Exploring the multiple contributions of enset (Ensete ventricosum) for sustainable management of home garden agroforestry system in Ethiopia

Harnessing Insights from Indicators-Based Resilience Assessment for Enhancing Sustainability in the Gurage Socio-Ecological Production Landscape of Ethiopia

“…According to the participants, enset-based home garden agroforestry is responsible for the landscape’s long-term resilience capacity, particularly in relation to the impact of drought. Enset is a perennial keystone crop in the home garden system that provides essential food for humans as well as feed for livestock (Sahle et al 2018 , 2021b ). The Gurage socio-ecological landscape area has not been particularly affected by famine, even in the 1980s when large parts of Ethiopia were affected due to the country’s vulnerability to extreme weather events (Brandt et al 1997 ; Harrison et al 2014 ; Borrell et al 2019 ).…”

“…The Gurage Zone has a population of 1,279,646 (622,078 men and 657,568 women) based on the 2007 census conducted by the CSA, with the vast majority of the population (92.4%) living in rural areas and engaging in agricultural production (CSA 2009 ). Settled agriculture has occurred in the area for at least a millennium (Tadesse 2009 ), with many Gurage settlements emerging around the cultivation of enset, a starchy root and tuber crop (also known as the false banana), which is a staple food among the Gurage people (Sahle et al 2018 , 2021b ). The landscape communities adopted an enset-based home garden agroforestry system, similar to other regions in the south, south-central, and southwestern Ethiopia (Sahle et al 2022 ) (Fig.…”

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Fig. 2 Illustration showing the Gurage socio-ecological production landscape settlement pattern following Jefoure roads (Source: Gurage Zone Tourism Culture and Sports Office 2019 ; Sahle et al 2021b )

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“…One example of the interaction between humans and nature is the Gurage socio-ecological production landscape in Ethiopia, where people reside in village settlements according to ecological conditions (Sahle and Saito 2021a ). Natural and plantation forests, sacred forests, home garden agroforests, cereal crops, grasslands, woodlots, wetlands, surface water, Jefoure roads, and human settlements make up the Gurage socio-ecological production system, characterized as a mosaic landscape (Sahle et al 2021a , b ). The Jefoure roads are grass-covered, and the long, wide streets run through the middle of Gurage villages, creating a resilient landscape in the present and past (Sahle and Saito 2021b ).…”

Socioeconomic Services of Khampti Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh Concerning Introduction of Homestead Agroforestry

“…Agroforestry practices provide multiple benefits including high productivity and additional income while maintaining the soil health (Kang et al,1984;Kang and Akinnifesi, 2000;Sarvade et al, 2016;Sarvade et al, 2019) and instrumental for rehabilitation of degraded land (Jinger et al, 2023;Tomar et al, 2021). Agroforestry provides a greater range of environmental benefits than traditional kinds of annual crop cultivation, alongwith, improves soil fertility which increases vegetable yields, extends the harvesting season and improves the quality of produce (Sahle et al, 2021;Torralba et al, 2016). Benefit: cost ratio of various agroforestry systems was also studied by researchers and claimed that agroforestry system are capable for supporting the farmers economically (Bhatia et al, 2022;Sharma et al, 2022;Kaler et al, 2017).…”