Vulnerability and Resilience of Sidama Enset and Maize Farms in Southwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

Enset (Ensete ventricosum) is the traditional staple food of Sidama people who live in Rift Valley lowlands to highlands in southwest Ethiopia. Enset is drought resistant, but it matures slowly, requires substantial manure inputs from cattle, and intensive processing. Maize, introduced to Sidamaland in the mid-twentieth century, is common in midlands and lowlands. Maize matures rapidly and provides more kcal/kg than enset, but it is prone to failure in dry years and requires chemical fertilizer, which is subject to global market price fluctuations. We compare cultural ecology, productivity, failure, and resilience of enset and maize in 410 farms across four Sidama ecological zones. The risks and benefits of enset and maize are complexly associated with variable local environments. Enset offers drought-resistant produce that, with sufficient manure inputs, is adequate for subsistence in the wet highlands, but its performance is more variable elsewhere. Fertilized, maize yields larger harvests than enset, but vulnerability to rainfall and global processes create special challenges. Maize and enset appear to be in different adaptive cycle phases: maize grows quickly and maize farms rebounded from crop loss within four years. Only half of enset farms recovered within six years after crop failure, complicating farming decisions in an environment with tremendous localized variation. In general, the Sidama zone shows a pattern of regional diversity with local specialization for maize only, enset only, or mixed maize and enset cultivation. In some areas maize has become a preferred crop and food for younger people.

Medical pluralism and livestock health: ethnomedical and biomedical veterinary knowledge among East African agropastoralists

“…As the Koore incorporated grains into their livelihoods, particularly teff, they began to keep cattle for draught power. Livestock are also essential as a source of fertilizer for enset, which does not grow well without manure inputs [84]. Recent migration into the lowlands has meant that more Koore have begun keeping livestock for sale.…”

Eucalyptus sp. at the Intersection of Environment and Culture in Kenya

“…When farmers decide what to plant, their culture affects their choice (Quinlan et al 2015). In some places in Kenya the productivity of the land is tied to adherence to proper behavior (Nyasimi et al 2007).…”

“…In a sense, the trees were acting as a saving account that accumulated interest as the trees grew in size and value. Other studies across the developing world agree that this practice is very common not just for education but for medical bills, planting crops, or other emergencies when large sums of money would be needed at once (Hill 1961;Quinlan et al 2015;Snyder and Cullen 2014).…”

Learning to Survive Ecological Risks among the Sidama of Southwestern Ethiopia

“…The expansion of cash crops like sugar cane and coffee is also increasing in higher altitudes. More recently, Quinlan and colleagues (2015) found that environmental shocks such as drought and crop loss are disproportionately affecting the Sidama in different areas. In the Arbegona district, drought, rainfall failure, and crop loss were almost non-existent while they were major stressors for Boricha and Hawassa Zuria districts.…”