Economic activities of local communities and their dependence on natural resources in Bale Eco-Region, Ethiopia

Summary

A village depending on honey and coffee cultivated in the forests of Harena District, Ethiopia.

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Natural resources are critically declining

because of population growth,

environmental hazards and poverty in

developing countries. The Bale Eco-

Region in South-Central Ethiopia has

also experienced massive degradation

of natural resources due to their unwise

use and population pressure. To

better understand and address these

pressures a study was carried out

aimed at investigating the economic

activities of local communities and their

dependencies on natural resources in the

region. The people living in the Bale Eco-

Region mainly use crop-production and

livestock keeping as their main sources

of income. These agricultural livelihood

strategies strongly depend on natural

resources resulting in decreasing trend

of forest coverage. Extensive agricultural

production systems, uncontrolled grazing

systems, shortage of agricultural inputs

and limited access to credit services/

pests and diseases/limited access to

improved irrigation technologies and

inaccessibility of market are reported as

major constraints in the BER. Therefore, a

holistic approach among partners working

in the area is needed so as to sustainably

use the natural resources and to improve

the livelihood of the community.

BackgroundNatural resources (NRs) are at the core of human civilization. They are the engine for economic advancement and societal well-being. Everything we need and everything we use, as an individual or as a society, in processed or unprocessed form are their extracts. Indeed, they are our food, shelter, energy, medicine, raw materials, etc. The role and importance of NRs in economic development and societal well-being is nowhere else appreciated than in developing countries like Ethiopia whose populations are predominantly rural in structure and directly dependent on natural resources for subsistence.

This project is funded by the European Union

by Gonfa Kewessa, Endalew Muluneh, Demeke Datiko, Dejene Nigatu and Lemma Tiki

Today, the NR bases of the country are heavily suffering widespread, improper and unwise utilization resulting in their rapid degradation. Deforestation, desertification, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, decline in soil fertility, soil acidification, salinization, environmental pollution and climate change are some of the major expressions of problems of NRs in contemporary Ethiopia, in general, and Bale Eco-Region (BER), in particular.

The two main livelihood strategies of local communities in the BER are crop production and livestock rearing, or a combination. When comparing across the three agroecologies of the BER, we can see that the livelihoods in the midland agroecology are highly dependent on forest products. The forest resource is experiencing serious human pressure mainly through free grazing system (Godantu system), agricultural expansion, illegal settlements, and human interference for coffee management. Consequently, declines in land productivity and soil fertility in the midland strongly influence communities living in the highland areas.

The huge forest resources and rivers flowing within BER are unwisely utilized by the local communities due to constraints in the use of different natural resources. Those constraints that hinder utilization of the major natural resources (land, water, forest and soil) available in the area can be categorized as biophysical, socioeconomic, technological, management, and policy gap and law enforcement constraints.

According to the result from the household survey, conducted in 2016, the temporal trends of natural resources in the BER show declines in landholdings, land productivity, soil fertility, forest coverage, water availability and quality while there is an increasing trend in soil erosion, deforestation and destruction of the wild habitat.

The degradation of natural resources is caused by the effect of overpopulation of the local communities on fragile (steep and erosion-prone) areas, and mismanagement of the land itself.

MethodologyData were collected using semi-structured interviews from 384 sample household heads, 15 focus group discussions (four with men, three with women and three with youths, and five with Woreda experts) and key informant interviews with 30 individuals who are knowledgeable about the BER. Moreover, field observations were also used for ground verification of the current status of natural resources and their constraints.

Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the chi-square test at α=0.05. Qualitative data were used for triangulation. By multistage random sampling from highland, midland and lowland clusters of the BER, 384 sample households (359 male-headed and 25 female-headed) were selected.

Findings from the study Crop production is the major livelihood strategy in the midlands (81.7%) and highlands (89.1%) whereas both crop (52.2%) and livestock production (47.8%) were equally the most dominant livelihood in the lowlands of the BER. Crop production was practiced by 41.4% of the respondents as an alternative livelihood strategy in the lowland whereas livestock production (87.8%), beekeeping (49.4%) and horticultural crop production (52.6%) were used as an alternative livelihood strategy in the highlands. Horticultural crop production (64.8%) and non-timber forest products (39.4%) were most commonly used as an alternative livelihood strategy in the midlands.

The majority of the households pointed out that there is a decreasing trend in landholdings (84.2%), land productivity (66.7%), soil fertility (91.6%), and forest coverage (80.1%) in BER. On the other hand, the higher proportion of sample households indicated an increasing rate of soil erosion (67.5%), forest fragmentation (52.5%) and destruction of wildlife habitat (54.5%). Statistical analysis of a sample household survey indicated that the magnitude of the dynamics of forest cover, diversity dynamics of species, destruction of wildlife habitat and water quality shows significant variation in the BER over time.Figure 1. Location of the Bale Eco-Region.

According to respondents, the major natural resource use constraints as reported by the local communities in BER are the extensive agricultural production systems, shortage of agricultural inputs (fertilizers, modern varieties, insecticides, pesticides) and limited access to credit services, growth of pests and diseases, limited access to improved irrigation technologies, inadequate technological skills, inadequate research support on natural resources use, lack of trained manpower and frequent staff turnover, unstable institutional setup, inadequate extension services, lack of infrastructure (road, network), inaccessibility to the market, limited availability of financial capital, limited rules and regulations, and weak law enforcement on natural resources use.

Key recommendations A holistic approach among partners working in the area is needed to sustain the BER resources via improvement of local livelihood mechanisms and capacity-building. Capacitating and empowering formal and informal institutions found in the BER on sustainable natural resources conservation are crucial.

Free grazing system, illegal settlements and forest coffee management activities (i.e., slashing and clearing of herbs, bushes and shrubs) need due attention for sustaining the high-value ecosystem values provided by the Harenna Forest.

Forest coffee management in the BER is carried out for economic gain and for maintaining high-value trees and

shrubs while less-valuable trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants are slashed from the forest. Hence, there is a need to initiate environmental services of woody species including those plants slashed in forest coffee through carbon payment/carbon trading mechanisms so as to save those species and to improve the livelihood of the local communities in and around the forest areas.

In the lowland agroecology of the BER, most of the grazing land was damaged due to an uncontrolled grazing system and drought that affected the feeding system of the livestock. Therefore, to improve the livestock productivity and livelihood of the pastoral communities, there is a need to search for alternative feed sources such as establishing permanent multipurpose fodder trees and shrubs.

According to the response from key informant interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGD), there are rivers flowing throughout the year in the lowland, and midland agroecology of BER without wise utilization by the local communities. Hence, awareness creation is crucial for local communities and experts on utilization of the available water source for irrigation, and human and livestock drinking. On the other hand, adoption of water-harvesting technologies to water-scarce parts of the lowland agroecology will help the local communities to better tolerate future climatic variability.

Road infrastructure and transportation availability will have a large influence on the distribution of agricultural systems and agricultural diversity. Many subsistence farmers cannot sell their product because of poor road access and costs involved in transport to markets. Hence, federal and regional rural road authorities should work with agricultural and pastoral offices to solve these problems.

Since pests and diseases are mentioned as biological constraints affecting agricultural productivity of the area, interventions need to be taken by governmental organizations and NGOs working in BER by increasing the availability of inputs and provision of trainings on different controlling measures.

Respondents explained that lack of different technologies is a constraint to the use of natural resources; thus, technologies like energy saving stoves, irrigation schemes, agricultural machineries, livestock-rearing technologies, and improved varieties need to be disseminated to pastoralists and farmers in the area, who in turn need to be trained on the use of new technologies.

Figure 2. One of the rivers in the lowlands of BER providing a source of water for people and livestock.

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Building the knowledge of the local communities on agrobiodiversity will play an important role in the improvement of livelihood strategies of local communities in BER since more diverse agricultural systems are likely to increase nutrition, decrease land fragmentation, reduce

disease, pests and weed from the crop, increase the diversity over the area, manage the soil fertility, diversify incomes, create sustainable use of natural resources, keep air quality, increase groundwater recharge and fodder/feed availability for the livestock.

AcknowledgementsThis technical brief was developed based on a research study carried out by Gonfa Kewessa, Endalew Muluneh, Demeke Datiko,

Dejene Nigatu, Lemma Tiki from Meda Welabu University, entitled: Economic Activities of Local Communities and Their Dependence

on Natural Resources in the Bale Eco-Region, South Eastern Ethiopia. This study was carried out as part of the SHARE Bale Eco-

Region project with support from the European Union.

Editors International Water Management Institute: Daniel Van Rooijen (d.vanrooijen@cgiar.org)

Farm Africa: Biruktayet Assefa (BiruktayetA@farmafrica.org)

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

About the SHARE Bale Eco-Region project

Conservation of Biodiversity and Ecosystems Functions and Improved Well-being of Highland and Lowland Communities within the Bale Eco-Region (BER) is one of the European Union (EU)-funded projects that stands for Supporting Horn of Africa Resilience (SHARE). In Ethiopia, the project covers 16 districts (Woredas) in West Arsi and Bale Zones of Oromia Regional State, with around 22,000 km2, comprising a population of about 3.3 million. The life span of the project is 42 months starting in July 2014 and ending in November 2017. Five partners are implementers of the project, which are: Farm Africa, SOS Sahel, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) and Population Health and Environment (PHE).