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Desertification in Ethiopian highlands

Ethiopia is severely affected by recurring droughts and slowly advancing desertification processes. During the 1972/73, 80/81 and 84/85 drought and famine years, the social and the economic development of arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas of the country were seriously affected. The 1984/85 drought claimed the lives of more than two hundred thousand people and millions of livestock. Ethiopian land which falls within the UNEP’s definition of desertification is estimated to cover 71.5% of the country’s total land area. Overgrazing, deforestation, poor farming practices and using dung for fuel are the major causes of land degradation in Ethiopia. An estimated 70–75% of Ethiopia’s livestock population is concentrated in the highlands. The recorded annual soil erosion (surface soil movement) in Ethiopia ranges from low of 16 tons/ha/yr to high of 300 tons/ha/yr depending mainly on the slope, land cover, and rainfall intensities. The total estimated annual soil loss (surface soil movement) from the cultivated, range and pasture lands (780,000 km) in Ethiopia is estimated to range from low of 1.3 to an average of 7.8 billion metric tons per year. An Ethiopian highland reclamation study (FAO 1984) put the degraded area on the highlands at 27 million ha of which, 14 million hectares is very seriously eroded with 2 million ha of this having reached a point of no return. The Ethiopian government has carried out a massive soil and water conservation scheme through a “food for work” programme. But the magnitude of land degradation and the vastness of degraded land is so large that the impacts of conservation work seem comparatively small when viewed from a national perspective. The absence of ownership of land and other forms of benefit sharing and incentives, have been a major draw back. Conservation based sustainable development strategy guided by full grassroot participation is recommended. Resource ownership rights, appropriate land use plans at community level, intensification of production with the application of small scale irrigation integrated with local knowledge, and instituting proper population pressure releasing mechanisms are key areas to be considered.