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12 Land Degradation and
Sustainable Land Management
in the Highlands of Ethiopia
Hans Hurni1, Solomon Abate2, Amare Bantider3, Berhanu Debele4,
Eva Ludi5, Brigitte Portner6, Birru Yitaferu7, and Gete Zeleke8
Abstract
The Ethiopian Highlands cover over 50% of the country and are home to
more than 90% of Ethiopia’s population of over 80 million people (estimate
for 2010); 60% of the livestock and 90% of the area suited for agriculture
are also located here. Although more than 90% of the Highlands was once
forested, today a mere 20% of this area is covered by trees, and the percent-
age of forest cover is less than 4%. This is evidence of a high incidence of
degradation of vegetation in the past, which has continued to the present.
Land-use and land-cover changes have been particularly dynamic in the 20th
century, during which climate change also began to have effects; wildlife in
natural habitats have been restricted to those few areas that were preserved
naturally due to rugged topography or natural aridity. Soil erosion has been
severe throughout the Highlands, but mainly on agricultural land; the cur-
rent severity and extent of soil degradation seriously threaten food security.
In response, a number of soil and water conservation measures have been
successfully implemented over the past 35 years in some parts of the High-
lands. This is highly encouraging, but greater emphasis must be given to
conservation in the coming decades.
Keywords: Ethiopian Highlands; research partnership; land degradation;
land-cover change; sustainable land management; soil and water conserva-
tion; protected area management.
Global Change and Sustainable Development
188
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perspectives
12.1 Introduction
12.1.1 The Ethiopian Highlands
The Ethiopian Highlands are defined here as an area extending from about
1000 metres above sea level up to the highest peak in Ethiopia, at 4533 m. In
this zone there are normally sufficient rainfall and suitable temperatures for
rainfed agriculture. Due to temperature constraints, the upper limit of crop-
ping lies at about 3800 m, while the lower limit is defined by dryness, which
makes rainfed cultivation impossible in areas below about 800 m on the
western side of the Highlands, and below 1200 m on the eastern side. Given
these boundaries, favourable agro-climatic conditions prevail over an
area of 570,000 km2, or 52% of the country (Hurni 1998). Human-induced
climate change has been impacting agro-ecological belts since about the
1970s, a fact that is evident not only in terms of rainfall variability but par-
ticularly in terms of observed temperature increases (Hurni 2005). This has
considerable implications for the suitability of agricultural cropping pat-
terns for crops such as coffee (Rüegsegger 2008).
In 2007 about 84% of the Ethiopian population, or about 64 million out of
about 77 million persons, lived in a rural environment (extrapolated from
CSA 2006), mostly in the Highlands; at the same time, the Highlands are
also where most of the urban population lived. The rural population has
grown from approximately 12 million people around 1900 to approximately
64 million in 2007 (Hurni et al, in preparation), while the urban population
increased from nearly 0 to about 13 million in the same period. Farm sizes
today are less than one hectare per household on average; the livestock pop-
ulation, while considerable and exceeding the capacity of grazing land, is
still insufficient to provide enough labour to plough the land. Farm produc-
tivity is at a minimal grain output between 0.3 and 1.5 tonnes per hectare,
and land degradation due to agricultural practices is widespread, amounting
to an average of over 40 tonnes of soil lost per hectare of cropland every year
(Hurni 1993).
Sustainable management of natural resources, particularly soil and water, is
of utmost importance to Ethiopian agriculture. Since the inception of agri-
culture several millennia ago, little has been done by peasants and societies
to conserve natural resources, as land was abundant. The Highlands were
deforested for agriculture, a process that was intensified especially in the
past century when the population started to grow exponentially. Conservation
189
Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management, Ethiopian Highlands
measures on agricultural land were applied in very few instances only, and
had to be introduced on a broader scale by the government and by foreign
programmes in the aftermath of the great famine of 1972–1973, which was
drought-induced but caused by a lack of political response.
12.1.2 Key issues in land degradation and sustainable land
management
According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA 2005) the term
‘land’ includes renewable natural resources, i.e. soils, water, vegetation and
wildlife, in their terrestrial ecosystems. Land degradation, in turn, includes
all processes that diminish the capacity of land resources to perform essen-
tial functions and services in these ecosystems, i.e. deforestation, loss of
biodiversity, soil degradation and disturbance of water cycles. Sustainable
land management consists of technical and institutional measures initiated
by individuals or societies to maintain land productivity and other functions
of land resources for present and future generations.
There have been numerous and controversial debates about explaining land
degradation processes in Ethiopia and seeking mitigation options. They
have focused on:
1. Approaches applied to implement land rehabilitation activities, e.g.
in centive-based approaches (Webb and Kumar 1995; Holden et al 2006);
(in)voluntary campaigns; multi-level stakeholder and participatory
approaches (Hurni and Ludi 2000); and top-down approaches versus bot-
tom-up and community-based approaches (Alemneh Dejene et al 2003);
2. Priorities and agenda-setting involving land rehabilitation work as well as
the general rural development activities and policies of the country (Kee-
ley and Scoones 2000, 2003; Nyssen et al 2004a);
3. Identifying the root causes of land degradation that have an impact on
decision-making, e.g. traditional agricultural practices (Hurni 1990), land
tenure insecurity (Yeraswork Admassu 1995; Dessalegn Rahmato 2001,
2004) and pressure from accelerated population growth (EHRS 1986).
Considerable efforts have been made to establish monitoring and research
throughout the Ethiopian Highlands, particularly at the level of small water-
sheds, but generalisations about the processes of land use and land degrada-
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tion, as well as conservation approaches as a whole, have yet to be developed
from the case study sites. This requires debates among scientists from differ-
ent disciplines and other stakeholders at large.
12.1.3 Research partnership approaches
Research on processes of land-use change, land degradation and sustainable
land management was initiated in the Ethiopian Highlands by the Soil Conser-
vation Research Programme (SCRP) in 1981 in conjunction with the country-
wide soil conservation campaign (Hurni 1982; SCRP 2000). Prior to this ini-
tiative, only a limited number of studies existed. In 2001, the Swiss National
Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South chose the Ethiopian
Highlands as one of its syndrome contexts (Yacob Arsano et al 2004) and initi-
ated a number of PhD and Master’s studies on this region, taking a transdisci-
plinary approach to identify research topics, involving scholars from differ-
ent disciplines as well as development specialists. The results of these studies
constitute the main base of information used here, though emphasis is also
given to studies done outside the NCCR North-South programme.
12.2 Status and dynamics of land cover, land use and
land degradation
12.2.1 Deforestation and forest dynamics
Most areas in Ethiopia that currently have more than 3% tree cover are
assumed to have been forested about 5000 years ago, before deforestation for
agriculture began (Hurni 1987; Darbyshire et al 2003; Nyssen et al 2004b).
The north-central Highlands were a focus of agricultural development over
the past 2–3 millennia, according to historical records (Bard et al 2000) and
carbon dating (Hurni 1987); this was also where most deforestation occurred
as early as many centuries ago (Ritler 2001). Today these areas have 3–19%
tree cover (Figure 1). By contrast, in the present-day 19–40% tree cover
zone, which is found primarily in the western and southern Highlands, heavy
deforestation has taken place particularly since the 1950s (Solomon Abate
1994; Gete Zeleke 2000).
Deforestation was always followed by a change in land use and land cover,
from forest to grassland and cropland. A particular increase in cropland was
observed in the second half of the 20t h century, largely at the expense of
grassland and forestland – a fact that is widely acknowledged in the scien-
191
Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management, Ethiopian Highlands
tific literature. During specific periods throughout history entire landscapes
were abandoned for a variety of reasons, such as famines, pests or politi-
cal turmoil, causing the land to regenerate and develop secondary bush and
tree vegetation, which was later again slashed and burnt for recultivation; at
present, however, this hardly occurs any more.
12.2.2 Land-use and land-cover changes
Within the NCCR North-South programme, Birru Yitaferu (2007), Schild
(2006), Amare Bantider (2007), Hurni (2005) and Solomon Abebe (2005)
studied land-use and land-cover changes as well as their underlying causes.
All studies revealed highly dynamic systems, but changes observed among
the various land-cover types were not all similar, mainly due to different
initial situations. In the recent past, more intense loss of forest cover and
expansion of cultivation land coincided with changes in land policies and
institutions in the 1970s, 1990s and early 2000s (Amare Bantider 2007).
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Dese
Jinka
Selka
Jimma
Ziway
Asela
Negele
Awassa
NazretWeliso
Gonder
Mekele
Gambela
Nekemte
Weldiya
Bahr Dar
Dire Dawa
Arba Minch
Addis Abeba
Debre Tabor
Mizan Teferi
Debre Birhan
Debre Markos
0 150 30075
km
Fig. 1
Tree and forest
cover in Ethiopia in
2001 as modified
by agricultural
activities during
about 5000 years.
(Map composed by
Kaspar Hurni; to
be published in
Hurni et al, in
preparation)
Main towns
0 - 3 = single trees in landscape (498,509km
2
; 43.5%)
3 - 8 = scattered trees in landscape (138,909km
2
; 12.1%)
8 - 19 = savannah-type landscape (232,356km
2
; 20.3%)
19 - 40 = open woodland (181,507km
2
; 15.8%)
40 - 70 = woodland (69,449km
2
; 6.1%)
70 - 100 = forest land (17,665km
2
; 1.5%)
Lakes and river water bodies (8,012km
2
; 0.7%)
!(
Legend
Tree Cover of Ethiopia in 2001
Tree cover in percent per 500 x 500m pixel for 2001 (in brackets:
Area covered by class and in percentage of total country area)
Disclaimer
This map was composed using MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields data available
at the Global Land Cover Facility (for mor information see:
http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/index.shtml). Centre for Development and Environment,
Institute of Geography, University of Bern.
Main towns
0 - 3 = single trees in landscape (498,509km
2
; 43.5%)
3 - 8 = scattered trees in landscape (138,909km
2
; 12.1%)
8 - 19 = savannah-type landscape (232,356km
2
; 20.3%)
19 - 40 = open woodland (181,507km
2
; 15.8%)
40 - 70 = woodland (69,449km
2
; 6.1%)
70 - 100 = forest land (17,665km
2
; 1.5%)
Lakes and river water bodies (8,012km
2
; 0.7%)
!(
Legend
Tree Cover of Ethiopia in 2001
Tree cover in percent per 500 x 500m pixel for 2001 (in brackets:
Area covered by class and in percentage of total country area)
Disclaimer
This map was composed using MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields data available
at the Global Land Cover Facility (for mor information see:
http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/index.shtml). Centre for Development and Environment,
Institute of Geography, University of Bern.
Tree cover of Ethiopia in 2001
Global Change and Sustainable Development
192
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perspectives
During the 20th century the highest deforestation rates were found in areas
where the forest cover was still between 8% and 40% (Figure 2). Periods of
active deforestation occurred during phases of rapid population growth and
were coupled with little institutional concern about, or insufficient enforce-
ment of, measures to combat environmental degradation. On the other hand,
reduced deforestation and even reforestation were accompanied by increased
government support and international assistance, as in the 1980s, but also
during the past decade since 2000, when increased government awareness
and more conducive approaches were observed, particularly in the Tigray
region in the north (Nyssen et al 2009).
Fig. 2
Intensive land-
cover and land-use
changes around
the Anjeni Soil
Conservation
Research Pro-
gramme (SCRP)
Research Site in
Gojam mainly
occurred between
1950 and 1980
according to Gete
Zeleke (2000).
(Photo by Hans
Hurni, 1984)
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Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management, Ethiopian Highlands
12.2.3 Wildlife dynamics
The Ethiopian Highlands today are characterised by an extreme sparseness
of natural habitats where wildlife could have survived during the extended
period of agricultural use over the past 5000 years. Hence current wildlife is
limited to animals that are less dependent on natural habitats, such as preda-
tors or birds, while ruminants, which depend on distinct habitats, have been
reduced to very low numbers or few areas, and in some cases even became
extinct long ago. Only a few wildlife habitats have been preserved in their
natural form, such as high mountaintops above about 4000 m, steep escarp-
ments on the borders of the Highlands, and semi-arid areas in the lower parts.
Well-known places in the Highlands with natural wildlife habitats include
the Simen Mountains in the north and the Bale Mountains in the south, both
of which have been designated as national parks. Research within the NCCR
North-South focused on the Simen Mountains (Grünenfelder 2005; Hurni
2005; Bircher 2006; Schild 2006; Ludi 2007), where some wildlife remained
in natural habitats that are unsuitable for cropping due to steep topography,
high altitude, or both.
12.2.4 Soil degradation due to water erosion
In Ethiopia agricultural land is tilled using an ox-plough system; this expos-
es the soil to rain, particularly during the onset of the rainy season. The proc-
ess of soil erosion is a consequence of rainfed farming on steep slopes in the
absence of sufficient counter-measures (Figure 3). Soil erosion processes
were monitored by the Soil Conservation Research Programme (SCRP), a
long-term research network initiated in 1981 (Hurni 1982). Long-term anal-
ysis shows that the amount of soil loss on cultivated slopes ranges from a few
tonnes per hectare and year (t/ha/yr) to more than 300 t/ha/yr (SCRP 2000).
In the long term, an average of approximately 40 t/ha/yr of soil loss was
measured on cropland plots, while much less was measured on plots covered
by grassland and forestland (Hurni 1993). The impact on soil productivity
and agricultural production was shown to be very significant, exhibiting an
almost linear correlation with soil depth (Belay Tegene 1990).
In the Ethiopian mountains, soil degradation due to water erosion remains
a major threat to sustained agricultural production, as soils on slopes are
washed away within a few human generations of land use. Both soil ero-
sion models (Kaltenrieder 2007) and field observations confirm the impor-
tance of vegetation cover or, alternatively, structural measures such as soil
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194
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or stone bunds for protecting the soil against degradation. In addition, soil
conservation measures have the potential to significantly improve agricul-
tural production (Amare Bantider 2007; Birru Yitaferu 2007), not only in
the accumulation areas behind the bunds but also in larger catchments. This
has been shown by monitoring yields over extended periods of time (Kohler
2004; Loetscher 2004).
12.2.5 Water regime and pollution changes
Throughout the Highlands, immediate surface runoff has generally been aug-
mented by intensified land use and advanced soil degradation, thereby bene-
fiting the lowland areas in Sudan and Egypt to which part of the surface runoff
is drained. Comparison of long-term data from small test plots throughout the
Highlands (Hurni et al 2005), but also in the larger Lake Tana Basin, clearly
confirmed this trend, despite the fact that rainfall amounts remained more or
less similar during the observation periods of 13 to 44 years (Birru Yitaferu
2007). In terms of pollution, increased soil erosion in the catchments also aug-
mented the sedimentation rates. This poses a problem for irrigation reservoirs
in the lowlands, which are being filled with sediment. Soil and water conser-
vation reduces sediment delivery not only on farm plots but, to a lesser extent,
in entire catchments (Schum 2004; Admasu Amare 2005).
Fig. 3
Ploughing a steep
slope at the Andit
Tid Soil Conserva-
tion Research Pro-
gramme (SCRP)
Research Site in
Northern Shewa
has led to extreme
soil degradation,
as the area has
been agriculturally
used for over 600
years. (Photo by
Hans Hurni, 1982)
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Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management, Ethiopian Highlands
12.3 Drivers and impacts of soil degradation
While the previous section looked at the direct and indirect drivers of land
degradation (MA 2005), this section focuses more closely on the drivers of
soil degradation by water erosion. This is the key land degradation process
in the Ethiopian Highlands once land has been deforested.
In assessments of soil degradation the direct drivers are typically termed
‘bio-physical’, as they are factors included e.g. in soil erosion models such
as the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) (Wischmeier and Smith 1978;
Hurni 1987; Kaltenrieder 2007). Indirect drivers are usually found in the
psychological, social, political, economic and institutional spheres, impact-
ing livelihoods based on rural farming and livestock rearing, as well as in
the institutions governing the populations that engage in these activities.
Determinants of land degradation were analysed using primary and second-
ary data at the household and farm plot levels for selected watersheds (e.g.
Getachew Adugna 2005).
12.3.1 Bio-physical drivers of soil degradation
The most important bio-physical drivers of soil degradation in the Ethio-
pian Highlands are (a) removal of vegetation cover, and (b) harmful agricul-
tural management practices (Hurni 1990). Relating to (a), negative changes
in soil cover are the most important drivers of the increase in natural rates
of soil erosion by a factor between 100 and 1000, i.e. from much less than
1 t/ha/yr under natural forestland up to 300 t/ha/yr (Herweg and Stillhardt
1999; Alebachew Mamo 2006) on cultivated or degraded land. Once the
vegetation cover is removed, factors such as the steepness, length and shape
of a slope become important, as does rainfall erosivity. Another key factor in
soil loss modelling is that soils in the Ethiopian Highlands are surprisingly
resistant to water erosion due to their favourable depth, texture, structure
and organic matter content, which give them good qualities in terms of infil-
tration and water-holding capacity, at least before they are heavily degraded
(Hurni 1987).
Concerning (b), improved agricultural management practices have the poten-
tial to reduce soil erosion on farm plots by a factor of up to 100, provided that
farmers take appropriate measures to combat soil erosion. Indigenous soil and
water conservation practices have been documented; their effectiveness, how-
ever, is limited, and their extent is only local and not sufficiently widespread
Global Change and Sustainable Development
196
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to control soil erosion significantly. Inappropriate infrastructure such as foot-
paths or steep drainage ditches also contributes to accumulated surface runoff
and accelerated soil erosion (Herweg and Stillhardt 1999).
12.3.2 Socio-economic drivers of soil degradation
Ethiopian farmers do not perceive soil degradation to be a problem for agri-
culture, let alone a life-threatening issue affecting the productivity of the
soil (Hurni 1979). Of course some runoff processes are perceived as imme-
diately dangerous, e.g. when a gully expands backwards into the back yard
of a homestead, which is rare. The psychological factor of individual per-
ception of soil erosion as a non-threatening process can be explained by the
slow overall pace of soil erosion; normally, it takes 5–10 human generations
of intensive land use before a deep soil is totally exhausted. Consequently,
when conservation programmes tried to retain water and sediment in a field
by introducing soil and water conservation structures, farmers usually con-
sidered this to be a counter-measure against better drainage; they failed to
perceive the important beneficial effect of long-term sustainable use of the
soil (Herweg and Stillhardt 1999).
From a sociological point of view, many forms of cooperation between farm
households exist, particularly in relation to specific farming operations,
such as sharing oxen or maintaining common waterways between field
boundaries. The latter also helps to reduce the severity of soil erosion. At
the economic level, farming was largely subsistence-oriented in the past and
remains so in remote areas, where about 80% of Ethiopia’s farmers live.
Institutionally, land security has not been granted to farmers over longer
periods of time, thus preventing them from developing a keen interest in
investing in the land for long-term productivity (Ludi 1994, 2002; Amare
Bantider 2007). Present land regulations provide relative security, although
the land is still owned by the regional states. Moreover, land security has
been negatively influenced by political instability.
12.3.3 Impacts of soil degradation
In a spatial context, the overall progress of soil degradation is relatively slow
in the Ethiopian Highlands; this has to do with the fact that even today only
about 30% of the Highlands are cultivated, while the rest consists of fallow
land, grassland and some forestland. On steep land that is currently culti-
vated, however, the rate of soil degradation is high in global terms. The bio-
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Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management, Ethiopian Highlands
physical impacts of soil erosion are both short- and long-term. In the short
term, many rills develop on cultivated fields during the rainy seasons, which
can damage crop seedlings. In the longer term, the cumulative effect of rill
erosion has negative impacts on the soil, reducing soil depth, water-holding
capacity, soil fertility and organic matter content or cation exchange capac-
ity, which, in turn, leads to reduced vegetation growth and diminishes crop
production. Furthermore, soil accumulation in valley bottoms and at the foot
of slopes negatively affects agriculture there as well, and the sediments are
prone to gully erosion. Many examples of these impacts have been docu-
mented both within the framework of the NCCR North-South programme
(Amare Bantider 2007; Birru Yitaferu 2007; Gebeyaw Tilahun 2007; Hurni
2007) and in earlier studies (Hurni 1993; Solomon Abate 1994; Herweg and
Stillhardt 1999; Gete Zeleke 2000).
The socio-economic impacts of soil erosion are also considerable, since
decline in soil productivity leads to decreased yields (Belay Tegene 1990).
This was the case particularly in the last century, during which the rural
population of Ethiopia grew by a factor of 5–6 (Hurni et al, in preparation);
together with increased pressure on the land and slow economic develop-
ment, this led to widespread poverty. Increased land-use competition has
been observed in the rural context at the expense of forestland and grass-
land, leading to problems with livestock feed and health, particularly among
draught animals (Grünenfelder 2005; Amare Bantider 2007).
12.3.4 Farmers’ responses to soil degradation
Responses by farmers to soil degradation have been minimal, as expected,
despite the obvious cumulative effects of soil degradation and the threat of
its acceleration in the second half of the 20th century. A number of known
indigenous soil and water conservation technologies and management sys-
tems have been documented (Hurni 1984; Krüger et al 1997; Ludi 2002;
Amare Bantider 2007; Birru Yitaferu 2007) and partially applied. However,
their effectiveness, and particularly their overall extent, are estimated to be
less than 10% of what would be needed to reduce soil erosion to tolerable
levels (Hurni 1984). The main response to extreme soil degradation is that
farmers stop cultivating the land and let it go fallow, in the hope that soil
regeneration will take place at an accelerated rate. This process, however,
is 10 to 100 times slower than the process of soil erosion (Hurni 1993); thus
a 10–100 year fallow period would be needed for every year of cropping.
Another strategy is to change land use from cropping to reforestation. For-
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est plantations, however, require rural access roads for commercialisation;
hence this strategy has been implemented only in places where distances to
roads were small (Amare Bantider 2007).
12.4 Experiences with sustainable land management
Sustainable land management addresses land in its broader sense, i.e. including
soil, water, vegetation and wildlife resources and their spatial contexts. Sus-
tainable land management means that land is managed in such a way that future
generations will be able to fulfil their needs just as the present generation can
(WCED 1987). In this section, however, we will address only those aspects
on which NCCR North-South research has focused since 2001: soil and water
conservation, protected area management, and improved water management.
12.4.1 Soil and water conservation
The need for introducing soil and water conservation measures on agricultural
land is an issue of concern not only to the international research and develop-
ment communities, where the debate originated, but increasingly to Ethiopian
scholars, experts, and even farmers (Endris Damtew 2006; Alemayehu Assefa
2007). While food-for-work schemes gradually expanded as of the late 1970s,
there was a general lack of guidance regarding what technologies would be
most appropriate, and what approaches most suitable (Erny 2004).
From a methodological point of view, it is important to develop further the
models used to predict soil erosion processes and the effects of soil conser-
vation technologies (Figure 4). Future models should enable predictions not
only within but also outside the catchments where SCRP research sites are
located. Additionally, systemic extrapolations can be made based on qualita-
tive assessments (Hurni et al 2008) or by drawing synthetic conclusions (e.g.
Hösli 2005; Hurni 2005, 2007). Guidelines for planning, designing and imple-
menting appropriate technologies of soil and water management have been
developed since the early 1980s; they were upgraded (e.g. Hurni, in press) and
have been widely applied since then.
12.4.2 Protected area management
The NCCR North-South was engaged in one of the protected areas of Ethi-
opia in 2004, following up on studies carried out by Swiss and Ethiopian
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Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management, Ethiopian Highlands
researchers since 1965. Eva Ludi and her team carried out a study in the Simen
Mountains (Grünenfelder 2005; Hurni 2005; Bircher 2006; Schild 2006; Ludi
2007). This study was conducted 10 years after a comprehensive appraisal of
sustainable development had been made in the area (Hurni and Ludi 2000).
According to Hurni et al (2008), “institutional approaches have changed con-
siderably since the establishment of the Simen Mountains National Park in
1969”. Prior to 1990 a top-down approach was used to park management; this
sometimes led to violent conflicts. A more decentralised approach was intro-
duced after the change of government in 1991, leading to more participation in
management. At the time of writing the present synthesis, the government had
prepared a proclamation to once again place the national parks under federal
management. The Simen Mountains National Park, however, may continue
to be administered by the regional authorities, as the national government
acknowledges its successful management during the past 15 years.
12.4.3 Improved water management
The introduction of soil and water conservation measures in catchments is
assumed to lead to improved water management regimes. Hurni et al (2005),
in analysing their long-term test plot experiments, showed how land-use
intensification and soil degradation had increased overall immediate surface
Fig. 4
Development of
bench terraces
over a 20-year
period from soil
bunds that were
implemented in
1983, leading to
sustainable agri-
cultural produc-
tion even on this
steep slope at the
Maybar Soil
Conservation
Research Pro-
gramme (SCRP)
Research Site in
Wello. (Photo by
Sabina Erny, 2003)
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runoff and sediment concentration in rivers. Birru Yitaferu (2007) confirmed
this trend observed in small catchments by providing evidence of increased
total runoff in the Lake Tana Basin over the last few decades, despite no
change in total annual rainfall. Schum (2004) showed that a small number
of precipitation events in the rainy season lead to above-average erosion
and account for a large portion of the sediment load. The time during which
heavy precipitation occurs appears to be most decisive with respect to annu-
al sediment load. Provided that sedimentation can be retarded, natural lakes
could serve as sources of irrigation (Strebel 2007); their water tables may
even be modified, as in the case of Lake Maybar in Wello (Strahm 2007), if
conflicts over the use of the land and irrigation water can be negotiated and
mitigated among stakeholders (Coendet 2007).
12.5 Research gaps and questions
12.5.1 Ongoing and emerging challenges
The challenges in developing rural Ethiopia lie in increasing productivity in
all sectors in rural areas. As underlined by Hurni (2007), “sustainable land
management must become the basis of agricultural activity on all land. Poli-
cies addressing rural–urban linkages, land tenure issues, and questions of
demographic transition, as well as issues of education and health, can be
particularly supportive in accelerating this change.” This would require a
sectoral transition, with less dominance of agriculture and more develop-
ment of the secondary and tertiary sectors. This would bear the potential
of accelerating change, though probably not without generating social and
public security problems, which would need to be given special attention.
Demographic transition is an additional issue that needs to be taken into
account; this transition may lead to new identities, “moving from associa-
tion with traditional rural Ethiopia to association with a modern, interlinked
rural–urban landscape” (Hurni 2007).
12.5.2 Research gaps
The following gaps in research appear most important with respect to the
Ethiopian Highlands:
1. Locally effective direct and indirect drivers will have to be carefully
accounted for in research. Furthermore, it will be important to observe
how quickly the sectoral change in towns affects rural settings.
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2. Global as well as more indirect drivers will increasingly affect sustainable
development in Ethiopia. Climate change, particularly through changes
in rainfall amounts and patterns and through temperature increases, will
seriously affect agricultural production and ecology in both positive and
negative terms that are still unknown. Globalisation in terms of trade,
technology transfer and information exchange will become increasingly
important and affect both urban and rural livelihoods – areas in which
research has a key role to play.
3. A combination of local and global drivers will pose a most likely unprece-
dented challenge to the Ethiopian Highlands, for which traditional means
of governance may not suffice.
Research capacity in Ethiopia is still relatively modest in view of these chal-
lenges; its development and appropriate focusing is most timely and impor-
tant. A number of research questions are currently being addressed and will
contribute to sustainable land management in the Ethiopian Highlands (see
Box). Research partnerships between institutions in the North and in Ethi-
opia are a means by which new technologies and local knowledge can be
shared in a way that each partner benefits from the relative competence of
the other. Lessons to be learned will be pertinent not only in the Ethiopian
context, but also for international stakeholders.
Box: Research questions relating to sustainable land management
g Soil and water conservation: what are the most suitable technologies and approaches
for reducing soil erosion and other processes of land degradation to tolerable levels
while enhancing the overall productivity of the land for sustainable rural development?
g Protected area management: what institutional mechanisms are most suitable for
attaining the goals of conserving wildlife and wildlife habitats while mitigating existing
or potential conflicts with local land users and other stakeholders interested in pro-
tected areas?
g Water management: what are the most suitable watershed development models that
allow more intensive use of the water resources while taking account of climate and
global change and fulfilling the needs of downstream users?
g Institutions and staffing: what is the most appropriate institution and staff develop-
ment policy for proper natural resource management?
Global Change and Sustainable Development
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perspectives
Endnotes
Full citation for this article:
Hurni H, Solomon Abate, Amare Bantider, Berhanu Debele, Ludi E, Portner B, Birru Yitaferu, Gete
Zeleke. 2010. Land degradation and sustainable land management in the Highlands of Ethiopia.
In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors; with an international group of co-editors. Global Change and
Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships.
Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South,
University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 187–207.
Acknowledgements:
The authors are grateful to the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-
South: Research Partnerships for Mitigating Syndromes of Global Change, co-funded by the Swiss
National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
(SDC), which initiated the majority of studies carried out since 2001 as part of its research theme on
natural resource management in the Ethiopian Highlands in the Joint Area of Case Studies (JACS)
Horn of Africa (HOA). Long-term data on soil erosion and conservation were collected by the Soil
Conservation Research Programme (SCRP), which was initiated in 1981 by the University of Bern
in collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, and is now partly carried out by the
Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI). This article was written as part of a
synthesis carried out by the NCCR North-South in all its JACS and research packages.
1 Hans Hurni is Professor of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of Bern,
Switzerland. He is also the Director of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research
(NCCR) North-South, hosted by the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), Uni-
versity of Bern, and responsible for a number of research projects related to natural resource
management, soil and water conservation, smallholder agriculture, rural transformation and
sustainable development in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
E-mail: hans.hurni@cde.unibe.ch
2 Solomon Abate holds a PhD in Natural Resources Management from the Faculty of Natural
Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland. He is Regional Coordinator for the Eastern Nile
Watershed Programme at the Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO), Nile Basin
Initiative, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, and is responsible for planning, managing and coordinating the
implementation of watershed projects and related activities in the region.
E-mail: sabate@nilebasin.org
3 Amare Bantider holds a PhD in Geography and Sustainable Land Management. Currently he is As-
sistant Professor at Dilla University, Ethiopia, and coordinating two research and capacity devel-
opment projects entitled “Water and Environment” and “Doing Development with Young People
in Ethiopia”. His research interest lies in sustainable land management, with a focus on land-use
and land-cover changes, soil and water conservation, and integrated watershed management.
E-mail: amare_zerfe@yahoo.com
4 Berhanu Debele is Head of the Regional Coordination Office of the Joint Area of Case Studies
(JACS) Horn of Africa (HOA) of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR)
North-South, located in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. His research interests include land evaluation, as
well as soils and the environment.
E-mail: nccrhorn@ethionet.et and berhanudebele@gmail.com
5 Eva Ludi holds a PhD in Natural Sciences and is a Research Fellow at the Overseas Development
203
Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management, Ethiopian Highlands
Institute (ODI) in London, UK. Her policy-oriented research projects and advisory services focus
on natural resource governance, with a special focus on soil, water and protected areas, climate
change adaptation in complex rural environments, and livelihoods-focused sustainable develop-
ment, including support of cash crop-dependent smallholder producers particularly in Ethiopia
and other sub-Saharan African countries.
E-mail: e.ludi@odi.org.uk
6 Brigitte Portner is a research scientist and a PhD candidate at the Centre for Development and
Environment, University of Bern. She holds a Master’s degree in Geography from the Faculty of
Science, University of Bern, Switzerland. She has a particular interest in environmental govern-
ance, with a regional focus on Eastern Africa and Central America. Her current research focuses
on the impacts of global biofuel demand and production.
E-mail: brigitte.portner@cde.unibe.ch
7 Birru Yitaferu holds a PhD in Natural Sciences focusing on land resource management. He is
Director of Soil and Water Research of the Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute
(ARARI) in Bahr Dar, Ethiopia. He is currently responsible for a number of research projects and
programmes, such as the Nile Irrigation and Drainage Project, research projects on sustainable
water harvesting and institutional strengthening, and further watershed-based research.
E-mail: birru_yitaferu2002@yahoo.com
8 Gete Zeleke holds a PhD focusing on Natural Resource Management, and he is General Manager
of Avallo International Research and Development (AIRD), Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. His research
interests include assessing soil erosion processes, land evaluation, sustainable land management,
and climate change from a natural resource management perspective.
E-mail: gete_2004@yahoo.com or g.zeleke@cgiar.org
Global Change and Sustainable Development
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