Economics of Land Degradation and Improvement in Ethiopia

Abstract

Land degradation is an important problem in Ethiopia, with more than 85 % of the land degraded to various degrees. 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. The assessment of nationally representative household survey shows that important drivers of sustainable land management in Ethiopia are biophysical, regional and socio-economic determinants. Specifically, access to agricultural extension services and markets and secure land tenure are important incentives to adoption of sustainable land management practices. Thus, policies and strategies relating to securing tenure rights, building the capacity of land users through access to extension services, and improving access to input, output and financial markets should be considered in order to incentivize sustainable land management. Important local level initiatives and institutions to manage grazing lands and forests through collective action should also be encouraged. We use the Total Economic Value approach (TEV) to estimate the cost of land degradation in Ethiopia. The annual cost of land degradation associated with land use and cover change in Ethiopia is estimated to be about $4.3 billion. Only about 51 % of this cost of land degradation represents the provisioning ecosystem services. The remaining 49 % represent the loss of supporting and regulatory and cultural ecosystem services. Use of land degrading practices in maize and wheat farms resulted in losses amounting to $162 million-representing 2 % equivalent of the GDP in 2007. The costs of action to rehabilitate lands degraded during the 2001-2009 period through land use and cover change were found to equal about $54 billion over a 30-year horizon, whereas if nothing is done, the resulting losses may equal almost $228 billion during the same period. Thus, the costs of action against land degradation are lower than the costs of inaction by about 4.4 times over

Restoration of degraded landscapes for ecosystem services in North-Western Ethiopia

“…Recent estimates put the size of degraded land at over one-quarter of the entire country, which affects nearly a third of the population (Chirwa, 2014; Gebreselassie et al., 2016). Land degradation is particularly severe in the north and north-western regions of the Ethiopia, as in these areas, steep slopes have been cultivated for many centuries and are subject to serious soil erosion (Mekuria et al., 2007, 2009, 2011a,b).…”

Exclosures for landscape restoration in Ethiopia: business model scenarios and suitability. Agricultural Water Management – Making a Business Case for Smallholders

“…Underlying drivers for this degradation include weak regulatory context and institutions, demographic growth, unclear user rights to land, low empowerment of local communities, and poverty (Kirui and Mirzabaev 2014). According to recent estimates, the area of degraded land in Ethiopia is more than one-quarter of the total land area of the country, and this affects nearly one-third of the population (Chirwa 2014;Gebreselassie et al 2016). Annual deforestation (percentage change) in Ethiopia was reported at 0.6% in 2015, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources.…”

“…LULC change is responsible for massive environmental degradation in Ethiopia (Eyasu 2003). This has important impacts on household livelihoods, for example, through lowering crop yields with the accompanying effects on income and nutrition (Gebreselassie et al 2016). Land degradation in the form of soil erosion and resultant siltation that block water storage structures, such as irrigation systems and hydropower dams, reduces the life span of structures and curtails the services they provide.…”

“…The estimated cost of land degradation associated with LULC change in Ethiopia is about USD 4.3 billion per year (Gebreselassie et al 2016). The cost of many interventions to reverse or mitigate land degradation, including the establishment of exclosures, is lower than the cost of inaction by about 4.4 times over a 30-year horizon.…”

“…The cost of many interventions to reverse or mitigate land degradation, including the establishment of exclosures, is lower than the cost of inaction by about 4.4 times over a 30-year horizon. This implies that USD 1 spent to rehabilitate degraded lands returns about USD 4.4 to Ethiopia (Gebreselassie et al 2016).…”