Resource Scarcity and Degradation, and Farm Household Circumstances in the North-western Highland Ethiopia: A Case Study in the Chemoga Watershed

Abstract

In Ethiopia, like in the other agriculture-based poor countries, there is a lieavy dependence on the land resource for livelihood. This dependence has been leading to degradation of the resource base, which impoverishes the population. Poverty and resource depletion are highly intertwined in the country, reinforcing each other in a vicious circle. This paper reports results of a survey of smallholder farmers’ circumstances in relation to the status of the land resource in a typical watershed (the Chemoga watershed) in the northwestem highlands of Ethiopia. The study reveals that the people are poor, living on average annual incomes ranging from Birr 779 to 1692 (1.00 birr

0.125 $US) per household which has 6.3 members on average. Land and livestock are the bases of livelihood for the people. Only very few households were found to be engaged in off-farm activities as additional sources of income.

On the other hand, land has become scarcc because of the increasing population, As witnessed by the surveyed households, landholdings per household have been declining; and productivity of croplands has declined over time. Likewise, there has been a decreasing trend in the number of livestock owned per household, while the total livestock population of the communities has increased and caused overgrazing and feed shortages, and necessitated the use of crop residues as livestock feed rather than soil conditioner. These negative trends in resource availability, while the population is increasing, suggest that the future is bleak. Hence, interventions that integrate development and conservation measures based on local-scale biophysical and socioeconomic realities are urgently needed. Generally, solutions should include improving productivity of the farming system through technical interventions, creating non-farm employment opportunities to the population and easing human and livestock population pressures on the land.