Reservoir sedimentation and its mitigating strategies: a case study of Angereb reservoir (NW Ethiopia)

Purpose  

The Angereb dam in northwestern Ethiopia was commissioned in 1997 to serve as a domestic water supply for 25 years. However, its sustainability is being threatened by rapid sedimentation. The overall objective of this study was to understand reservoir sedimentation in this tropical highland watershed and to propose its mitigating strategies that would contribute to the improved planning and management of reservoirs in similar regions.     

Understanding smallholder farmers’ access to maize seed and seed quality in the drought-prone Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Despite efforts made by the Ethiopian research and extension system during the past 40 years to disseminate improved maize (Zea mays L.) variety seeds for increased crop production, the diffusion and use remained low, particularly in moisture-stressed areas. The topic of smallholder farmers’ access to quality seed is an ongoing issue in Ethiopia. The purpose of this paper is to identify and explain maize seed sources for smallholder farmers and assess the seed quality status in the drought-prone Central Rift Valley (CRV) of Ethiopia. Data for this study were obtained from farm households and other stakeholders survey in 2011 from East Shewa Zone, Oromia Regional National State. The survey results indicated that informal seed sources contributed 84% of annually planted maize seed. Sixty percent of maize growers obtained improved seed through farmer-to-farmer seed exchange and the informal seed market (ISM). Regarding the socioeconomic characteristics and maize seed acquisition behavior of the farm-household heads, a higher proportion of female-headed households and resource-poor farm households depended on other farmers and ISM than male-headed farm households. A quarter of the better-off maize-grower households also used ISM. Formal seed sources were found to be key in new variety introduction. The quality of the seeds obtained from informal sources was found to be acceptable relative to purity and germination. The effectiveness of the seed-supply system tended to rely on the complementary integration of formal and informal seed systems, as both systems had their own peculiarities in serving the farm community to enhance food security.     

Household livelihood strategies and forest dependence in the highlands of Tigray,Northern Ethiopia

Forest environmental resources provide substantial contributions to the wellbeing of many rural dwellers. However, the level of forest use and the degree of reliance on forest environmental products differ across households. The factors that condition a household’s economic reliance on a particular economic activity in general and on forest environmental resources in particular may vary depending on the resource endowment of the household, the household’s demographic and economic characteristics, and exogenous factors such as markets, prices and technologies. This paper identifies the factors that condition a household’s livelihood strategy choice with a particular focus on forest products. For this, we use the livelihood approach as a framework of analysis. Environmentally augmented household income data were collected from 360 sample households in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. On the basis of the share of forest environmental income in total household income, sample households were clustered into distinct livelihood strategies. Student’s t-test and ANOVA were used to test income differences among the clusters. Multinomial logit (MNL) regression on asset-based explanatory variables was run to identify the main factors that determine households’ livelihood strategy choice and forest dependence. The analyses indicate that differential access to, or endowment of, livelihood assets determines the choice of a household’s strategy. Asset-poor households should be encouraged to engage in activities with higher economic return.     

The economic contribution of forest resource use to rural livelihoods in Tigray,Northern Ethiopia

By explicitly incorporating forest environmental products (FEPs) in household income accounting, this paper examines the role and significance of FEPs in household income and in rural poverty and inequality. As most conventional household surveys do not incorporate income from environmental sources, substantial gaps exist in our understanding of the actual functioning of rural economies and the extent of rural poverty and inequality. Using data from 360 randomly sampled rural households from 12 villages in Tigray (northern Ethiopia), we measure forest environmental resource use with a monetary yardstick and compares the value of FEPs with other household economic activities. We found that products from environmental sources represent an important component in rural livelihoods. Our analyses indicate that in the study area income from forest environmental sources occupies the second largest share in average total household income next to crop income. Poverty and inequality analyses show that incorporating forest environmental incomes in household accounts significantly reduces measured rural poverty and income inequality. Therefore, we suggest that sustainable forest management schemes should be adopted to maintain and enhance the flow of economic benefits to the surrounding communities without damaging the natural resource system.