Characterization of Rangeland Watershed of the Semi-arid Rangelands, Southeast Ethiopia
الموضوعات :
Mahammed Abdullahi
1
,
Abdulnaser Yonus
2
1 - Madda Walabu University, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource, School of Animal and Rangeland Science
2 - Natural Resource Management, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource, Madda Walabu University, Ethiopia
الکلمات المفتاحية: Characterization, Watersheds, Semi-arid rangeland, Southeast Ethiopia,
ملخص المقالة :
Characterization of watersheds was conducted in semiarid rangelands of Dalloma woreda, southeast Ethiopia during 2018-19 fiscal years. Data were collected using household surveys, field observations, focus group discussion and key informant interviews . Both crop and livestock production (71%) and only livestock production (17%) ware the main activities to earn a living. Respondents ranked sale of livestock and livestock products (61%), sale of honey (20%) and sale of crops (10%) as the main source of income. The pastoral and agro-pastoral in the watershed mainly depends on the production of livestock as their main livelihood because of the suitability of the area for the production of livestock. Drought, the existence of pests, diseases and weeds, land degradation, high price of input, shortage of improved seeds and shortage of land were a major constraint for crop production. Livestock feed shortage, disease, marketing, lack of improved genotype and low animal by product are the major constraint for livestock productions. Drought, bush encroachment, crop encroachment, overgrazing, over utilization, population increase, disease and inappropriate government policies were the main factors for degradation of rangelands. The result of this study showed that land degradation together with poverty is the most serious problem. Since the well-being of the local community is highly interrelated to the natural resources it has to be managed properly in a sustainable way. Majority of respondents showed the community in the watershed and natural resources management faces interlinked complex problems, implying the importance of integrating different approaches to address the problems in the watershed and improving the livelihood of the community. Thus, integrated watershed management program should be implemented to address different problems in the watershed so that both natural resources and livelihood of the local community can be optimized.
Amsalu, A. 2006. Best Practices in Soil and Water Conservation in Beressa Watershed, Highlands of Ethiopia. Ph.D. Thesis, Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen.
Anantha, K.H., Suhas, P.W., Sreedevi, T.K. 2010. Baseline Socio-economic Characterization of Watersheds. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
Bagherian, R., Goodarzi, M., Shadfar, S. 2011. Relationship between attitude toward watershed management programs and level of participation. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Res., 9(3): 324-329.
FAO. 2011. The state of the world’s land and water resources for food and agriculture – managing systems at risk. Rome & London, FAO & Earthscan.
FAO. 2017. Watershed management in action – lessons learned from FAO field projects. Rome.
Mohammed, M., Habtamu, T., Ahimed, A. 2018. Socio-economic and environmental impacts of invasive plant species in selected districts of Bale Zone, Southeastern Ethiopia. Afr. J. Agric. Res. 13(14): 673-681.
Mulugeta, E., Shure, S., Falmata, G. 2017. Assessment, Resources Characterization and Mapping of Ilasa Watershed in the Case of Goba Distinct in Highland of Bale Zone, Southeastern Ethiopia. American-Eurasian J. Agric. & Environ. Sci., 17 (6):499-513.
Teshome, A., Abule, E., Lisanework, N. 2010. Traditional rangeland resource utilisation practices and pastoralists’ perceptions on land degradation in south-east Ethiopia. Tropical Grasslands, 44(2010):202–212.
Wani, S.P., Anantha, K.H., Sreedevi, T.K., Sudi, R., Singh, S.N., D’Souza, M. 2011. Assessing the environmental benefts of watershed development: Evidence from the Indian semi-arid tropics’. Journal of Sustainable Watershed Science & Management, 1(1):10–20.
Wani, S.P., Joshi, P.K., Raju, K.V., Sreedevi, T.K., Wilson, M.J., Shah, A., Diwakar, P.G., Palanisami, S., Marimuthu, A.K., Ramakrishna, Y.S., Sundaram, M.S., D’Souza, M. 2008. Community watershed as a growth engine for development of dryland areas. A comprehensive assessment of watershed programs in India, Andhra Pradesh, India. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Global Theme on Agro-ecosystems, Open File Report 47.
Wani, S. P., Maglinao, A.R., Ramakrishna, A., Rego, T.J. 2003. Integrated Watershed Management for Land and Water Conservation and Sustainable Agricultural Production in Asia. Proceedings of the ADB-ICRISAT-IWMI Annual Project Review and Planning Meeting, Hanoi, Vietnam, 10-14 December 2001. ICRISAT, Patancheru andhra Pradesh, pp: 268.
Water and Land Resource Centre (WLRC). 2016. BER Eco-Region Degradation Hotspots. Water and Land Resource Centre, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa.
Worku, T., Tripathi, S.K. 2015. Watershed Management in Highlands of Ethiopia: A Review. Open Access Library Journal, 2: e1481. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1101481.
