Lakew Desta,a Menale Kassie,b S. Beninc and J. Penderd
1. The full paper is forthcoming in the Socio-economics and Policy Research Working Paper series, ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), Nairobi, Kenya.
Land degradation in Amhara Region
This document summarises results of the preliminary phase of the research project to characterise the nature and causes of land degradation in the highlands of the Amhara region and to examine the opportunities for more sustainable land management and development. The preliminary phase was based on literature review, consultations with key officials, brief visits to selected field sites and discussions with farmers and key informants, and analysis of existing secondary data. The aim of this phase was to draw upon what was already known about the problems of land degradation and management to help develop research hypotheses and areas of focus for a community survey of 50 kebeles that was launched in September 1999. The major objectives of the community survey are to identify the dominant . pathways of development.2 in the region and to suggest hypotheses about their causes and implications for agricultural productivity, sustainable land management and poverty. The hypotheses formulated will be tested using data collected in subsequent household- and plot-level surveys.
Amhara National Regional State is located in the north-western part of Ethiopia between 9°N. 13°45. N and 36°E. 40°30. E, with a total area of 170,152 km2. Of the total area, cultivation and grazing land make up 30% each. Forest, shrub, bush and woodland, bodies of water and wasteland make up 17%, 4% and 16% of the total area, respectively, and the remaining 3% is taken up by settlement. The total regional population is about 14.4 million, with an average land holding of 1.7 hectares. About 35% of the nation. s livestock population is found in the region, with the major feed sources being communal grazing lands, fallow lands, crop residues and stubble.
Soil erosion. Site-specific test-plots and experiments in 1987 and 1988 at Soil Conservation Research Project (SCRP) stations in the region showed soil loss rates between 0.04 and 212 tonnes/hectare (t/ha) per year. About 29% of the total area of the region experiences high erosion rates (51. 200 t/ha per year); 31% experiences moderate erosion rates (16. 50 t/ha per year); 10% experiences very high erosion rates (>200 t/ha per year); and the remaining 30% experiences low erosion rates (<16 t/ha per year).
Nutrient depletion. Loss of fertility is manifested through limited recycling of dung and crop residues in the soil, low use of chemical fertilisers, declining fallow periods, soil and organic matter burning, and soil erosion. Although the farming system in the highlands of Amhara is primarily mixed crop. livestock, nutrient flows between the two are predominantly one sided, with feeding of crop residues to livestock but little or no dung returned to the soil. For example, UNECA (1996) data show that even though almost all households (90%) fed crop residues to their livestock, only 40% used manure on their farmlands.
Deforestation. Removal of forests is prevalent and contributes to land degradation. About 20,000 ha of forests are harvested annually in the Amhara region for fuel, logging and construction purposes. Since harvested trees are not replaced and, thus, expose the soil, about 1.9 to 3.5 billion tonnes of fertile topsoil are washed away annually into rivers and lakes due to deforestation alone.
The direct causes of land degradation, including declining use of fallow, limited recycling of dung and crop residues to the soil, limited application of external sources of plant nutrients, deforestation and overgrazing, are apparent and generally agreed. Factors underlying these direct causes include population pressure, poverty, high cost and limited access to agricultural inputs and credit, fragmented land holdings and insecure land tenure, and farmers. lack of information about appropriate alternative technologies. Affecting many of these factors are government policies on infrastructure and market development, input and credit supplies, land tenure, agricultural research and extension, conservation programmes, land use regulation, local governance and collective action, and non-governmental programmes.
Considering the nature and causes of land degradation in the region, policy, institutional, and technological strategies for more sustainable, productive and poverty-reducing development are identified. The main hypothesis is that the strategies for sustainable development in any given situation depend largely on the comparative advantage of alternative livelihood strategies in that situation. While many factors determine comparative advantage, we focus on three: agricultural potential, market access and population pressure.
Agricultural potential is an abstraction of many factors that influence the absolute advantage of producing agricultural commodities in a particular place, while access to markets is critical for determining the comparative advantage of a particular location, given its agricultural potential. Population pressure affects the labour intensity of agriculture through the land:labour ratio and may also induce innovations in technology, markets and institutions, or investments in infrastructure; and, thus, it affects the comparative advantage of labour intensive strategies of development. These three factors interact with each other in complex ways, and we can classify the highlands of Amhara into eight major types, considering two levels (high and low) of each factor. The hypotheses about what opportunities exist in each situation are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Opportunities for sustainable development in the highlands of Amhara.
Agricultural potential |
Market access |
Population density | |
High |
Low | ||
High |
High |
High input cereals |
High input cereals |
Low |
High input cereals |
High input cereals | |
Low |
High |
Low input cereals |
Low input cereals |
Low |
Low input cereals |
Low input cereals | |
In areas with relatively high agricultural potential and good market access, there is strong potential for intensified production of cereals using high levels of external inputs, commercial production of perishable cash crops such as fruits and vegetables, and/or intensive production of commercial livestock products such as dairy and poultry products. There is also strong potential for rural non-farm development linked with agricultural development. Priority initially should be on intensified cereal production, since the need for food security is likely to constrain farmers. ability to expand production of other (perhaps more profitable) products until cereal production is adequate. Development of credit, and input and output marketing systems will be critical to the success of these pathways.
In areas with high agricultural potential that are more remote from markets, comparative advantage is likely to be greater in production of high value (relative to volume) non-perishable cash crops such as nuts or coffee and/or intensified production of easily transportable livestock (e.g. small ruminants). Even more than in areas of good market access, farmers. ability to produce sufficient food is likely to constrain their ability to expand production of such products. Thus, high priority should be given to increased cereal production in such areas with food deficits, through the use of imported inputs (particularly seeds and fertiliser). This may require subsidising the cost of transporting inputs in the near-term, as well as medium- or long-term credit to allow farmers to finance investments in perennial crops.
In areas with low agricultural potential but good market access, development opportunities are likely to be related to: investment in irrigation where feasible and profitable; intensification of cereal production using limited amounts of inputs integrated with soil and water conservation and organic fertility management measures; intensification of livestock production through improved management of grazing lands and development of private woodlots (especially in lower population density settings); and rural non-farm development. These areas are likely to remain deficit producers of food and so food aid may be needed in the near-term, until the development potentials are more fully realised.
Opportunities for agricultural or rural non-farm development are even more limited in areas with low agricultural potential and poor market access. Intensified cereal production using limited amounts of inputs integrated with soil and water conservation practices and intensified livestock production are likely to be important. Bee-keeping may also be an attractive option in some areas and could be linked to vegetative regeneration in area enclosures (especially in lower population density settings). Food aid and migration are likely to be essential. Thus, policies with respect to food aid, agricultural extension, education and training in non-farm activities, and land tenure will be of particular importance for these areas.
UNECA (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa). 1996. Sustainable agriculture and environmental rehabilitation programme: Household level socio-economic survey of the Amhara Region. Volume I. Produced by the co-operative endeavours of the Amhara Regional Council and UNECA. UNECA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 298 pp. (Unpublished).
