the rate of soil erosion reduced to ~11.3 t ha
−1
yr
−1
during the implementation of intensive cultivation management practice, which reduced the total soil loss in the watershed by 65%. On the other hand, under the extensive cultivation scenario, the mean annual soil erosion rate increased to ~34.4 t ha
−1
yr
−1
. The findings suggest that implementing agricultural intensification management practices can significantly reduce soil erosion in the watershed.
Ethiopia has the largest animal population in Africa. Next to crop production, the livestock sector has a great potential to assist the socio-economic development and transformation of the country. Studies indicate that the livestock sector accounts for about 40% of agricultural GDP and 20% of the total GDP. Amhara Region contributes 30% of the country’s livestock population. At the regional level, livestock production is an integral part of the mixed farming system, contributing 22% and 12.5% from agricultural GDP and total GDP, respectively. Though livestock play a great role to rural livelihoods, there are a number of challenges in this sector. A mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were employed to generate the required information. The overall land use/ land cover change analysis of the Landsat image of the year 1986 and 2013 showed that grazing land has declined drastically by 30.52 %. However, cultivated land has rapidly increased by 11.65%. Moreover, the remaining percentage of grassland use type was changed in to degraded grassland, degraded shrubby bush land, urban Settlement, and eucalyptus woodland. On the other hand, the total dry matter (DM) requirement was estimated to be 1,126,269.54 ton/year. Moreover, feed supply from pastureland, aftermath grazing and crop residues were estimated to be 852,700.30 tons of DM. This shows that the available feed/forage addressed only 72% and 28% the annual DM still required for livestock feeding in Gummara-Rib watershed. Based on this study, it is highly recommended that increase the productivity of the local breeds appropriate management practices and policy interventions should be made, especially on forage development and breed quality improvement. The mean livestock holding should be adjusted with feed availability to minimize its impacts on grazing land degradation and for better productivity.
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