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Implications of Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics for Mountain ResourceDegradation in the Northwestern Ethiopian HighlandsAuthor(s) Gete Zeleke and Hans HurniSource Mountain Research and Development 21(2)184-191 2001Published By International Mountain SocietyDOI httpdxdoiorg1016590276-4741(2001)021[0184IOLUAL]20CO2URL httpwwwbiooneorgdoifull1016590276-4741282001290215B01843AIOLUAL5D20CO3B2

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Introduction

Whatever their speed and magnitude most land useand land cover changes are attributable to human activ-ities and development or to quote Hurni et al (1996p 11) ldquosoil erosion is as old as human historyrdquo Accord-ing to FAO (1983) such human-induced processes areadvancing at a much faster rate and now affect animmeasurably greater proportion of the Earthrsquos landarea Major land use and land cover changes due tosedentary agriculture have been observed as occurringover different time spans Some changes are of very

short duration and of an exploitative nature while oth-ers are long term and stable According to Reenberg etal (1998) both types of change are primarily related toresource management strategies associated with agricul-ture and livestock grazing which significantly influenceland use and in turn cause land cover changes

Analysis of land use and land cover changes over agiven period of time can be done using aerial photogra-phy and satellite images at different scales Models ofland degradation can then be applied to indicatewhether the land use and land cover changes were sus-tainable or unsustainable Such analyses are essential forplanning and decision-making focusing on actions relat-ed to environmental rehabilitation and various develop-ment programs as well as for awareness creation

The study area covers about 27100 ha and isassumed to represent Gojam the traditional lsquobreadbas-ket of Ethiopiarsquo known for abundant cereal productionand export of surplus to major Ethiopian cities For thepast 4 decades or so Gojam has undergone dramaticland use and land cover changes with the result thatalmost all land units have been converted to cultivatedland (Figure 1) The age-old agricultural tradition ofclearing the land (traditionally called meret makinat) wasextensively practiced mainly in the first part of thestudy period (1957ndash1982) Combined with inadequatepolicies and institutional environments as well as othersocioeconomic problems this tradition has contributedto the present state of complete transformation seen inthe area (Gete Zeleke 2000) As a result of these andother factors the rates of soil and nutrient loss mainlyfrom cultivated lands are extremely high and soil pro-ductivity is decreasing rapidly For instance the long-term average annual soil loss from cultivated lands inthe study area where a 100 ha catchment served as along-term monitoring site for the Soil ConservationResearch Project (Hurni 1982) ranges from 130 to170 thay (Herweg and Stillhardt 1999) The averageannual suspended sediment yield from the unconservedcatchment reached 61 thay (Bosshart 1997) thehighest in the country

Several questions arise with regard to the rapid landuse and land cover changes and associated impacts inthe area First what are the extent and degree of landuse and land cover changes in the area in spatial andtemporal terms Second what are the major conse-quences of these changes Third what will the futuretrends be in land use and land cover dynamics and asso-ciated results Fourth are these dynamics well perceivedby relevant stakeholders And finally what are theirimplications at the regional national and internationallevels

The present article mainly addresses the first ofthese questions based on spatial and temporal analysisof land use and land cover changes from 1957 to 1995

184

Implications of Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics for MountainResource Degradation in the Northwestern Ethiopian Highlands

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

Land use and landcover changes thatoccurred from 1957 to1995 in the Dem-becha area Gojam inthe Northwestern high-lands of Ethiopia weremonitored using a geo-graphic informationsystem (GIS) and aremote sensing

approach with field verification The study area covers27100 ha and is representative of Gojam which isknown for its cereal production and export of surplus tomajor cities of the country However given the age-oldtradition of clearing increasingly steeper land for cultiva-tion and the lack of appropriate land use policies pro-ductivity is currently heavily threatened by soil degrada-tion The results show that the natural forest coverdeclined from 27 in 1957 to 2 in 1982 and 03 in1995 The total natural forest cleared between 1957 and1995 amounts to 7259 ha This is 99 of the forest cov-er that existed in 1957 On the other hand cultivatedland increased from 39 in 1957 to 70 in 1982 and77 in 1995 The greatest expansion occurred between1957 and 1982 (about 78) and slowed down between1982 and 1995 (only 10) because almost no land wasleft for further expansion Throughout the period coveredby the study cultivation encroached upon the very lastmarginal areas and steep slopes with gradients gt30Such a dramatic change in 4 decades and the increasingproportion of completely degraded lands from virtuallynil in 1957 to about 3 in 1995 clearly indicates theprevailing danger of land degradation in the area

Keywords Land degradation land use change land cov-er change remote sensing GIS analysis landscapeanalysis Ethiopia

Peer reviewed October 2000 Accepted November2000

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001 184ndash191

and investigation of possible implications for degrada-tion of mountain resources in the study area Land usechanges in different types of landscape trends inexpansion of cultivated land and associated results arepresented An additional aim is to create awarenessamong relevant stakeholders such as community plan-ners and decision- or policy-makers about the speedand degree of land degradation and its long-term con-sequences Eventually of course it is not only aware-ness that is important but improvements of policy plan-ning and physical implementation which are neededto protect potential agricultural soils in this part of thecountry from further deterioration through loss of soilproductivity

Geographical environment of the study area

The study area covering about 27103 ha is locatedbetween 37deg23 and 37deg35E and 10deg30 and 10deg45N Itis situated 360 km northwest of Addis Abeba the capitalcity of Ethiopia (Figure 2) Administratively the areabelongs to 4 districts (Weredas) most of it being inDembecha Wereda The northern eastern and westernparts belong to Feres Bet Macha Sinan and Jabite-henan respectively The area is relatively densely popu-lated with an interpolated value of 125 personskm2

and an annual growth rate of 28 (Gete Zeleke 2000)The study area is an extension of the typical agro-

climatic profile of Mt Choke which is situated about25 km northeast of the study area and extends from thecold and wet upper zones (Wurch 4050 m) to the hotand moistdry lower zones (Kolla 1000 m) of the BlueNile River Basin The drop in altitude of about 3000 mover 75ndash100 km causes strong gradients in climate andhence in vegetation land use and living conditionsThe area is located in the middle of these 2 extremes

and extends from south to north over elevations of1800ndash2800 m It also has a very pleasant mountain cli-mate with an average annual rainfall of about 1600 mmand mean monthly temperatures that vary between 15and 18degC It is considered typical of the high-potentialintensively cultivated mixed and ox-plow farmed cerealbelt in the northwestern Ethiopian highlands

Geologically the area belongs to the Trapp series ofTertiary volcanic eruptions Its topography is typical ofvolcanic landscapes which were later deeply incised bystreams resulting in the current diversity of landformsThe soils have developed from volcanic ashes andreworked materials resulting from Tertiary volcanic

185

Research

FIGURE 1 By 1995 cultivationin the study area had reachedthe steepest slopes Suchmarginal lands in the Ethiopianhighlands are generallycultivated without conservationmeasures (Photo by GeteZeleke)

FIGURE 2 Location of the study area

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

186

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

TABLE 1 Description of landuseland cover classes usedfor analysis of changesbetween 1957 and 1995

Land useland cover classes Description

Cultivated land This unit includes areas used for rainfed and irrigated cultivation including fallow plots and a complex unit ie cultivated land mixed with bushes and trees and rural homesteads

Natural forest Areas covered with trees forming closed canopy or nearly closed canopy (70ndash100) This unit also includes woodlands (60ndash70 trees mixed with short bushes and open areas) and bamboo forests

Plantations Areas covered with planted trees mainly Eucalyptus and Juniperus procera at different heightsmixed with regenerated trees and bushes mainly Acacia abyssinica and Croton species

Grassland Areas with permanent grass cover used for grazing usually communal

Temporary grassland Areas that are very flat and swampy in the rainy season and relatively dry (especially the periphery) during the dry season Used as supplementary grassland a good source of grass for the dry season (February to May)

Bushland Areas covered with small trees bushes and shrubs Scattered large trees can sometimes be found

Shrubland Areas covered with short shrubs and thorny bushes with little useful wood usually stony with a very rugged microrelief

Bare land Areas that have little or no vegetation cover mainly with classic gullies and exposed rocks

Grass- and bushland Areas covered with a mixture of grass and bushshrubs in almost equal proportion and used as grazing land Can be very easily converted to cultivated land

Grass- bushland and bare land Areas with very shallow soils covered partly with scanty grass short bushshrub and exposed rocks Normally consists of abandoned cultivated land sometimes with gullies used as local grazing land

Small towns Areas covered with urban settlement including marketplaces and institutions such as schools and clinics

eruptions and sedimentation processes Nitosols are thedominant soil type mainly on undulating to steepslopes Relatively flat areas and especially those closerto river valleys are largely covered by well-developedLuvisols As a result of degradation the soils on steepslopes appear to have been downgraded to Regosolsand Cambisols

Materials and methods

Monitoring of land use and land cover changes in thestudy area was done at 3 intervals 1957 1982 and1995 A geo-information modeling approach was usedemploying aerial photo analysis (1957 and 1982) satel-lite image analysis (1995) and ground truth checkingbetween 1996 and 1997 Data interpretation and analy-sis were conducted using ESRIrsquos UNIX ARCINFO GISsoftware (see also Solomon Abate 1994)

Prior to aerial photo interpretation preliminaryland use and land cover classes were established and inthe course of the interpretation some classes were can-celed while others were added (Table 1) Field check-ing was done between 1996 and 1997 using the resultsof the 1982 aerial photo interpretation Sites with spe-

cial points of interest that had few cover differencesexcept quality and proportion were selected to verifythe interpretation About 10 of the study area was ver-ified in the field In addition a 100-ha area within thestudy area had been continuously monitored since 1984for land use and land cover changes (SCRP 2000)

Results of the photo analysis were transferred to abase map of the area (developed from a 1984 150000topographic sheet) using a digital pantograph Laterthe data were transferred to UNIX ARCINFO GIS soft-ware via digitizer and subsequent adjustments to a real-world coordinate system were made Most of the analy-ses done thereafter were with cell-based modeling tech-niques using the Grid version of ARCINFO

For 1995 a digital satellite image (March 1995)covering 180 times 180 km2 was used From the digital dataa false color grid composite image was developed forsystematic classification and assessment of land use andland cover changes The image was adjusted using lineobjects on a 250000 scale topographic sheet of thenorthwestern part of the country Later this image wasclipped to the frame that covers the study area and fur-ther adjustments with line objects on a 50000 scaletopographic map of the area were made until the align-

ment was satisfactory Initially a preliminary interpreta-tion was made using vegetative biomass cover differ-ences and verification was done using the 1982 landuse and land cover map as a reference After the accu-racy was checked by verifying objectsmdashsupplementedwith 6 field (ie ground truth) cross-sections and severalfree check points as in the verification of aerial photointerpretation abovemdashclassification was done manuallyto adjust the preliminary interpretation All calculationswere done using GIS analysis with figures roundedautomatically to full percentages except for values low-er than 1

Results and discussion

Land use and land cover changes (1957ndash1995)It was found that the natural forest cover declined from27 in 1957 to 2 in 1982 and 03 in 1995 The totalnatural forest cleared between 1957 and 1995 amountsto 72593 ha which is about 99 of the forest coverthat existed in 1957 (Table 2 Figure 3) Major defor-estation took place between 1957 and 1982 destroyingabout 94 of the 1957 forest cover Conversely cultivat-ed land increased from 39 in 1957 to 70 in 1982and 77 in 1995 Though the total expansion of culti-vated land from 1957 to 1995 amounted to 95 mostof the expansion occurred between 1957 and 1982(78 in about 2 12 decades) with only 10 occurringfrom 1982 to 1995 because almost no land was left(Table 2 Figure 3) Nevertheless the satellite imageanalysis and detailed field checking done in 1996ndash1997showed that there is still a persistent push toward theremaining grass- and bushland in all slope classes (Fig-ures 4 5) The overall change was rather dramatic inthe study area where only a simple traditional ox-plowfarming system is in use (Figure 6) and where there isno history of immigration into the area or any sort ofmechanized farming within the time frame of the study

Surprisingly after such extensive deforestation thetotal forest cover in 1995 increased to 2 due toafforestation (Map 3 in Figure 3) near the town ofDembecha (Sekela Maryam State Forest) From thepoint of view of environmental protection this increasein forest cover by 1995 is a positive development butfor the community living near the afforestation site theforest is an intrusion on their farm- and grassland andenvironmental protection is not a goal worth pursuingThere are 3 major reasons for this view among farmersFirst the forest belongs to the government and farmershave no direct benefit from it Second the forest wasplanted without full consultation with the communityThird the forest is protected and farmers must keeptheir livestock away from it which means more laborfor the farmer and no direct share of the benefits fromforest products under threat of various penalties

Consideration of the entire vegetative cover on theaerial photo shows that the area was more resilient in1957 than in 1982 and 1995 partly as a result of theshifting cultivation system that was in use between 1957and 1982 as confirmed in informal interviews with eld-ers in the community After 1982 shifting cultivationseems to have been replaced by intensification and anexpansion of cultivation in marginal lands As a conse-quence some of the cultivated and grass- and bush-lands on steep slopes have now become degraded andhave very shallow soils Abandonment of these areas hasalready begun and will undoubtedly increase indeedthe proportion of degraded lands (bare land and grass-bushland and bare land) increased from 01 in 1957to 3 in 1995

Land use and land cover changes in relation to slope and type of landscapeA significant observation about land use and land coverchanges concerns the types of landscape affected by thechanges that occurred from 1957 to 1995 Under nor-mal circumstances steep lands should be kept underforest cover or used for perennial crops but not forannual crop cultivation As is visible in Figure 4a culti-vated land was mainly on gentle slopes (lt30) in 1957The reverse was true in 1982 and 1995 with a dramaticincrease up to 1982 (especially on steep slopes iegt30) and a less dramatic increase up to 1995 becausealmost every steep slope had already been converted tocultivated land Only rocky exposures cliffs some verymarginal bushy areas some grassland and temporaryswampy areas around rivers remained unchanged

Figure 4b shows that the overall distribution of for-est cover in all slope classes in 1957 was remarkablewith a relatively good share on slopes gt20 The latteris an indirect indication of a stable ecosystem Howeverafter only 26 years (1957ndash1982) almost all forestsmdashincluding about 90 of the forest on steep slopes(gt30)mdashhad been cleared from all slopes and convert-ed to cultivated land About 40 of the remaining for-est cover in 1982 was on very steep slopes which werein the vicinity of churches and not easily accessible In1995 too except for a few patches of bamboo foreststhe few remnant natural forests were around churchesThis may illustrate the frequently made point about theimportance of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in pre-serving the countryrsquos forest genetic resources

On the 12 of the area that is steep land (iegt30) the amount covered by cultivated landincreased from only 19 in 1957 to 66 in 1982 and79 in 1995 The overall expansion rate on these slopeclasses was 310 Most of the expansion (239) tookplace between 1957 and 1982 Except in a few parts theremaining steep slopes that seemed to have soil coverwere converted to cultivated lands between 1982 and

187

Research

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

188

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

TABLE 2 Land useland cover changes from 1957 to 1995 Thecultivated land in 1957 consisted of fallow lands and a complexunit ie cultivated bushscattered trees The forestland includedthe woodland (in 1957) and bamboo forests (in 1982 and 1995)

Note Temp grassland is temporary grassland which is swampy in the rainy season and partly dry in the dry season Grass- and bushlandis a mixture of grass- and bushshrublands Grass- bushland and bare land is a degraded unit used mainly as grazing land (see Table 1)

FIGURE 3 Land use and land cover changes (1957ndash1995) in theAnjeni area Gojam Ethiopia (Maps compiled by Gete Zeleke)

Changes in land useLand useland cover area coverage (in ha) and percentage ()land cover (in ha)

1957 1982 19951957ndash 1982ndash 1957ndash

Land useland cover classes Area Area Area 1982 1995 1995

Cultivated land 10692 395 19031 702 20893 771 +8338 +1863 +10201

Natural forest 7342 271 452 17 82 03 6889 370 7259

Plantations 0 00 10 00 525 19 +10 +515 +525

Grassland 4901 181 3865 143 3147 116 1037 718 1754

Temp grassland 952 35 565 21 516 19 388 48 436

Bushland 1349 50 1030 38 103 04 319 927 1246

Shrubland 25 01 309 11 332 12 +283 +23 +306

Bare land 17 01 69 03 168 06 +53 +99 +151

Grass- and bushland 1691 62 1149 42 400 15 542 749 1291

Grass- bushland and bare land 0 00 414 15 580 21 +414 +166 +580

Small towns 134 05 210 08 357 13 +76 +146 +223

Total 27103 100 27104 100 27103 100

1995 at an expansion rate of 21 On the other handcombined coverage of forest bush grass- and bushlandand grassland (F-B-GB-G) on slopes gt30 declinedfrom 80 in 1957 to 25 in 1982 and 11 in 1995(Figure 5a)

Expansion of cultivated land also took place ongentle slopes and flat areas (lt30) It increased from42 in 1957 to 71 in 1982 and 77 in 1995 Theoverall expansion rate on these slope classes was highmdashabout 82 (1957ndash1995)mdashleading to almost double theamount of cultivated area On these slope classes thecombined area coverage of forest bush grass- andbushland and grassland (F-B-GB-G) declined from 53in 1957 to 24 in 1982 and 16 in 1995 (Figure 5b)

The field work study in 1996ndash1997 revealed that theremaining large portion of flat lands consisted mainlyof areas around rivers exposed to seasonal flooding andswampy areas that are not currently suitable for cropcultivation However since the production system wasbased on claiming more land for cultivation rather thanmaximizing production per unit area there was still apush toward these flat and swampy areas Such a devel-

opment threatens livestock production on the onehand and ecologically sensitive wetlands on the other

Implications of the observed land use and land cover changes The changes observed did not take place without nega-tive consequences For instance as cultivated land wasexpanded at the expense of other land use and landcover units grassland declined resulting in less avail-able fodder and a decrease in the number and qualityof livestock This led to a shortage of animals requiredfor plowing and transport as well as to a reduction ofincome and food from animals and their products Thisseries of related impacts indirectly affected the tradi-tional land management system When livestock andfodder was plentiful (in the 1950s) manuring was animportant practice in the area It increased soil fertilityand hence production without extra cost to the farmerexcept for labor After fodder availability and livestockhad decreased manuring (traditionally called hura) wasgradually reduced Moreover manure is now in greaterdemand than ever not only because of the lower num-

189

Research

FIGURE 4 Amount of cultivatedland (a) and forestland (b) andtheir distributions according toslope classes in 1957 1982and 1995

FIGURE 5 Amount of cultivated land (CL) anduncultivated areas covered with forest bush grass-and bushland and grassland (F-B-GB-G) and theirdistributions on steep slopes gt30 (a) and on gentleslopes lt30 (b) in 1957 1982 and 1995

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

ber of livestock but also because its use as a source offuel has increased due to reduction of fuelwood

Strikingly in 1996ndash1997 degraded land use andland cover classes indicated in Figure 3 as bare landand grass- bushland and bare lands were used as graz-ing land Livestock were forced to stay on these landunits especially during the cropping season althoughthere was little for them to feed on This is one of thepractices adopted by farmers when the populationgrows and land becomes scarce The farming systemremains traditional while most of the grasslands areconverted to cultivated lands In this case both live-stock and cultivation took over marginal lands eventu-ally leading to even more severe land degradation

The conflicts in the farming system briefly men-tioned here are clearly visible in the area Communitieshave been under pressure for many decades and havetried to adapt to changing conditions However sincetheir efforts have not been systematically supported bystable institutions and policies the farming system cur-rently appears to be in a very critical condition

In the early period of the study farmers practicedshifting cultivation which allowed cultivated land torest for 2 or 3 years to regain some of its potentialMoreover cultivation was mainly on gentle slopes andflat areas Over time 2 major steps were taken drivenby population dynamics and lack of appropriate tenureand land management policies (Gete Zeleke 2000)First farmers expanded onto steep slopes but still prac-ticed shifting cultivation Second they reached anupper limit where they could no longer expand or prac-tice shifting cultivation They practiced abbreviated fal-lowing without any special land management measuresto protect farmlands from the impact of upslope runoffand damage from torrential rainfall (Figures 1 6)

This triggered 3 important processes that aggravatesoil erosion First because of intensification the physi-cal hydrological properties of the soil were badly affect-ed For instance infiltration was reduced and runoffwas more easily initiated while aggregate stabilitydecreased The latter makes the soil less resistant todetachment Second at the onset of rainfall about 77of the area (ie the proportion of cultivated land in1995) is finely prepared for seeding and receives ero-sive storms for extended periods without any protectivecover Third almost all steep slopes even those gt100are under cultivation (see Figure 6) No special protec-tion mechanisms exist except some traditional ditcheswhich in most cases aggravate runoff especially onsteep slopes Because of these processes the area isheavily threatened by land degradation But plannersand decision-makers in particular have not properlyperceived this process and the area has not beenamong the priority areas for soil conservation and envi-ronmental protection This is a potential danger notonly for the region but also for the country since mostof the surplus cereals supplied to the cities are pro-duced in this region Kebrom and Hedlund (2000)express the same concern about loss of vegetation coverleading to lost ground

The various effects of drastic land use and land cov-er changes in these areas will certainly have not onlynational but also international implications Since thenorthwestern highlands of Ethiopia are the potentialsource of a supply of water and sediment to the BlueNile the impacts of change will soon be deeply felt bydownslope users The problem thus has a multinationaldimension and requires an integrated effort before theagricultural potential of the area is lost beyond recovery(El-Swaify and Hurni 1996)

190

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

FIGURE 6 Traditional ox-plowcultivation on a very steepslope (Photo by Eva Ludi)

REFERENCES

Bosshart U 1997 Catchment Discharge and Suspended SedimentTransport as Indicators of Physical Soil and Water Conservation in theMinchet Catchment Anjeni Research Unit Soil Conservation ResearchReport 40 Berne Switzerland University of BerneEl-Swaify SA Hurni H 1996 Transboundary effects of soil erosion andconservation in the Nile Basin International Journal of Soil and WaterConservation 17ndash21Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 1983Guidelines for the Control of Soil Degradation Rome United NationsEnvironment Programme and FAO Gete Zeleke 2000 Landscape Dynamics and Soil Erosion ProcessModelling in the North-western Ethiopian Highlands African Studies SeriesA 16 Berne Switzerland Geographica BernensiaHerweg K Stillhardt B 1999 The Variability of Soil Erosion in theHighlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea Average and Extreme Erosion PatternsSoil Conservation Research Report 33 Berne Switzerland University ofBerneHurni H 1982 Inception Report Soil Conservation Research Project 1Berne Switzerland University of BerneHurni H 1993 Land degradation famine and land resource scenarios inEthiopia In Pimentel D editor World Soil Erosion and ConservationCambridge Studies in Applied Ecology and Resource ManagementCambridge UK Cambridge University Press pp 27ndash61Hurni H 1998 A multi-level stakeholder approach to sustainable landmanagement In Blume HP Eger H Fleischhauer E Hebel A Reij C Steiner

KG editors Towards Sustainable Land Use Furthering Cooperation BetweenPeople and Institutions Advances in GeoEcology 31 Reiskirchen CatenaVerlag pp 827ndash836Hurni H with the assistance of an international group of contributors1996 Precious Earth From Soil and Water Conservation to SustainableLand Management Berne Switzerland International Soil ConservationOrganisation (ISCO) and Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)Kebrom T Hedlund L 2000 Land cover changes between 1958 and 1986in Kalu District southern Wello Ethiopia Mountain Research andDevelopment 2042ndash51Reenberg A Nielsen TL Rasmussen K 1998 Field expansion andreallocation in the Sahel land use pattern dynamics in fluctuatingbiophysical and socio-economic environment Global Environment Change8309ndash327Soil Conservation Research Programme (SCRP) 2000 Soil Erosion andConservation Database Area of Anjeni Gojam Ethiopia Long-TermMonitoring of the Agricultural Environment 1984ndash1994 Berne SwitzerlandCentre for Development and Environment in association with the Ministryof Agriculture EthiopiaSolomon Abate 1994 Land Use Dynamics Soil Degradation and Potentialfor Sustainable Use in Metu Area Illubabur Region Ethiopia African StudiesSeries A13 Berne Switzerland University of Berne

191

Research

AUTHORS

Gete ZelekeAmhara Region Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI) PO Box 527Bahi Dar Ethiopiaararitelecomnetet

Hans HurniCentre for Development and Environment Institute of GeographyUniversity of Berne Hallerstrasse 12 3012 Berne Switzerlandhurnigiubunibech

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank the Geoprocessing Division of the Centre forDevelopment and Environment (CDE) at the University of Berne Switzer-land for their technical assistance while working with UNIX ARCINFO GISSpecial thanks go to the staff of Anjeni Research Unit Ethiopia for theirhelp during data collection in the field and to the Swiss Agency for Devel-opment and Cooperation for financing the study within the framework ofSCRP (Soil Conservation Research Programme initiated in 1981) andESAPP (East and Southern Africa Partnership Program since 1998)

Conclusion Though Gojam is naturally endowed with beautifullandscapes and soils with good potential it has beencontinuously exploited for centuries and its presentcondition is very alarming The spatial and temporalanalysis of land use and land cover change presentedhere though not an end in itself clearly indicates theprevalence of serious land degradation and the relatedproblems the area will face in the near future (see alsoHerweg and Stillhardt 1999) The changes have beendramatic for the traditional agricultural system and theimpacts are now highly visible Vegetation cover hascompletely declined the proportion of degraded landshas increased the total annual soil loss rate is high(SCRP 2000) and soil productivity is dwindling Howev-er these processes have not yet been fully recognizedby planners and decision-makers who still believe thatagricultural potential can be tapped as before If thisperception is not corrected and current trends averted

the great agricultural potential of this part of the coun-try will soon be severely degraded perhaps beyondrecovery in some places

In general it can be concluded that the processesand associated problems observed have regionalnational and international implications (Hurni 1993)Hence a change in scenario is required a multilevelstakeholder approach to sustainable land managementis needed (Hurni 1998) To this end existing biophysi-cal socioeconomic land policy and institutional condi-tions need further careful investigation Moreoverintroduction of proper land management and tenuresystems population growth control mechanisms andintegrated environmental rehabilitation strategies mustbe given high priority at the least to prevent existingpotential from further deteriorating The authors alsobelieve that detailed investigations of household mech-anisms for adaptation to the changes observed areessential for future action

and investigation of possible implications for degrada-tion of mountain resources in the study area Land usechanges in different types of landscape trends inexpansion of cultivated land and associated results arepresented An additional aim is to create awarenessamong relevant stakeholders such as community plan-ners and decision- or policy-makers about the speedand degree of land degradation and its long-term con-sequences Eventually of course it is not only aware-ness that is important but improvements of policy plan-ning and physical implementation which are neededto protect potential agricultural soils in this part of thecountry from further deterioration through loss of soilproductivity

Geographical environment of the study area

The study area covering about 27103 ha is locatedbetween 37deg23 and 37deg35E and 10deg30 and 10deg45N Itis situated 360 km northwest of Addis Abeba the capitalcity of Ethiopia (Figure 2) Administratively the areabelongs to 4 districts (Weredas) most of it being inDembecha Wereda The northern eastern and westernparts belong to Feres Bet Macha Sinan and Jabite-henan respectively The area is relatively densely popu-lated with an interpolated value of 125 personskm2

and an annual growth rate of 28 (Gete Zeleke 2000)The study area is an extension of the typical agro-

climatic profile of Mt Choke which is situated about25 km northeast of the study area and extends from thecold and wet upper zones (Wurch 4050 m) to the hotand moistdry lower zones (Kolla 1000 m) of the BlueNile River Basin The drop in altitude of about 3000 mover 75ndash100 km causes strong gradients in climate andhence in vegetation land use and living conditionsThe area is located in the middle of these 2 extremes

and extends from south to north over elevations of1800ndash2800 m It also has a very pleasant mountain cli-mate with an average annual rainfall of about 1600 mmand mean monthly temperatures that vary between 15and 18degC It is considered typical of the high-potentialintensively cultivated mixed and ox-plow farmed cerealbelt in the northwestern Ethiopian highlands

Geologically the area belongs to the Trapp series ofTertiary volcanic eruptions Its topography is typical ofvolcanic landscapes which were later deeply incised bystreams resulting in the current diversity of landformsThe soils have developed from volcanic ashes andreworked materials resulting from Tertiary volcanic

185

Research

FIGURE 1 By 1995 cultivationin the study area had reachedthe steepest slopes Suchmarginal lands in the Ethiopianhighlands are generallycultivated without conservationmeasures (Photo by GeteZeleke)

FIGURE 2 Location of the study area

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

186

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

TABLE 1 Description of landuseland cover classes usedfor analysis of changesbetween 1957 and 1995

Land useland cover classes Description

Cultivated land This unit includes areas used for rainfed and irrigated cultivation including fallow plots and a complex unit ie cultivated land mixed with bushes and trees and rural homesteads

Natural forest Areas covered with trees forming closed canopy or nearly closed canopy (70ndash100) This unit also includes woodlands (60ndash70 trees mixed with short bushes and open areas) and bamboo forests

Plantations Areas covered with planted trees mainly Eucalyptus and Juniperus procera at different heightsmixed with regenerated trees and bushes mainly Acacia abyssinica and Croton species

Grassland Areas with permanent grass cover used for grazing usually communal

Temporary grassland Areas that are very flat and swampy in the rainy season and relatively dry (especially the periphery) during the dry season Used as supplementary grassland a good source of grass for the dry season (February to May)

Bushland Areas covered with small trees bushes and shrubs Scattered large trees can sometimes be found

Shrubland Areas covered with short shrubs and thorny bushes with little useful wood usually stony with a very rugged microrelief

Bare land Areas that have little or no vegetation cover mainly with classic gullies and exposed rocks

Grass- and bushland Areas covered with a mixture of grass and bushshrubs in almost equal proportion and used as grazing land Can be very easily converted to cultivated land

Grass- bushland and bare land Areas with very shallow soils covered partly with scanty grass short bushshrub and exposed rocks Normally consists of abandoned cultivated land sometimes with gullies used as local grazing land

Small towns Areas covered with urban settlement including marketplaces and institutions such as schools and clinics

eruptions and sedimentation processes Nitosols are thedominant soil type mainly on undulating to steepslopes Relatively flat areas and especially those closerto river valleys are largely covered by well-developedLuvisols As a result of degradation the soils on steepslopes appear to have been downgraded to Regosolsand Cambisols

Materials and methods

Monitoring of land use and land cover changes in thestudy area was done at 3 intervals 1957 1982 and1995 A geo-information modeling approach was usedemploying aerial photo analysis (1957 and 1982) satel-lite image analysis (1995) and ground truth checkingbetween 1996 and 1997 Data interpretation and analy-sis were conducted using ESRIrsquos UNIX ARCINFO GISsoftware (see also Solomon Abate 1994)

Prior to aerial photo interpretation preliminaryland use and land cover classes were established and inthe course of the interpretation some classes were can-celed while others were added (Table 1) Field check-ing was done between 1996 and 1997 using the resultsof the 1982 aerial photo interpretation Sites with spe-

cial points of interest that had few cover differencesexcept quality and proportion were selected to verifythe interpretation About 10 of the study area was ver-ified in the field In addition a 100-ha area within thestudy area had been continuously monitored since 1984for land use and land cover changes (SCRP 2000)

Results of the photo analysis were transferred to abase map of the area (developed from a 1984 150000topographic sheet) using a digital pantograph Laterthe data were transferred to UNIX ARCINFO GIS soft-ware via digitizer and subsequent adjustments to a real-world coordinate system were made Most of the analy-ses done thereafter were with cell-based modeling tech-niques using the Grid version of ARCINFO

For 1995 a digital satellite image (March 1995)covering 180 times 180 km2 was used From the digital dataa false color grid composite image was developed forsystematic classification and assessment of land use andland cover changes The image was adjusted using lineobjects on a 250000 scale topographic sheet of thenorthwestern part of the country Later this image wasclipped to the frame that covers the study area and fur-ther adjustments with line objects on a 50000 scaletopographic map of the area were made until the align-

ment was satisfactory Initially a preliminary interpreta-tion was made using vegetative biomass cover differ-ences and verification was done using the 1982 landuse and land cover map as a reference After the accu-racy was checked by verifying objectsmdashsupplementedwith 6 field (ie ground truth) cross-sections and severalfree check points as in the verification of aerial photointerpretation abovemdashclassification was done manuallyto adjust the preliminary interpretation All calculationswere done using GIS analysis with figures roundedautomatically to full percentages except for values low-er than 1

Results and discussion

Land use and land cover changes (1957ndash1995)It was found that the natural forest cover declined from27 in 1957 to 2 in 1982 and 03 in 1995 The totalnatural forest cleared between 1957 and 1995 amountsto 72593 ha which is about 99 of the forest coverthat existed in 1957 (Table 2 Figure 3) Major defor-estation took place between 1957 and 1982 destroyingabout 94 of the 1957 forest cover Conversely cultivat-ed land increased from 39 in 1957 to 70 in 1982and 77 in 1995 Though the total expansion of culti-vated land from 1957 to 1995 amounted to 95 mostof the expansion occurred between 1957 and 1982(78 in about 2 12 decades) with only 10 occurringfrom 1982 to 1995 because almost no land was left(Table 2 Figure 3) Nevertheless the satellite imageanalysis and detailed field checking done in 1996ndash1997showed that there is still a persistent push toward theremaining grass- and bushland in all slope classes (Fig-ures 4 5) The overall change was rather dramatic inthe study area where only a simple traditional ox-plowfarming system is in use (Figure 6) and where there isno history of immigration into the area or any sort ofmechanized farming within the time frame of the study

Surprisingly after such extensive deforestation thetotal forest cover in 1995 increased to 2 due toafforestation (Map 3 in Figure 3) near the town ofDembecha (Sekela Maryam State Forest) From thepoint of view of environmental protection this increasein forest cover by 1995 is a positive development butfor the community living near the afforestation site theforest is an intrusion on their farm- and grassland andenvironmental protection is not a goal worth pursuingThere are 3 major reasons for this view among farmersFirst the forest belongs to the government and farmershave no direct benefit from it Second the forest wasplanted without full consultation with the communityThird the forest is protected and farmers must keeptheir livestock away from it which means more laborfor the farmer and no direct share of the benefits fromforest products under threat of various penalties

Consideration of the entire vegetative cover on theaerial photo shows that the area was more resilient in1957 than in 1982 and 1995 partly as a result of theshifting cultivation system that was in use between 1957and 1982 as confirmed in informal interviews with eld-ers in the community After 1982 shifting cultivationseems to have been replaced by intensification and anexpansion of cultivation in marginal lands As a conse-quence some of the cultivated and grass- and bush-lands on steep slopes have now become degraded andhave very shallow soils Abandonment of these areas hasalready begun and will undoubtedly increase indeedthe proportion of degraded lands (bare land and grass-bushland and bare land) increased from 01 in 1957to 3 in 1995

Land use and land cover changes in relation to slope and type of landscapeA significant observation about land use and land coverchanges concerns the types of landscape affected by thechanges that occurred from 1957 to 1995 Under nor-mal circumstances steep lands should be kept underforest cover or used for perennial crops but not forannual crop cultivation As is visible in Figure 4a culti-vated land was mainly on gentle slopes (lt30) in 1957The reverse was true in 1982 and 1995 with a dramaticincrease up to 1982 (especially on steep slopes iegt30) and a less dramatic increase up to 1995 becausealmost every steep slope had already been converted tocultivated land Only rocky exposures cliffs some verymarginal bushy areas some grassland and temporaryswampy areas around rivers remained unchanged

Figure 4b shows that the overall distribution of for-est cover in all slope classes in 1957 was remarkablewith a relatively good share on slopes gt20 The latteris an indirect indication of a stable ecosystem Howeverafter only 26 years (1957ndash1982) almost all forestsmdashincluding about 90 of the forest on steep slopes(gt30)mdashhad been cleared from all slopes and convert-ed to cultivated land About 40 of the remaining for-est cover in 1982 was on very steep slopes which werein the vicinity of churches and not easily accessible In1995 too except for a few patches of bamboo foreststhe few remnant natural forests were around churchesThis may illustrate the frequently made point about theimportance of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in pre-serving the countryrsquos forest genetic resources

On the 12 of the area that is steep land (iegt30) the amount covered by cultivated landincreased from only 19 in 1957 to 66 in 1982 and79 in 1995 The overall expansion rate on these slopeclasses was 310 Most of the expansion (239) tookplace between 1957 and 1982 Except in a few parts theremaining steep slopes that seemed to have soil coverwere converted to cultivated lands between 1982 and

187

Research

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

188

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

TABLE 2 Land useland cover changes from 1957 to 1995 Thecultivated land in 1957 consisted of fallow lands and a complexunit ie cultivated bushscattered trees The forestland includedthe woodland (in 1957) and bamboo forests (in 1982 and 1995)

Note Temp grassland is temporary grassland which is swampy in the rainy season and partly dry in the dry season Grass- and bushlandis a mixture of grass- and bushshrublands Grass- bushland and bare land is a degraded unit used mainly as grazing land (see Table 1)

FIGURE 3 Land use and land cover changes (1957ndash1995) in theAnjeni area Gojam Ethiopia (Maps compiled by Gete Zeleke)

Changes in land useLand useland cover area coverage (in ha) and percentage ()land cover (in ha)

1957 1982 19951957ndash 1982ndash 1957ndash

Land useland cover classes Area Area Area 1982 1995 1995

Cultivated land 10692 395 19031 702 20893 771 +8338 +1863 +10201

Natural forest 7342 271 452 17 82 03 6889 370 7259

Plantations 0 00 10 00 525 19 +10 +515 +525

Grassland 4901 181 3865 143 3147 116 1037 718 1754

Temp grassland 952 35 565 21 516 19 388 48 436

Bushland 1349 50 1030 38 103 04 319 927 1246

Shrubland 25 01 309 11 332 12 +283 +23 +306

Bare land 17 01 69 03 168 06 +53 +99 +151

Grass- and bushland 1691 62 1149 42 400 15 542 749 1291

Grass- bushland and bare land 0 00 414 15 580 21 +414 +166 +580

Small towns 134 05 210 08 357 13 +76 +146 +223

Total 27103 100 27104 100 27103 100

1995 at an expansion rate of 21 On the other handcombined coverage of forest bush grass- and bushlandand grassland (F-B-GB-G) on slopes gt30 declinedfrom 80 in 1957 to 25 in 1982 and 11 in 1995(Figure 5a)

Expansion of cultivated land also took place ongentle slopes and flat areas (lt30) It increased from42 in 1957 to 71 in 1982 and 77 in 1995 Theoverall expansion rate on these slope classes was highmdashabout 82 (1957ndash1995)mdashleading to almost double theamount of cultivated area On these slope classes thecombined area coverage of forest bush grass- andbushland and grassland (F-B-GB-G) declined from 53in 1957 to 24 in 1982 and 16 in 1995 (Figure 5b)

The field work study in 1996ndash1997 revealed that theremaining large portion of flat lands consisted mainlyof areas around rivers exposed to seasonal flooding andswampy areas that are not currently suitable for cropcultivation However since the production system wasbased on claiming more land for cultivation rather thanmaximizing production per unit area there was still apush toward these flat and swampy areas Such a devel-

opment threatens livestock production on the onehand and ecologically sensitive wetlands on the other

Implications of the observed land use and land cover changes The changes observed did not take place without nega-tive consequences For instance as cultivated land wasexpanded at the expense of other land use and landcover units grassland declined resulting in less avail-able fodder and a decrease in the number and qualityof livestock This led to a shortage of animals requiredfor plowing and transport as well as to a reduction ofincome and food from animals and their products Thisseries of related impacts indirectly affected the tradi-tional land management system When livestock andfodder was plentiful (in the 1950s) manuring was animportant practice in the area It increased soil fertilityand hence production without extra cost to the farmerexcept for labor After fodder availability and livestockhad decreased manuring (traditionally called hura) wasgradually reduced Moreover manure is now in greaterdemand than ever not only because of the lower num-

189

Research

FIGURE 4 Amount of cultivatedland (a) and forestland (b) andtheir distributions according toslope classes in 1957 1982and 1995

FIGURE 5 Amount of cultivated land (CL) anduncultivated areas covered with forest bush grass-and bushland and grassland (F-B-GB-G) and theirdistributions on steep slopes gt30 (a) and on gentleslopes lt30 (b) in 1957 1982 and 1995

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

ber of livestock but also because its use as a source offuel has increased due to reduction of fuelwood

Strikingly in 1996ndash1997 degraded land use andland cover classes indicated in Figure 3 as bare landand grass- bushland and bare lands were used as graz-ing land Livestock were forced to stay on these landunits especially during the cropping season althoughthere was little for them to feed on This is one of thepractices adopted by farmers when the populationgrows and land becomes scarce The farming systemremains traditional while most of the grasslands areconverted to cultivated lands In this case both live-stock and cultivation took over marginal lands eventu-ally leading to even more severe land degradation

The conflicts in the farming system briefly men-tioned here are clearly visible in the area Communitieshave been under pressure for many decades and havetried to adapt to changing conditions However sincetheir efforts have not been systematically supported bystable institutions and policies the farming system cur-rently appears to be in a very critical condition

In the early period of the study farmers practicedshifting cultivation which allowed cultivated land torest for 2 or 3 years to regain some of its potentialMoreover cultivation was mainly on gentle slopes andflat areas Over time 2 major steps were taken drivenby population dynamics and lack of appropriate tenureand land management policies (Gete Zeleke 2000)First farmers expanded onto steep slopes but still prac-ticed shifting cultivation Second they reached anupper limit where they could no longer expand or prac-tice shifting cultivation They practiced abbreviated fal-lowing without any special land management measuresto protect farmlands from the impact of upslope runoffand damage from torrential rainfall (Figures 1 6)

This triggered 3 important processes that aggravatesoil erosion First because of intensification the physi-cal hydrological properties of the soil were badly affect-ed For instance infiltration was reduced and runoffwas more easily initiated while aggregate stabilitydecreased The latter makes the soil less resistant todetachment Second at the onset of rainfall about 77of the area (ie the proportion of cultivated land in1995) is finely prepared for seeding and receives ero-sive storms for extended periods without any protectivecover Third almost all steep slopes even those gt100are under cultivation (see Figure 6) No special protec-tion mechanisms exist except some traditional ditcheswhich in most cases aggravate runoff especially onsteep slopes Because of these processes the area isheavily threatened by land degradation But plannersand decision-makers in particular have not properlyperceived this process and the area has not beenamong the priority areas for soil conservation and envi-ronmental protection This is a potential danger notonly for the region but also for the country since mostof the surplus cereals supplied to the cities are pro-duced in this region Kebrom and Hedlund (2000)express the same concern about loss of vegetation coverleading to lost ground

The various effects of drastic land use and land cov-er changes in these areas will certainly have not onlynational but also international implications Since thenorthwestern highlands of Ethiopia are the potentialsource of a supply of water and sediment to the BlueNile the impacts of change will soon be deeply felt bydownslope users The problem thus has a multinationaldimension and requires an integrated effort before theagricultural potential of the area is lost beyond recovery(El-Swaify and Hurni 1996)

190

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

FIGURE 6 Traditional ox-plowcultivation on a very steepslope (Photo by Eva Ludi)

REFERENCES

Bosshart U 1997 Catchment Discharge and Suspended SedimentTransport as Indicators of Physical Soil and Water Conservation in theMinchet Catchment Anjeni Research Unit Soil Conservation ResearchReport 40 Berne Switzerland University of BerneEl-Swaify SA Hurni H 1996 Transboundary effects of soil erosion andconservation in the Nile Basin International Journal of Soil and WaterConservation 17ndash21Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 1983Guidelines for the Control of Soil Degradation Rome United NationsEnvironment Programme and FAO Gete Zeleke 2000 Landscape Dynamics and Soil Erosion ProcessModelling in the North-western Ethiopian Highlands African Studies SeriesA 16 Berne Switzerland Geographica BernensiaHerweg K Stillhardt B 1999 The Variability of Soil Erosion in theHighlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea Average and Extreme Erosion PatternsSoil Conservation Research Report 33 Berne Switzerland University ofBerneHurni H 1982 Inception Report Soil Conservation Research Project 1Berne Switzerland University of BerneHurni H 1993 Land degradation famine and land resource scenarios inEthiopia In Pimentel D editor World Soil Erosion and ConservationCambridge Studies in Applied Ecology and Resource ManagementCambridge UK Cambridge University Press pp 27ndash61Hurni H 1998 A multi-level stakeholder approach to sustainable landmanagement In Blume HP Eger H Fleischhauer E Hebel A Reij C Steiner

KG editors Towards Sustainable Land Use Furthering Cooperation BetweenPeople and Institutions Advances in GeoEcology 31 Reiskirchen CatenaVerlag pp 827ndash836Hurni H with the assistance of an international group of contributors1996 Precious Earth From Soil and Water Conservation to SustainableLand Management Berne Switzerland International Soil ConservationOrganisation (ISCO) and Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)Kebrom T Hedlund L 2000 Land cover changes between 1958 and 1986in Kalu District southern Wello Ethiopia Mountain Research andDevelopment 2042ndash51Reenberg A Nielsen TL Rasmussen K 1998 Field expansion andreallocation in the Sahel land use pattern dynamics in fluctuatingbiophysical and socio-economic environment Global Environment Change8309ndash327Soil Conservation Research Programme (SCRP) 2000 Soil Erosion andConservation Database Area of Anjeni Gojam Ethiopia Long-TermMonitoring of the Agricultural Environment 1984ndash1994 Berne SwitzerlandCentre for Development and Environment in association with the Ministryof Agriculture EthiopiaSolomon Abate 1994 Land Use Dynamics Soil Degradation and Potentialfor Sustainable Use in Metu Area Illubabur Region Ethiopia African StudiesSeries A13 Berne Switzerland University of Berne

191

Research

AUTHORS

Gete ZelekeAmhara Region Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI) PO Box 527Bahi Dar Ethiopiaararitelecomnetet

Hans HurniCentre for Development and Environment Institute of GeographyUniversity of Berne Hallerstrasse 12 3012 Berne Switzerlandhurnigiubunibech

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank the Geoprocessing Division of the Centre forDevelopment and Environment (CDE) at the University of Berne Switzer-land for their technical assistance while working with UNIX ARCINFO GISSpecial thanks go to the staff of Anjeni Research Unit Ethiopia for theirhelp during data collection in the field and to the Swiss Agency for Devel-opment and Cooperation for financing the study within the framework ofSCRP (Soil Conservation Research Programme initiated in 1981) andESAPP (East and Southern Africa Partnership Program since 1998)

Conclusion Though Gojam is naturally endowed with beautifullandscapes and soils with good potential it has beencontinuously exploited for centuries and its presentcondition is very alarming The spatial and temporalanalysis of land use and land cover change presentedhere though not an end in itself clearly indicates theprevalence of serious land degradation and the relatedproblems the area will face in the near future (see alsoHerweg and Stillhardt 1999) The changes have beendramatic for the traditional agricultural system and theimpacts are now highly visible Vegetation cover hascompletely declined the proportion of degraded landshas increased the total annual soil loss rate is high(SCRP 2000) and soil productivity is dwindling Howev-er these processes have not yet been fully recognizedby planners and decision-makers who still believe thatagricultural potential can be tapped as before If thisperception is not corrected and current trends averted

the great agricultural potential of this part of the coun-try will soon be severely degraded perhaps beyondrecovery in some places

In general it can be concluded that the processesand associated problems observed have regionalnational and international implications (Hurni 1993)Hence a change in scenario is required a multilevelstakeholder approach to sustainable land managementis needed (Hurni 1998) To this end existing biophysi-cal socioeconomic land policy and institutional condi-tions need further careful investigation Moreoverintroduction of proper land management and tenuresystems population growth control mechanisms andintegrated environmental rehabilitation strategies mustbe given high priority at the least to prevent existingpotential from further deteriorating The authors alsobelieve that detailed investigations of household mech-anisms for adaptation to the changes observed areessential for future action

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

186

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

TABLE 1 Description of landuseland cover classes usedfor analysis of changesbetween 1957 and 1995

Land useland cover classes Description

Cultivated land This unit includes areas used for rainfed and irrigated cultivation including fallow plots and a complex unit ie cultivated land mixed with bushes and trees and rural homesteads

Natural forest Areas covered with trees forming closed canopy or nearly closed canopy (70ndash100) This unit also includes woodlands (60ndash70 trees mixed with short bushes and open areas) and bamboo forests

Plantations Areas covered with planted trees mainly Eucalyptus and Juniperus procera at different heightsmixed with regenerated trees and bushes mainly Acacia abyssinica and Croton species

Grassland Areas with permanent grass cover used for grazing usually communal

Temporary grassland Areas that are very flat and swampy in the rainy season and relatively dry (especially the periphery) during the dry season Used as supplementary grassland a good source of grass for the dry season (February to May)

Bushland Areas covered with small trees bushes and shrubs Scattered large trees can sometimes be found

Shrubland Areas covered with short shrubs and thorny bushes with little useful wood usually stony with a very rugged microrelief

Bare land Areas that have little or no vegetation cover mainly with classic gullies and exposed rocks

Grass- and bushland Areas covered with a mixture of grass and bushshrubs in almost equal proportion and used as grazing land Can be very easily converted to cultivated land

Grass- bushland and bare land Areas with very shallow soils covered partly with scanty grass short bushshrub and exposed rocks Normally consists of abandoned cultivated land sometimes with gullies used as local grazing land

Small towns Areas covered with urban settlement including marketplaces and institutions such as schools and clinics

eruptions and sedimentation processes Nitosols are thedominant soil type mainly on undulating to steepslopes Relatively flat areas and especially those closerto river valleys are largely covered by well-developedLuvisols As a result of degradation the soils on steepslopes appear to have been downgraded to Regosolsand Cambisols

Materials and methods

Monitoring of land use and land cover changes in thestudy area was done at 3 intervals 1957 1982 and1995 A geo-information modeling approach was usedemploying aerial photo analysis (1957 and 1982) satel-lite image analysis (1995) and ground truth checkingbetween 1996 and 1997 Data interpretation and analy-sis were conducted using ESRIrsquos UNIX ARCINFO GISsoftware (see also Solomon Abate 1994)

Prior to aerial photo interpretation preliminaryland use and land cover classes were established and inthe course of the interpretation some classes were can-celed while others were added (Table 1) Field check-ing was done between 1996 and 1997 using the resultsof the 1982 aerial photo interpretation Sites with spe-

cial points of interest that had few cover differencesexcept quality and proportion were selected to verifythe interpretation About 10 of the study area was ver-ified in the field In addition a 100-ha area within thestudy area had been continuously monitored since 1984for land use and land cover changes (SCRP 2000)

Results of the photo analysis were transferred to abase map of the area (developed from a 1984 150000topographic sheet) using a digital pantograph Laterthe data were transferred to UNIX ARCINFO GIS soft-ware via digitizer and subsequent adjustments to a real-world coordinate system were made Most of the analy-ses done thereafter were with cell-based modeling tech-niques using the Grid version of ARCINFO

For 1995 a digital satellite image (March 1995)covering 180 times 180 km2 was used From the digital dataa false color grid composite image was developed forsystematic classification and assessment of land use andland cover changes The image was adjusted using lineobjects on a 250000 scale topographic sheet of thenorthwestern part of the country Later this image wasclipped to the frame that covers the study area and fur-ther adjustments with line objects on a 50000 scaletopographic map of the area were made until the align-

ment was satisfactory Initially a preliminary interpreta-tion was made using vegetative biomass cover differ-ences and verification was done using the 1982 landuse and land cover map as a reference After the accu-racy was checked by verifying objectsmdashsupplementedwith 6 field (ie ground truth) cross-sections and severalfree check points as in the verification of aerial photointerpretation abovemdashclassification was done manuallyto adjust the preliminary interpretation All calculationswere done using GIS analysis with figures roundedautomatically to full percentages except for values low-er than 1

Results and discussion

Land use and land cover changes (1957ndash1995)It was found that the natural forest cover declined from27 in 1957 to 2 in 1982 and 03 in 1995 The totalnatural forest cleared between 1957 and 1995 amountsto 72593 ha which is about 99 of the forest coverthat existed in 1957 (Table 2 Figure 3) Major defor-estation took place between 1957 and 1982 destroyingabout 94 of the 1957 forest cover Conversely cultivat-ed land increased from 39 in 1957 to 70 in 1982and 77 in 1995 Though the total expansion of culti-vated land from 1957 to 1995 amounted to 95 mostof the expansion occurred between 1957 and 1982(78 in about 2 12 decades) with only 10 occurringfrom 1982 to 1995 because almost no land was left(Table 2 Figure 3) Nevertheless the satellite imageanalysis and detailed field checking done in 1996ndash1997showed that there is still a persistent push toward theremaining grass- and bushland in all slope classes (Fig-ures 4 5) The overall change was rather dramatic inthe study area where only a simple traditional ox-plowfarming system is in use (Figure 6) and where there isno history of immigration into the area or any sort ofmechanized farming within the time frame of the study

Surprisingly after such extensive deforestation thetotal forest cover in 1995 increased to 2 due toafforestation (Map 3 in Figure 3) near the town ofDembecha (Sekela Maryam State Forest) From thepoint of view of environmental protection this increasein forest cover by 1995 is a positive development butfor the community living near the afforestation site theforest is an intrusion on their farm- and grassland andenvironmental protection is not a goal worth pursuingThere are 3 major reasons for this view among farmersFirst the forest belongs to the government and farmershave no direct benefit from it Second the forest wasplanted without full consultation with the communityThird the forest is protected and farmers must keeptheir livestock away from it which means more laborfor the farmer and no direct share of the benefits fromforest products under threat of various penalties

Consideration of the entire vegetative cover on theaerial photo shows that the area was more resilient in1957 than in 1982 and 1995 partly as a result of theshifting cultivation system that was in use between 1957and 1982 as confirmed in informal interviews with eld-ers in the community After 1982 shifting cultivationseems to have been replaced by intensification and anexpansion of cultivation in marginal lands As a conse-quence some of the cultivated and grass- and bush-lands on steep slopes have now become degraded andhave very shallow soils Abandonment of these areas hasalready begun and will undoubtedly increase indeedthe proportion of degraded lands (bare land and grass-bushland and bare land) increased from 01 in 1957to 3 in 1995

Land use and land cover changes in relation to slope and type of landscapeA significant observation about land use and land coverchanges concerns the types of landscape affected by thechanges that occurred from 1957 to 1995 Under nor-mal circumstances steep lands should be kept underforest cover or used for perennial crops but not forannual crop cultivation As is visible in Figure 4a culti-vated land was mainly on gentle slopes (lt30) in 1957The reverse was true in 1982 and 1995 with a dramaticincrease up to 1982 (especially on steep slopes iegt30) and a less dramatic increase up to 1995 becausealmost every steep slope had already been converted tocultivated land Only rocky exposures cliffs some verymarginal bushy areas some grassland and temporaryswampy areas around rivers remained unchanged

Figure 4b shows that the overall distribution of for-est cover in all slope classes in 1957 was remarkablewith a relatively good share on slopes gt20 The latteris an indirect indication of a stable ecosystem Howeverafter only 26 years (1957ndash1982) almost all forestsmdashincluding about 90 of the forest on steep slopes(gt30)mdashhad been cleared from all slopes and convert-ed to cultivated land About 40 of the remaining for-est cover in 1982 was on very steep slopes which werein the vicinity of churches and not easily accessible In1995 too except for a few patches of bamboo foreststhe few remnant natural forests were around churchesThis may illustrate the frequently made point about theimportance of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in pre-serving the countryrsquos forest genetic resources

On the 12 of the area that is steep land (iegt30) the amount covered by cultivated landincreased from only 19 in 1957 to 66 in 1982 and79 in 1995 The overall expansion rate on these slopeclasses was 310 Most of the expansion (239) tookplace between 1957 and 1982 Except in a few parts theremaining steep slopes that seemed to have soil coverwere converted to cultivated lands between 1982 and

187

Research

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

188

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

TABLE 2 Land useland cover changes from 1957 to 1995 Thecultivated land in 1957 consisted of fallow lands and a complexunit ie cultivated bushscattered trees The forestland includedthe woodland (in 1957) and bamboo forests (in 1982 and 1995)

Note Temp grassland is temporary grassland which is swampy in the rainy season and partly dry in the dry season Grass- and bushlandis a mixture of grass- and bushshrublands Grass- bushland and bare land is a degraded unit used mainly as grazing land (see Table 1)

FIGURE 3 Land use and land cover changes (1957ndash1995) in theAnjeni area Gojam Ethiopia (Maps compiled by Gete Zeleke)

Changes in land useLand useland cover area coverage (in ha) and percentage ()land cover (in ha)

1957 1982 19951957ndash 1982ndash 1957ndash

Land useland cover classes Area Area Area 1982 1995 1995

Cultivated land 10692 395 19031 702 20893 771 +8338 +1863 +10201

Natural forest 7342 271 452 17 82 03 6889 370 7259

Plantations 0 00 10 00 525 19 +10 +515 +525

Grassland 4901 181 3865 143 3147 116 1037 718 1754

Temp grassland 952 35 565 21 516 19 388 48 436

Bushland 1349 50 1030 38 103 04 319 927 1246

Shrubland 25 01 309 11 332 12 +283 +23 +306

Bare land 17 01 69 03 168 06 +53 +99 +151

Grass- and bushland 1691 62 1149 42 400 15 542 749 1291

Grass- bushland and bare land 0 00 414 15 580 21 +414 +166 +580

Small towns 134 05 210 08 357 13 +76 +146 +223

Total 27103 100 27104 100 27103 100

1995 at an expansion rate of 21 On the other handcombined coverage of forest bush grass- and bushlandand grassland (F-B-GB-G) on slopes gt30 declinedfrom 80 in 1957 to 25 in 1982 and 11 in 1995(Figure 5a)

Expansion of cultivated land also took place ongentle slopes and flat areas (lt30) It increased from42 in 1957 to 71 in 1982 and 77 in 1995 Theoverall expansion rate on these slope classes was highmdashabout 82 (1957ndash1995)mdashleading to almost double theamount of cultivated area On these slope classes thecombined area coverage of forest bush grass- andbushland and grassland (F-B-GB-G) declined from 53in 1957 to 24 in 1982 and 16 in 1995 (Figure 5b)

The field work study in 1996ndash1997 revealed that theremaining large portion of flat lands consisted mainlyof areas around rivers exposed to seasonal flooding andswampy areas that are not currently suitable for cropcultivation However since the production system wasbased on claiming more land for cultivation rather thanmaximizing production per unit area there was still apush toward these flat and swampy areas Such a devel-

opment threatens livestock production on the onehand and ecologically sensitive wetlands on the other

Implications of the observed land use and land cover changes The changes observed did not take place without nega-tive consequences For instance as cultivated land wasexpanded at the expense of other land use and landcover units grassland declined resulting in less avail-able fodder and a decrease in the number and qualityof livestock This led to a shortage of animals requiredfor plowing and transport as well as to a reduction ofincome and food from animals and their products Thisseries of related impacts indirectly affected the tradi-tional land management system When livestock andfodder was plentiful (in the 1950s) manuring was animportant practice in the area It increased soil fertilityand hence production without extra cost to the farmerexcept for labor After fodder availability and livestockhad decreased manuring (traditionally called hura) wasgradually reduced Moreover manure is now in greaterdemand than ever not only because of the lower num-

189

Research

FIGURE 4 Amount of cultivatedland (a) and forestland (b) andtheir distributions according toslope classes in 1957 1982and 1995

FIGURE 5 Amount of cultivated land (CL) anduncultivated areas covered with forest bush grass-and bushland and grassland (F-B-GB-G) and theirdistributions on steep slopes gt30 (a) and on gentleslopes lt30 (b) in 1957 1982 and 1995

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

ber of livestock but also because its use as a source offuel has increased due to reduction of fuelwood

Strikingly in 1996ndash1997 degraded land use andland cover classes indicated in Figure 3 as bare landand grass- bushland and bare lands were used as graz-ing land Livestock were forced to stay on these landunits especially during the cropping season althoughthere was little for them to feed on This is one of thepractices adopted by farmers when the populationgrows and land becomes scarce The farming systemremains traditional while most of the grasslands areconverted to cultivated lands In this case both live-stock and cultivation took over marginal lands eventu-ally leading to even more severe land degradation

The conflicts in the farming system briefly men-tioned here are clearly visible in the area Communitieshave been under pressure for many decades and havetried to adapt to changing conditions However sincetheir efforts have not been systematically supported bystable institutions and policies the farming system cur-rently appears to be in a very critical condition

In the early period of the study farmers practicedshifting cultivation which allowed cultivated land torest for 2 or 3 years to regain some of its potentialMoreover cultivation was mainly on gentle slopes andflat areas Over time 2 major steps were taken drivenby population dynamics and lack of appropriate tenureand land management policies (Gete Zeleke 2000)First farmers expanded onto steep slopes but still prac-ticed shifting cultivation Second they reached anupper limit where they could no longer expand or prac-tice shifting cultivation They practiced abbreviated fal-lowing without any special land management measuresto protect farmlands from the impact of upslope runoffand damage from torrential rainfall (Figures 1 6)

This triggered 3 important processes that aggravatesoil erosion First because of intensification the physi-cal hydrological properties of the soil were badly affect-ed For instance infiltration was reduced and runoffwas more easily initiated while aggregate stabilitydecreased The latter makes the soil less resistant todetachment Second at the onset of rainfall about 77of the area (ie the proportion of cultivated land in1995) is finely prepared for seeding and receives ero-sive storms for extended periods without any protectivecover Third almost all steep slopes even those gt100are under cultivation (see Figure 6) No special protec-tion mechanisms exist except some traditional ditcheswhich in most cases aggravate runoff especially onsteep slopes Because of these processes the area isheavily threatened by land degradation But plannersand decision-makers in particular have not properlyperceived this process and the area has not beenamong the priority areas for soil conservation and envi-ronmental protection This is a potential danger notonly for the region but also for the country since mostof the surplus cereals supplied to the cities are pro-duced in this region Kebrom and Hedlund (2000)express the same concern about loss of vegetation coverleading to lost ground

The various effects of drastic land use and land cov-er changes in these areas will certainly have not onlynational but also international implications Since thenorthwestern highlands of Ethiopia are the potentialsource of a supply of water and sediment to the BlueNile the impacts of change will soon be deeply felt bydownslope users The problem thus has a multinationaldimension and requires an integrated effort before theagricultural potential of the area is lost beyond recovery(El-Swaify and Hurni 1996)

190

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

FIGURE 6 Traditional ox-plowcultivation on a very steepslope (Photo by Eva Ludi)

REFERENCES

Bosshart U 1997 Catchment Discharge and Suspended SedimentTransport as Indicators of Physical Soil and Water Conservation in theMinchet Catchment Anjeni Research Unit Soil Conservation ResearchReport 40 Berne Switzerland University of BerneEl-Swaify SA Hurni H 1996 Transboundary effects of soil erosion andconservation in the Nile Basin International Journal of Soil and WaterConservation 17ndash21Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 1983Guidelines for the Control of Soil Degradation Rome United NationsEnvironment Programme and FAO Gete Zeleke 2000 Landscape Dynamics and Soil Erosion ProcessModelling in the North-western Ethiopian Highlands African Studies SeriesA 16 Berne Switzerland Geographica BernensiaHerweg K Stillhardt B 1999 The Variability of Soil Erosion in theHighlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea Average and Extreme Erosion PatternsSoil Conservation Research Report 33 Berne Switzerland University ofBerneHurni H 1982 Inception Report Soil Conservation Research Project 1Berne Switzerland University of BerneHurni H 1993 Land degradation famine and land resource scenarios inEthiopia In Pimentel D editor World Soil Erosion and ConservationCambridge Studies in Applied Ecology and Resource ManagementCambridge UK Cambridge University Press pp 27ndash61Hurni H 1998 A multi-level stakeholder approach to sustainable landmanagement In Blume HP Eger H Fleischhauer E Hebel A Reij C Steiner

KG editors Towards Sustainable Land Use Furthering Cooperation BetweenPeople and Institutions Advances in GeoEcology 31 Reiskirchen CatenaVerlag pp 827ndash836Hurni H with the assistance of an international group of contributors1996 Precious Earth From Soil and Water Conservation to SustainableLand Management Berne Switzerland International Soil ConservationOrganisation (ISCO) and Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)Kebrom T Hedlund L 2000 Land cover changes between 1958 and 1986in Kalu District southern Wello Ethiopia Mountain Research andDevelopment 2042ndash51Reenberg A Nielsen TL Rasmussen K 1998 Field expansion andreallocation in the Sahel land use pattern dynamics in fluctuatingbiophysical and socio-economic environment Global Environment Change8309ndash327Soil Conservation Research Programme (SCRP) 2000 Soil Erosion andConservation Database Area of Anjeni Gojam Ethiopia Long-TermMonitoring of the Agricultural Environment 1984ndash1994 Berne SwitzerlandCentre for Development and Environment in association with the Ministryof Agriculture EthiopiaSolomon Abate 1994 Land Use Dynamics Soil Degradation and Potentialfor Sustainable Use in Metu Area Illubabur Region Ethiopia African StudiesSeries A13 Berne Switzerland University of Berne

191

Research

AUTHORS

Gete ZelekeAmhara Region Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI) PO Box 527Bahi Dar Ethiopiaararitelecomnetet

Hans HurniCentre for Development and Environment Institute of GeographyUniversity of Berne Hallerstrasse 12 3012 Berne Switzerlandhurnigiubunibech

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank the Geoprocessing Division of the Centre forDevelopment and Environment (CDE) at the University of Berne Switzer-land for their technical assistance while working with UNIX ARCINFO GISSpecial thanks go to the staff of Anjeni Research Unit Ethiopia for theirhelp during data collection in the field and to the Swiss Agency for Devel-opment and Cooperation for financing the study within the framework ofSCRP (Soil Conservation Research Programme initiated in 1981) andESAPP (East and Southern Africa Partnership Program since 1998)

Conclusion Though Gojam is naturally endowed with beautifullandscapes and soils with good potential it has beencontinuously exploited for centuries and its presentcondition is very alarming The spatial and temporalanalysis of land use and land cover change presentedhere though not an end in itself clearly indicates theprevalence of serious land degradation and the relatedproblems the area will face in the near future (see alsoHerweg and Stillhardt 1999) The changes have beendramatic for the traditional agricultural system and theimpacts are now highly visible Vegetation cover hascompletely declined the proportion of degraded landshas increased the total annual soil loss rate is high(SCRP 2000) and soil productivity is dwindling Howev-er these processes have not yet been fully recognizedby planners and decision-makers who still believe thatagricultural potential can be tapped as before If thisperception is not corrected and current trends averted

the great agricultural potential of this part of the coun-try will soon be severely degraded perhaps beyondrecovery in some places

In general it can be concluded that the processesand associated problems observed have regionalnational and international implications (Hurni 1993)Hence a change in scenario is required a multilevelstakeholder approach to sustainable land managementis needed (Hurni 1998) To this end existing biophysi-cal socioeconomic land policy and institutional condi-tions need further careful investigation Moreoverintroduction of proper land management and tenuresystems population growth control mechanisms andintegrated environmental rehabilitation strategies mustbe given high priority at the least to prevent existingpotential from further deteriorating The authors alsobelieve that detailed investigations of household mech-anisms for adaptation to the changes observed areessential for future action

ment was satisfactory Initially a preliminary interpreta-tion was made using vegetative biomass cover differ-ences and verification was done using the 1982 landuse and land cover map as a reference After the accu-racy was checked by verifying objectsmdashsupplementedwith 6 field (ie ground truth) cross-sections and severalfree check points as in the verification of aerial photointerpretation abovemdashclassification was done manuallyto adjust the preliminary interpretation All calculationswere done using GIS analysis with figures roundedautomatically to full percentages except for values low-er than 1

Results and discussion

Land use and land cover changes (1957ndash1995)It was found that the natural forest cover declined from27 in 1957 to 2 in 1982 and 03 in 1995 The totalnatural forest cleared between 1957 and 1995 amountsto 72593 ha which is about 99 of the forest coverthat existed in 1957 (Table 2 Figure 3) Major defor-estation took place between 1957 and 1982 destroyingabout 94 of the 1957 forest cover Conversely cultivat-ed land increased from 39 in 1957 to 70 in 1982and 77 in 1995 Though the total expansion of culti-vated land from 1957 to 1995 amounted to 95 mostof the expansion occurred between 1957 and 1982(78 in about 2 12 decades) with only 10 occurringfrom 1982 to 1995 because almost no land was left(Table 2 Figure 3) Nevertheless the satellite imageanalysis and detailed field checking done in 1996ndash1997showed that there is still a persistent push toward theremaining grass- and bushland in all slope classes (Fig-ures 4 5) The overall change was rather dramatic inthe study area where only a simple traditional ox-plowfarming system is in use (Figure 6) and where there isno history of immigration into the area or any sort ofmechanized farming within the time frame of the study

Surprisingly after such extensive deforestation thetotal forest cover in 1995 increased to 2 due toafforestation (Map 3 in Figure 3) near the town ofDembecha (Sekela Maryam State Forest) From thepoint of view of environmental protection this increasein forest cover by 1995 is a positive development butfor the community living near the afforestation site theforest is an intrusion on their farm- and grassland andenvironmental protection is not a goal worth pursuingThere are 3 major reasons for this view among farmersFirst the forest belongs to the government and farmershave no direct benefit from it Second the forest wasplanted without full consultation with the communityThird the forest is protected and farmers must keeptheir livestock away from it which means more laborfor the farmer and no direct share of the benefits fromforest products under threat of various penalties

Consideration of the entire vegetative cover on theaerial photo shows that the area was more resilient in1957 than in 1982 and 1995 partly as a result of theshifting cultivation system that was in use between 1957and 1982 as confirmed in informal interviews with eld-ers in the community After 1982 shifting cultivationseems to have been replaced by intensification and anexpansion of cultivation in marginal lands As a conse-quence some of the cultivated and grass- and bush-lands on steep slopes have now become degraded andhave very shallow soils Abandonment of these areas hasalready begun and will undoubtedly increase indeedthe proportion of degraded lands (bare land and grass-bushland and bare land) increased from 01 in 1957to 3 in 1995

Land use and land cover changes in relation to slope and type of landscapeA significant observation about land use and land coverchanges concerns the types of landscape affected by thechanges that occurred from 1957 to 1995 Under nor-mal circumstances steep lands should be kept underforest cover or used for perennial crops but not forannual crop cultivation As is visible in Figure 4a culti-vated land was mainly on gentle slopes (lt30) in 1957The reverse was true in 1982 and 1995 with a dramaticincrease up to 1982 (especially on steep slopes iegt30) and a less dramatic increase up to 1995 becausealmost every steep slope had already been converted tocultivated land Only rocky exposures cliffs some verymarginal bushy areas some grassland and temporaryswampy areas around rivers remained unchanged

Figure 4b shows that the overall distribution of for-est cover in all slope classes in 1957 was remarkablewith a relatively good share on slopes gt20 The latteris an indirect indication of a stable ecosystem Howeverafter only 26 years (1957ndash1982) almost all forestsmdashincluding about 90 of the forest on steep slopes(gt30)mdashhad been cleared from all slopes and convert-ed to cultivated land About 40 of the remaining for-est cover in 1982 was on very steep slopes which werein the vicinity of churches and not easily accessible In1995 too except for a few patches of bamboo foreststhe few remnant natural forests were around churchesThis may illustrate the frequently made point about theimportance of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in pre-serving the countryrsquos forest genetic resources

On the 12 of the area that is steep land (iegt30) the amount covered by cultivated landincreased from only 19 in 1957 to 66 in 1982 and79 in 1995 The overall expansion rate on these slopeclasses was 310 Most of the expansion (239) tookplace between 1957 and 1982 Except in a few parts theremaining steep slopes that seemed to have soil coverwere converted to cultivated lands between 1982 and

187

Research

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

188

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

TABLE 2 Land useland cover changes from 1957 to 1995 Thecultivated land in 1957 consisted of fallow lands and a complexunit ie cultivated bushscattered trees The forestland includedthe woodland (in 1957) and bamboo forests (in 1982 and 1995)

Note Temp grassland is temporary grassland which is swampy in the rainy season and partly dry in the dry season Grass- and bushlandis a mixture of grass- and bushshrublands Grass- bushland and bare land is a degraded unit used mainly as grazing land (see Table 1)

FIGURE 3 Land use and land cover changes (1957ndash1995) in theAnjeni area Gojam Ethiopia (Maps compiled by Gete Zeleke)

Changes in land useLand useland cover area coverage (in ha) and percentage ()land cover (in ha)

1957 1982 19951957ndash 1982ndash 1957ndash

Land useland cover classes Area Area Area 1982 1995 1995

Cultivated land 10692 395 19031 702 20893 771 +8338 +1863 +10201

Natural forest 7342 271 452 17 82 03 6889 370 7259

Plantations 0 00 10 00 525 19 +10 +515 +525

Grassland 4901 181 3865 143 3147 116 1037 718 1754

Temp grassland 952 35 565 21 516 19 388 48 436

Bushland 1349 50 1030 38 103 04 319 927 1246

Shrubland 25 01 309 11 332 12 +283 +23 +306

Bare land 17 01 69 03 168 06 +53 +99 +151

Grass- and bushland 1691 62 1149 42 400 15 542 749 1291

Grass- bushland and bare land 0 00 414 15 580 21 +414 +166 +580

Small towns 134 05 210 08 357 13 +76 +146 +223

Total 27103 100 27104 100 27103 100

1995 at an expansion rate of 21 On the other handcombined coverage of forest bush grass- and bushlandand grassland (F-B-GB-G) on slopes gt30 declinedfrom 80 in 1957 to 25 in 1982 and 11 in 1995(Figure 5a)

Expansion of cultivated land also took place ongentle slopes and flat areas (lt30) It increased from42 in 1957 to 71 in 1982 and 77 in 1995 Theoverall expansion rate on these slope classes was highmdashabout 82 (1957ndash1995)mdashleading to almost double theamount of cultivated area On these slope classes thecombined area coverage of forest bush grass- andbushland and grassland (F-B-GB-G) declined from 53in 1957 to 24 in 1982 and 16 in 1995 (Figure 5b)

The field work study in 1996ndash1997 revealed that theremaining large portion of flat lands consisted mainlyof areas around rivers exposed to seasonal flooding andswampy areas that are not currently suitable for cropcultivation However since the production system wasbased on claiming more land for cultivation rather thanmaximizing production per unit area there was still apush toward these flat and swampy areas Such a devel-

opment threatens livestock production on the onehand and ecologically sensitive wetlands on the other

Implications of the observed land use and land cover changes The changes observed did not take place without nega-tive consequences For instance as cultivated land wasexpanded at the expense of other land use and landcover units grassland declined resulting in less avail-able fodder and a decrease in the number and qualityof livestock This led to a shortage of animals requiredfor plowing and transport as well as to a reduction ofincome and food from animals and their products Thisseries of related impacts indirectly affected the tradi-tional land management system When livestock andfodder was plentiful (in the 1950s) manuring was animportant practice in the area It increased soil fertilityand hence production without extra cost to the farmerexcept for labor After fodder availability and livestockhad decreased manuring (traditionally called hura) wasgradually reduced Moreover manure is now in greaterdemand than ever not only because of the lower num-

189

Research

FIGURE 4 Amount of cultivatedland (a) and forestland (b) andtheir distributions according toslope classes in 1957 1982and 1995

FIGURE 5 Amount of cultivated land (CL) anduncultivated areas covered with forest bush grass-and bushland and grassland (F-B-GB-G) and theirdistributions on steep slopes gt30 (a) and on gentleslopes lt30 (b) in 1957 1982 and 1995

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

ber of livestock but also because its use as a source offuel has increased due to reduction of fuelwood

Strikingly in 1996ndash1997 degraded land use andland cover classes indicated in Figure 3 as bare landand grass- bushland and bare lands were used as graz-ing land Livestock were forced to stay on these landunits especially during the cropping season althoughthere was little for them to feed on This is one of thepractices adopted by farmers when the populationgrows and land becomes scarce The farming systemremains traditional while most of the grasslands areconverted to cultivated lands In this case both live-stock and cultivation took over marginal lands eventu-ally leading to even more severe land degradation

The conflicts in the farming system briefly men-tioned here are clearly visible in the area Communitieshave been under pressure for many decades and havetried to adapt to changing conditions However sincetheir efforts have not been systematically supported bystable institutions and policies the farming system cur-rently appears to be in a very critical condition

In the early period of the study farmers practicedshifting cultivation which allowed cultivated land torest for 2 or 3 years to regain some of its potentialMoreover cultivation was mainly on gentle slopes andflat areas Over time 2 major steps were taken drivenby population dynamics and lack of appropriate tenureand land management policies (Gete Zeleke 2000)First farmers expanded onto steep slopes but still prac-ticed shifting cultivation Second they reached anupper limit where they could no longer expand or prac-tice shifting cultivation They practiced abbreviated fal-lowing without any special land management measuresto protect farmlands from the impact of upslope runoffand damage from torrential rainfall (Figures 1 6)

This triggered 3 important processes that aggravatesoil erosion First because of intensification the physi-cal hydrological properties of the soil were badly affect-ed For instance infiltration was reduced and runoffwas more easily initiated while aggregate stabilitydecreased The latter makes the soil less resistant todetachment Second at the onset of rainfall about 77of the area (ie the proportion of cultivated land in1995) is finely prepared for seeding and receives ero-sive storms for extended periods without any protectivecover Third almost all steep slopes even those gt100are under cultivation (see Figure 6) No special protec-tion mechanisms exist except some traditional ditcheswhich in most cases aggravate runoff especially onsteep slopes Because of these processes the area isheavily threatened by land degradation But plannersand decision-makers in particular have not properlyperceived this process and the area has not beenamong the priority areas for soil conservation and envi-ronmental protection This is a potential danger notonly for the region but also for the country since mostof the surplus cereals supplied to the cities are pro-duced in this region Kebrom and Hedlund (2000)express the same concern about loss of vegetation coverleading to lost ground

The various effects of drastic land use and land cov-er changes in these areas will certainly have not onlynational but also international implications Since thenorthwestern highlands of Ethiopia are the potentialsource of a supply of water and sediment to the BlueNile the impacts of change will soon be deeply felt bydownslope users The problem thus has a multinationaldimension and requires an integrated effort before theagricultural potential of the area is lost beyond recovery(El-Swaify and Hurni 1996)

190

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

FIGURE 6 Traditional ox-plowcultivation on a very steepslope (Photo by Eva Ludi)

REFERENCES

Bosshart U 1997 Catchment Discharge and Suspended SedimentTransport as Indicators of Physical Soil and Water Conservation in theMinchet Catchment Anjeni Research Unit Soil Conservation ResearchReport 40 Berne Switzerland University of BerneEl-Swaify SA Hurni H 1996 Transboundary effects of soil erosion andconservation in the Nile Basin International Journal of Soil and WaterConservation 17ndash21Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 1983Guidelines for the Control of Soil Degradation Rome United NationsEnvironment Programme and FAO Gete Zeleke 2000 Landscape Dynamics and Soil Erosion ProcessModelling in the North-western Ethiopian Highlands African Studies SeriesA 16 Berne Switzerland Geographica BernensiaHerweg K Stillhardt B 1999 The Variability of Soil Erosion in theHighlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea Average and Extreme Erosion PatternsSoil Conservation Research Report 33 Berne Switzerland University ofBerneHurni H 1982 Inception Report Soil Conservation Research Project 1Berne Switzerland University of BerneHurni H 1993 Land degradation famine and land resource scenarios inEthiopia In Pimentel D editor World Soil Erosion and ConservationCambridge Studies in Applied Ecology and Resource ManagementCambridge UK Cambridge University Press pp 27ndash61Hurni H 1998 A multi-level stakeholder approach to sustainable landmanagement In Blume HP Eger H Fleischhauer E Hebel A Reij C Steiner

KG editors Towards Sustainable Land Use Furthering Cooperation BetweenPeople and Institutions Advances in GeoEcology 31 Reiskirchen CatenaVerlag pp 827ndash836Hurni H with the assistance of an international group of contributors1996 Precious Earth From Soil and Water Conservation to SustainableLand Management Berne Switzerland International Soil ConservationOrganisation (ISCO) and Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)Kebrom T Hedlund L 2000 Land cover changes between 1958 and 1986in Kalu District southern Wello Ethiopia Mountain Research andDevelopment 2042ndash51Reenberg A Nielsen TL Rasmussen K 1998 Field expansion andreallocation in the Sahel land use pattern dynamics in fluctuatingbiophysical and socio-economic environment Global Environment Change8309ndash327Soil Conservation Research Programme (SCRP) 2000 Soil Erosion andConservation Database Area of Anjeni Gojam Ethiopia Long-TermMonitoring of the Agricultural Environment 1984ndash1994 Berne SwitzerlandCentre for Development and Environment in association with the Ministryof Agriculture EthiopiaSolomon Abate 1994 Land Use Dynamics Soil Degradation and Potentialfor Sustainable Use in Metu Area Illubabur Region Ethiopia African StudiesSeries A13 Berne Switzerland University of Berne

191

Research

AUTHORS

Gete ZelekeAmhara Region Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI) PO Box 527Bahi Dar Ethiopiaararitelecomnetet

Hans HurniCentre for Development and Environment Institute of GeographyUniversity of Berne Hallerstrasse 12 3012 Berne Switzerlandhurnigiubunibech

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank the Geoprocessing Division of the Centre forDevelopment and Environment (CDE) at the University of Berne Switzer-land for their technical assistance while working with UNIX ARCINFO GISSpecial thanks go to the staff of Anjeni Research Unit Ethiopia for theirhelp during data collection in the field and to the Swiss Agency for Devel-opment and Cooperation for financing the study within the framework ofSCRP (Soil Conservation Research Programme initiated in 1981) andESAPP (East and Southern Africa Partnership Program since 1998)

Conclusion Though Gojam is naturally endowed with beautifullandscapes and soils with good potential it has beencontinuously exploited for centuries and its presentcondition is very alarming The spatial and temporalanalysis of land use and land cover change presentedhere though not an end in itself clearly indicates theprevalence of serious land degradation and the relatedproblems the area will face in the near future (see alsoHerweg and Stillhardt 1999) The changes have beendramatic for the traditional agricultural system and theimpacts are now highly visible Vegetation cover hascompletely declined the proportion of degraded landshas increased the total annual soil loss rate is high(SCRP 2000) and soil productivity is dwindling Howev-er these processes have not yet been fully recognizedby planners and decision-makers who still believe thatagricultural potential can be tapped as before If thisperception is not corrected and current trends averted

the great agricultural potential of this part of the coun-try will soon be severely degraded perhaps beyondrecovery in some places

In general it can be concluded that the processesand associated problems observed have regionalnational and international implications (Hurni 1993)Hence a change in scenario is required a multilevelstakeholder approach to sustainable land managementis needed (Hurni 1998) To this end existing biophysi-cal socioeconomic land policy and institutional condi-tions need further careful investigation Moreoverintroduction of proper land management and tenuresystems population growth control mechanisms andintegrated environmental rehabilitation strategies mustbe given high priority at the least to prevent existingpotential from further deteriorating The authors alsobelieve that detailed investigations of household mech-anisms for adaptation to the changes observed areessential for future action

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

188

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

TABLE 2 Land useland cover changes from 1957 to 1995 Thecultivated land in 1957 consisted of fallow lands and a complexunit ie cultivated bushscattered trees The forestland includedthe woodland (in 1957) and bamboo forests (in 1982 and 1995)

Note Temp grassland is temporary grassland which is swampy in the rainy season and partly dry in the dry season Grass- and bushlandis a mixture of grass- and bushshrublands Grass- bushland and bare land is a degraded unit used mainly as grazing land (see Table 1)

FIGURE 3 Land use and land cover changes (1957ndash1995) in theAnjeni area Gojam Ethiopia (Maps compiled by Gete Zeleke)

Changes in land useLand useland cover area coverage (in ha) and percentage ()land cover (in ha)

1957 1982 19951957ndash 1982ndash 1957ndash

Land useland cover classes Area Area Area 1982 1995 1995

Cultivated land 10692 395 19031 702 20893 771 +8338 +1863 +10201

Natural forest 7342 271 452 17 82 03 6889 370 7259

Plantations 0 00 10 00 525 19 +10 +515 +525

Grassland 4901 181 3865 143 3147 116 1037 718 1754

Temp grassland 952 35 565 21 516 19 388 48 436

Bushland 1349 50 1030 38 103 04 319 927 1246

Shrubland 25 01 309 11 332 12 +283 +23 +306

Bare land 17 01 69 03 168 06 +53 +99 +151

Grass- and bushland 1691 62 1149 42 400 15 542 749 1291

Grass- bushland and bare land 0 00 414 15 580 21 +414 +166 +580

Small towns 134 05 210 08 357 13 +76 +146 +223

Total 27103 100 27104 100 27103 100

1995 at an expansion rate of 21 On the other handcombined coverage of forest bush grass- and bushlandand grassland (F-B-GB-G) on slopes gt30 declinedfrom 80 in 1957 to 25 in 1982 and 11 in 1995(Figure 5a)

Expansion of cultivated land also took place ongentle slopes and flat areas (lt30) It increased from42 in 1957 to 71 in 1982 and 77 in 1995 Theoverall expansion rate on these slope classes was highmdashabout 82 (1957ndash1995)mdashleading to almost double theamount of cultivated area On these slope classes thecombined area coverage of forest bush grass- andbushland and grassland (F-B-GB-G) declined from 53in 1957 to 24 in 1982 and 16 in 1995 (Figure 5b)

The field work study in 1996ndash1997 revealed that theremaining large portion of flat lands consisted mainlyof areas around rivers exposed to seasonal flooding andswampy areas that are not currently suitable for cropcultivation However since the production system wasbased on claiming more land for cultivation rather thanmaximizing production per unit area there was still apush toward these flat and swampy areas Such a devel-

opment threatens livestock production on the onehand and ecologically sensitive wetlands on the other

Implications of the observed land use and land cover changes The changes observed did not take place without nega-tive consequences For instance as cultivated land wasexpanded at the expense of other land use and landcover units grassland declined resulting in less avail-able fodder and a decrease in the number and qualityof livestock This led to a shortage of animals requiredfor plowing and transport as well as to a reduction ofincome and food from animals and their products Thisseries of related impacts indirectly affected the tradi-tional land management system When livestock andfodder was plentiful (in the 1950s) manuring was animportant practice in the area It increased soil fertilityand hence production without extra cost to the farmerexcept for labor After fodder availability and livestockhad decreased manuring (traditionally called hura) wasgradually reduced Moreover manure is now in greaterdemand than ever not only because of the lower num-

189

Research

FIGURE 4 Amount of cultivatedland (a) and forestland (b) andtheir distributions according toslope classes in 1957 1982and 1995

FIGURE 5 Amount of cultivated land (CL) anduncultivated areas covered with forest bush grass-and bushland and grassland (F-B-GB-G) and theirdistributions on steep slopes gt30 (a) and on gentleslopes lt30 (b) in 1957 1982 and 1995

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

ber of livestock but also because its use as a source offuel has increased due to reduction of fuelwood

Strikingly in 1996ndash1997 degraded land use andland cover classes indicated in Figure 3 as bare landand grass- bushland and bare lands were used as graz-ing land Livestock were forced to stay on these landunits especially during the cropping season althoughthere was little for them to feed on This is one of thepractices adopted by farmers when the populationgrows and land becomes scarce The farming systemremains traditional while most of the grasslands areconverted to cultivated lands In this case both live-stock and cultivation took over marginal lands eventu-ally leading to even more severe land degradation

The conflicts in the farming system briefly men-tioned here are clearly visible in the area Communitieshave been under pressure for many decades and havetried to adapt to changing conditions However sincetheir efforts have not been systematically supported bystable institutions and policies the farming system cur-rently appears to be in a very critical condition

In the early period of the study farmers practicedshifting cultivation which allowed cultivated land torest for 2 or 3 years to regain some of its potentialMoreover cultivation was mainly on gentle slopes andflat areas Over time 2 major steps were taken drivenby population dynamics and lack of appropriate tenureand land management policies (Gete Zeleke 2000)First farmers expanded onto steep slopes but still prac-ticed shifting cultivation Second they reached anupper limit where they could no longer expand or prac-tice shifting cultivation They practiced abbreviated fal-lowing without any special land management measuresto protect farmlands from the impact of upslope runoffand damage from torrential rainfall (Figures 1 6)

This triggered 3 important processes that aggravatesoil erosion First because of intensification the physi-cal hydrological properties of the soil were badly affect-ed For instance infiltration was reduced and runoffwas more easily initiated while aggregate stabilitydecreased The latter makes the soil less resistant todetachment Second at the onset of rainfall about 77of the area (ie the proportion of cultivated land in1995) is finely prepared for seeding and receives ero-sive storms for extended periods without any protectivecover Third almost all steep slopes even those gt100are under cultivation (see Figure 6) No special protec-tion mechanisms exist except some traditional ditcheswhich in most cases aggravate runoff especially onsteep slopes Because of these processes the area isheavily threatened by land degradation But plannersand decision-makers in particular have not properlyperceived this process and the area has not beenamong the priority areas for soil conservation and envi-ronmental protection This is a potential danger notonly for the region but also for the country since mostof the surplus cereals supplied to the cities are pro-duced in this region Kebrom and Hedlund (2000)express the same concern about loss of vegetation coverleading to lost ground

The various effects of drastic land use and land cov-er changes in these areas will certainly have not onlynational but also international implications Since thenorthwestern highlands of Ethiopia are the potentialsource of a supply of water and sediment to the BlueNile the impacts of change will soon be deeply felt bydownslope users The problem thus has a multinationaldimension and requires an integrated effort before theagricultural potential of the area is lost beyond recovery(El-Swaify and Hurni 1996)

190

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

FIGURE 6 Traditional ox-plowcultivation on a very steepslope (Photo by Eva Ludi)

REFERENCES

Bosshart U 1997 Catchment Discharge and Suspended SedimentTransport as Indicators of Physical Soil and Water Conservation in theMinchet Catchment Anjeni Research Unit Soil Conservation ResearchReport 40 Berne Switzerland University of BerneEl-Swaify SA Hurni H 1996 Transboundary effects of soil erosion andconservation in the Nile Basin International Journal of Soil and WaterConservation 17ndash21Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 1983Guidelines for the Control of Soil Degradation Rome United NationsEnvironment Programme and FAO Gete Zeleke 2000 Landscape Dynamics and Soil Erosion ProcessModelling in the North-western Ethiopian Highlands African Studies SeriesA 16 Berne Switzerland Geographica BernensiaHerweg K Stillhardt B 1999 The Variability of Soil Erosion in theHighlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea Average and Extreme Erosion PatternsSoil Conservation Research Report 33 Berne Switzerland University ofBerneHurni H 1982 Inception Report Soil Conservation Research Project 1Berne Switzerland University of BerneHurni H 1993 Land degradation famine and land resource scenarios inEthiopia In Pimentel D editor World Soil Erosion and ConservationCambridge Studies in Applied Ecology and Resource ManagementCambridge UK Cambridge University Press pp 27ndash61Hurni H 1998 A multi-level stakeholder approach to sustainable landmanagement In Blume HP Eger H Fleischhauer E Hebel A Reij C Steiner

KG editors Towards Sustainable Land Use Furthering Cooperation BetweenPeople and Institutions Advances in GeoEcology 31 Reiskirchen CatenaVerlag pp 827ndash836Hurni H with the assistance of an international group of contributors1996 Precious Earth From Soil and Water Conservation to SustainableLand Management Berne Switzerland International Soil ConservationOrganisation (ISCO) and Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)Kebrom T Hedlund L 2000 Land cover changes between 1958 and 1986in Kalu District southern Wello Ethiopia Mountain Research andDevelopment 2042ndash51Reenberg A Nielsen TL Rasmussen K 1998 Field expansion andreallocation in the Sahel land use pattern dynamics in fluctuatingbiophysical and socio-economic environment Global Environment Change8309ndash327Soil Conservation Research Programme (SCRP) 2000 Soil Erosion andConservation Database Area of Anjeni Gojam Ethiopia Long-TermMonitoring of the Agricultural Environment 1984ndash1994 Berne SwitzerlandCentre for Development and Environment in association with the Ministryof Agriculture EthiopiaSolomon Abate 1994 Land Use Dynamics Soil Degradation and Potentialfor Sustainable Use in Metu Area Illubabur Region Ethiopia African StudiesSeries A13 Berne Switzerland University of Berne

191

Research

AUTHORS

Gete ZelekeAmhara Region Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI) PO Box 527Bahi Dar Ethiopiaararitelecomnetet

Hans HurniCentre for Development and Environment Institute of GeographyUniversity of Berne Hallerstrasse 12 3012 Berne Switzerlandhurnigiubunibech

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank the Geoprocessing Division of the Centre forDevelopment and Environment (CDE) at the University of Berne Switzer-land for their technical assistance while working with UNIX ARCINFO GISSpecial thanks go to the staff of Anjeni Research Unit Ethiopia for theirhelp during data collection in the field and to the Swiss Agency for Devel-opment and Cooperation for financing the study within the framework ofSCRP (Soil Conservation Research Programme initiated in 1981) andESAPP (East and Southern Africa Partnership Program since 1998)

Conclusion Though Gojam is naturally endowed with beautifullandscapes and soils with good potential it has beencontinuously exploited for centuries and its presentcondition is very alarming The spatial and temporalanalysis of land use and land cover change presentedhere though not an end in itself clearly indicates theprevalence of serious land degradation and the relatedproblems the area will face in the near future (see alsoHerweg and Stillhardt 1999) The changes have beendramatic for the traditional agricultural system and theimpacts are now highly visible Vegetation cover hascompletely declined the proportion of degraded landshas increased the total annual soil loss rate is high(SCRP 2000) and soil productivity is dwindling Howev-er these processes have not yet been fully recognizedby planners and decision-makers who still believe thatagricultural potential can be tapped as before If thisperception is not corrected and current trends averted

the great agricultural potential of this part of the coun-try will soon be severely degraded perhaps beyondrecovery in some places

In general it can be concluded that the processesand associated problems observed have regionalnational and international implications (Hurni 1993)Hence a change in scenario is required a multilevelstakeholder approach to sustainable land managementis needed (Hurni 1998) To this end existing biophysi-cal socioeconomic land policy and institutional condi-tions need further careful investigation Moreoverintroduction of proper land management and tenuresystems population growth control mechanisms andintegrated environmental rehabilitation strategies mustbe given high priority at the least to prevent existingpotential from further deteriorating The authors alsobelieve that detailed investigations of household mech-anisms for adaptation to the changes observed areessential for future action

1995 at an expansion rate of 21 On the other handcombined coverage of forest bush grass- and bushlandand grassland (F-B-GB-G) on slopes gt30 declinedfrom 80 in 1957 to 25 in 1982 and 11 in 1995(Figure 5a)

Expansion of cultivated land also took place ongentle slopes and flat areas (lt30) It increased from42 in 1957 to 71 in 1982 and 77 in 1995 Theoverall expansion rate on these slope classes was highmdashabout 82 (1957ndash1995)mdashleading to almost double theamount of cultivated area On these slope classes thecombined area coverage of forest bush grass- andbushland and grassland (F-B-GB-G) declined from 53in 1957 to 24 in 1982 and 16 in 1995 (Figure 5b)

The field work study in 1996ndash1997 revealed that theremaining large portion of flat lands consisted mainlyof areas around rivers exposed to seasonal flooding andswampy areas that are not currently suitable for cropcultivation However since the production system wasbased on claiming more land for cultivation rather thanmaximizing production per unit area there was still apush toward these flat and swampy areas Such a devel-

opment threatens livestock production on the onehand and ecologically sensitive wetlands on the other

Implications of the observed land use and land cover changes The changes observed did not take place without nega-tive consequences For instance as cultivated land wasexpanded at the expense of other land use and landcover units grassland declined resulting in less avail-able fodder and a decrease in the number and qualityof livestock This led to a shortage of animals requiredfor plowing and transport as well as to a reduction ofincome and food from animals and their products Thisseries of related impacts indirectly affected the tradi-tional land management system When livestock andfodder was plentiful (in the 1950s) manuring was animportant practice in the area It increased soil fertilityand hence production without extra cost to the farmerexcept for labor After fodder availability and livestockhad decreased manuring (traditionally called hura) wasgradually reduced Moreover manure is now in greaterdemand than ever not only because of the lower num-

189

Research

FIGURE 4 Amount of cultivatedland (a) and forestland (b) andtheir distributions according toslope classes in 1957 1982and 1995

FIGURE 5 Amount of cultivated land (CL) anduncultivated areas covered with forest bush grass-and bushland and grassland (F-B-GB-G) and theirdistributions on steep slopes gt30 (a) and on gentleslopes lt30 (b) in 1957 1982 and 1995

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

ber of livestock but also because its use as a source offuel has increased due to reduction of fuelwood

Strikingly in 1996ndash1997 degraded land use andland cover classes indicated in Figure 3 as bare landand grass- bushland and bare lands were used as graz-ing land Livestock were forced to stay on these landunits especially during the cropping season althoughthere was little for them to feed on This is one of thepractices adopted by farmers when the populationgrows and land becomes scarce The farming systemremains traditional while most of the grasslands areconverted to cultivated lands In this case both live-stock and cultivation took over marginal lands eventu-ally leading to even more severe land degradation

The conflicts in the farming system briefly men-tioned here are clearly visible in the area Communitieshave been under pressure for many decades and havetried to adapt to changing conditions However sincetheir efforts have not been systematically supported bystable institutions and policies the farming system cur-rently appears to be in a very critical condition

In the early period of the study farmers practicedshifting cultivation which allowed cultivated land torest for 2 or 3 years to regain some of its potentialMoreover cultivation was mainly on gentle slopes andflat areas Over time 2 major steps were taken drivenby population dynamics and lack of appropriate tenureand land management policies (Gete Zeleke 2000)First farmers expanded onto steep slopes but still prac-ticed shifting cultivation Second they reached anupper limit where they could no longer expand or prac-tice shifting cultivation They practiced abbreviated fal-lowing without any special land management measuresto protect farmlands from the impact of upslope runoffand damage from torrential rainfall (Figures 1 6)

This triggered 3 important processes that aggravatesoil erosion First because of intensification the physi-cal hydrological properties of the soil were badly affect-ed For instance infiltration was reduced and runoffwas more easily initiated while aggregate stabilitydecreased The latter makes the soil less resistant todetachment Second at the onset of rainfall about 77of the area (ie the proportion of cultivated land in1995) is finely prepared for seeding and receives ero-sive storms for extended periods without any protectivecover Third almost all steep slopes even those gt100are under cultivation (see Figure 6) No special protec-tion mechanisms exist except some traditional ditcheswhich in most cases aggravate runoff especially onsteep slopes Because of these processes the area isheavily threatened by land degradation But plannersand decision-makers in particular have not properlyperceived this process and the area has not beenamong the priority areas for soil conservation and envi-ronmental protection This is a potential danger notonly for the region but also for the country since mostof the surplus cereals supplied to the cities are pro-duced in this region Kebrom and Hedlund (2000)express the same concern about loss of vegetation coverleading to lost ground

The various effects of drastic land use and land cov-er changes in these areas will certainly have not onlynational but also international implications Since thenorthwestern highlands of Ethiopia are the potentialsource of a supply of water and sediment to the BlueNile the impacts of change will soon be deeply felt bydownslope users The problem thus has a multinationaldimension and requires an integrated effort before theagricultural potential of the area is lost beyond recovery(El-Swaify and Hurni 1996)

190

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

FIGURE 6 Traditional ox-plowcultivation on a very steepslope (Photo by Eva Ludi)

REFERENCES

Bosshart U 1997 Catchment Discharge and Suspended SedimentTransport as Indicators of Physical Soil and Water Conservation in theMinchet Catchment Anjeni Research Unit Soil Conservation ResearchReport 40 Berne Switzerland University of BerneEl-Swaify SA Hurni H 1996 Transboundary effects of soil erosion andconservation in the Nile Basin International Journal of Soil and WaterConservation 17ndash21Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 1983Guidelines for the Control of Soil Degradation Rome United NationsEnvironment Programme and FAO Gete Zeleke 2000 Landscape Dynamics and Soil Erosion ProcessModelling in the North-western Ethiopian Highlands African Studies SeriesA 16 Berne Switzerland Geographica BernensiaHerweg K Stillhardt B 1999 The Variability of Soil Erosion in theHighlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea Average and Extreme Erosion PatternsSoil Conservation Research Report 33 Berne Switzerland University ofBerneHurni H 1982 Inception Report Soil Conservation Research Project 1Berne Switzerland University of BerneHurni H 1993 Land degradation famine and land resource scenarios inEthiopia In Pimentel D editor World Soil Erosion and ConservationCambridge Studies in Applied Ecology and Resource ManagementCambridge UK Cambridge University Press pp 27ndash61Hurni H 1998 A multi-level stakeholder approach to sustainable landmanagement In Blume HP Eger H Fleischhauer E Hebel A Reij C Steiner

KG editors Towards Sustainable Land Use Furthering Cooperation BetweenPeople and Institutions Advances in GeoEcology 31 Reiskirchen CatenaVerlag pp 827ndash836Hurni H with the assistance of an international group of contributors1996 Precious Earth From Soil and Water Conservation to SustainableLand Management Berne Switzerland International Soil ConservationOrganisation (ISCO) and Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)Kebrom T Hedlund L 2000 Land cover changes between 1958 and 1986in Kalu District southern Wello Ethiopia Mountain Research andDevelopment 2042ndash51Reenberg A Nielsen TL Rasmussen K 1998 Field expansion andreallocation in the Sahel land use pattern dynamics in fluctuatingbiophysical and socio-economic environment Global Environment Change8309ndash327Soil Conservation Research Programme (SCRP) 2000 Soil Erosion andConservation Database Area of Anjeni Gojam Ethiopia Long-TermMonitoring of the Agricultural Environment 1984ndash1994 Berne SwitzerlandCentre for Development and Environment in association with the Ministryof Agriculture EthiopiaSolomon Abate 1994 Land Use Dynamics Soil Degradation and Potentialfor Sustainable Use in Metu Area Illubabur Region Ethiopia African StudiesSeries A13 Berne Switzerland University of Berne

191

Research

AUTHORS

Gete ZelekeAmhara Region Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI) PO Box 527Bahi Dar Ethiopiaararitelecomnetet

Hans HurniCentre for Development and Environment Institute of GeographyUniversity of Berne Hallerstrasse 12 3012 Berne Switzerlandhurnigiubunibech

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank the Geoprocessing Division of the Centre forDevelopment and Environment (CDE) at the University of Berne Switzer-land for their technical assistance while working with UNIX ARCINFO GISSpecial thanks go to the staff of Anjeni Research Unit Ethiopia for theirhelp during data collection in the field and to the Swiss Agency for Devel-opment and Cooperation for financing the study within the framework ofSCRP (Soil Conservation Research Programme initiated in 1981) andESAPP (East and Southern Africa Partnership Program since 1998)

Conclusion Though Gojam is naturally endowed with beautifullandscapes and soils with good potential it has beencontinuously exploited for centuries and its presentcondition is very alarming The spatial and temporalanalysis of land use and land cover change presentedhere though not an end in itself clearly indicates theprevalence of serious land degradation and the relatedproblems the area will face in the near future (see alsoHerweg and Stillhardt 1999) The changes have beendramatic for the traditional agricultural system and theimpacts are now highly visible Vegetation cover hascompletely declined the proportion of degraded landshas increased the total annual soil loss rate is high(SCRP 2000) and soil productivity is dwindling Howev-er these processes have not yet been fully recognizedby planners and decision-makers who still believe thatagricultural potential can be tapped as before If thisperception is not corrected and current trends averted

the great agricultural potential of this part of the coun-try will soon be severely degraded perhaps beyondrecovery in some places

In general it can be concluded that the processesand associated problems observed have regionalnational and international implications (Hurni 1993)Hence a change in scenario is required a multilevelstakeholder approach to sustainable land managementis needed (Hurni 1998) To this end existing biophysi-cal socioeconomic land policy and institutional condi-tions need further careful investigation Moreoverintroduction of proper land management and tenuresystems population growth control mechanisms andintegrated environmental rehabilitation strategies mustbe given high priority at the least to prevent existingpotential from further deteriorating The authors alsobelieve that detailed investigations of household mech-anisms for adaptation to the changes observed areessential for future action

Mountain Research and Development Vol 21 No 2 May 2001

ber of livestock but also because its use as a source offuel has increased due to reduction of fuelwood

Strikingly in 1996ndash1997 degraded land use andland cover classes indicated in Figure 3 as bare landand grass- bushland and bare lands were used as graz-ing land Livestock were forced to stay on these landunits especially during the cropping season althoughthere was little for them to feed on This is one of thepractices adopted by farmers when the populationgrows and land becomes scarce The farming systemremains traditional while most of the grasslands areconverted to cultivated lands In this case both live-stock and cultivation took over marginal lands eventu-ally leading to even more severe land degradation

The conflicts in the farming system briefly men-tioned here are clearly visible in the area Communitieshave been under pressure for many decades and havetried to adapt to changing conditions However sincetheir efforts have not been systematically supported bystable institutions and policies the farming system cur-rently appears to be in a very critical condition

In the early period of the study farmers practicedshifting cultivation which allowed cultivated land torest for 2 or 3 years to regain some of its potentialMoreover cultivation was mainly on gentle slopes andflat areas Over time 2 major steps were taken drivenby population dynamics and lack of appropriate tenureand land management policies (Gete Zeleke 2000)First farmers expanded onto steep slopes but still prac-ticed shifting cultivation Second they reached anupper limit where they could no longer expand or prac-tice shifting cultivation They practiced abbreviated fal-lowing without any special land management measuresto protect farmlands from the impact of upslope runoffand damage from torrential rainfall (Figures 1 6)

This triggered 3 important processes that aggravatesoil erosion First because of intensification the physi-cal hydrological properties of the soil were badly affect-ed For instance infiltration was reduced and runoffwas more easily initiated while aggregate stabilitydecreased The latter makes the soil less resistant todetachment Second at the onset of rainfall about 77of the area (ie the proportion of cultivated land in1995) is finely prepared for seeding and receives ero-sive storms for extended periods without any protectivecover Third almost all steep slopes even those gt100are under cultivation (see Figure 6) No special protec-tion mechanisms exist except some traditional ditcheswhich in most cases aggravate runoff especially onsteep slopes Because of these processes the area isheavily threatened by land degradation But plannersand decision-makers in particular have not properlyperceived this process and the area has not beenamong the priority areas for soil conservation and envi-ronmental protection This is a potential danger notonly for the region but also for the country since mostof the surplus cereals supplied to the cities are pro-duced in this region Kebrom and Hedlund (2000)express the same concern about loss of vegetation coverleading to lost ground

The various effects of drastic land use and land cov-er changes in these areas will certainly have not onlynational but also international implications Since thenorthwestern highlands of Ethiopia are the potentialsource of a supply of water and sediment to the BlueNile the impacts of change will soon be deeply felt bydownslope users The problem thus has a multinationaldimension and requires an integrated effort before theagricultural potential of the area is lost beyond recovery(El-Swaify and Hurni 1996)

190

Gete Zeleke and Hans Hurni

FIGURE 6 Traditional ox-plowcultivation on a very steepslope (Photo by Eva Ludi)

REFERENCES

Bosshart U 1997 Catchment Discharge and Suspended SedimentTransport as Indicators of Physical Soil and Water Conservation in theMinchet Catchment Anjeni Research Unit Soil Conservation ResearchReport 40 Berne Switzerland University of BerneEl-Swaify SA Hurni H 1996 Transboundary effects of soil erosion andconservation in the Nile Basin International Journal of Soil and WaterConservation 17ndash21Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 1983Guidelines for the Control of Soil Degradation Rome United NationsEnvironment Programme and FAO Gete Zeleke 2000 Landscape Dynamics and Soil Erosion ProcessModelling in the North-western Ethiopian Highlands African Studies SeriesA 16 Berne Switzerland Geographica BernensiaHerweg K Stillhardt B 1999 The Variability of Soil Erosion in theHighlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea Average and Extreme Erosion PatternsSoil Conservation Research Report 33 Berne Switzerland University ofBerneHurni H 1982 Inception Report Soil Conservation Research Project 1Berne Switzerland University of BerneHurni H 1993 Land degradation famine and land resource scenarios inEthiopia In Pimentel D editor World Soil Erosion and ConservationCambridge Studies in Applied Ecology and Resource ManagementCambridge UK Cambridge University Press pp 27ndash61Hurni H 1998 A multi-level stakeholder approach to sustainable landmanagement In Blume HP Eger H Fleischhauer E Hebel A Reij C Steiner

KG editors Towards Sustainable Land Use Furthering Cooperation BetweenPeople and Institutions Advances in GeoEcology 31 Reiskirchen CatenaVerlag pp 827ndash836Hurni H with the assistance of an international group of contributors1996 Precious Earth From Soil and Water Conservation to SustainableLand Management Berne Switzerland International Soil ConservationOrganisation (ISCO) and Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)Kebrom T Hedlund L 2000 Land cover changes between 1958 and 1986in Kalu District southern Wello Ethiopia Mountain Research andDevelopment 2042ndash51Reenberg A Nielsen TL Rasmussen K 1998 Field expansion andreallocation in the Sahel land use pattern dynamics in fluctuatingbiophysical and socio-economic environment Global Environment Change8309ndash327Soil Conservation Research Programme (SCRP) 2000 Soil Erosion andConservation Database Area of Anjeni Gojam Ethiopia Long-TermMonitoring of the Agricultural Environment 1984ndash1994 Berne SwitzerlandCentre for Development and Environment in association with the Ministryof Agriculture EthiopiaSolomon Abate 1994 Land Use Dynamics Soil Degradation and Potentialfor Sustainable Use in Metu Area Illubabur Region Ethiopia African StudiesSeries A13 Berne Switzerland University of Berne

191

Research

AUTHORS

Gete ZelekeAmhara Region Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI) PO Box 527Bahi Dar Ethiopiaararitelecomnetet

Hans HurniCentre for Development and Environment Institute of GeographyUniversity of Berne Hallerstrasse 12 3012 Berne Switzerlandhurnigiubunibech

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank the Geoprocessing Division of the Centre forDevelopment and Environment (CDE) at the University of Berne Switzer-land for their technical assistance while working with UNIX ARCINFO GISSpecial thanks go to the staff of Anjeni Research Unit Ethiopia for theirhelp during data collection in the field and to the Swiss Agency for Devel-opment and Cooperation for financing the study within the framework ofSCRP (Soil Conservation Research Programme initiated in 1981) andESAPP (East and Southern Africa Partnership Program since 1998)

Conclusion Though Gojam is naturally endowed with beautifullandscapes and soils with good potential it has beencontinuously exploited for centuries and its presentcondition is very alarming The spatial and temporalanalysis of land use and land cover change presentedhere though not an end in itself clearly indicates theprevalence of serious land degradation and the relatedproblems the area will face in the near future (see alsoHerweg and Stillhardt 1999) The changes have beendramatic for the traditional agricultural system and theimpacts are now highly visible Vegetation cover hascompletely declined the proportion of degraded landshas increased the total annual soil loss rate is high(SCRP 2000) and soil productivity is dwindling Howev-er these processes have not yet been fully recognizedby planners and decision-makers who still believe thatagricultural potential can be tapped as before If thisperception is not corrected and current trends averted

the great agricultural potential of this part of the coun-try will soon be severely degraded perhaps beyondrecovery in some places

In general it can be concluded that the processesand associated problems observed have regionalnational and international implications (Hurni 1993)Hence a change in scenario is required a multilevelstakeholder approach to sustainable land managementis needed (Hurni 1998) To this end existing biophysi-cal socioeconomic land policy and institutional condi-tions need further careful investigation Moreoverintroduction of proper land management and tenuresystems population growth control mechanisms andintegrated environmental rehabilitation strategies mustbe given high priority at the least to prevent existingpotential from further deteriorating The authors alsobelieve that detailed investigations of household mech-anisms for adaptation to the changes observed areessential for future action

REFERENCES

Bosshart U 1997 Catchment Discharge and Suspended SedimentTransport as Indicators of Physical Soil and Water Conservation in theMinchet Catchment Anjeni Research Unit Soil Conservation ResearchReport 40 Berne Switzerland University of BerneEl-Swaify SA Hurni H 1996 Transboundary effects of soil erosion andconservation in the Nile Basin International Journal of Soil and WaterConservation 17ndash21Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 1983Guidelines for the Control of Soil Degradation Rome United NationsEnvironment Programme and FAO Gete Zeleke 2000 Landscape Dynamics and Soil Erosion ProcessModelling in the North-western Ethiopian Highlands African Studies SeriesA 16 Berne Switzerland Geographica BernensiaHerweg K Stillhardt B 1999 The Variability of Soil Erosion in theHighlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea Average and Extreme Erosion PatternsSoil Conservation Research Report 33 Berne Switzerland University ofBerneHurni H 1982 Inception Report Soil Conservation Research Project 1Berne Switzerland University of BerneHurni H 1993 Land degradation famine and land resource scenarios inEthiopia In Pimentel D editor World Soil Erosion and ConservationCambridge Studies in Applied Ecology and Resource ManagementCambridge UK Cambridge University Press pp 27ndash61Hurni H 1998 A multi-level stakeholder approach to sustainable landmanagement In Blume HP Eger H Fleischhauer E Hebel A Reij C Steiner

KG editors Towards Sustainable Land Use Furthering Cooperation BetweenPeople and Institutions Advances in GeoEcology 31 Reiskirchen CatenaVerlag pp 827ndash836Hurni H with the assistance of an international group of contributors1996 Precious Earth From Soil and Water Conservation to SustainableLand Management Berne Switzerland International Soil ConservationOrganisation (ISCO) and Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)Kebrom T Hedlund L 2000 Land cover changes between 1958 and 1986in Kalu District southern Wello Ethiopia Mountain Research andDevelopment 2042ndash51Reenberg A Nielsen TL Rasmussen K 1998 Field expansion andreallocation in the Sahel land use pattern dynamics in fluctuatingbiophysical and socio-economic environment Global Environment Change8309ndash327Soil Conservation Research Programme (SCRP) 2000 Soil Erosion andConservation Database Area of Anjeni Gojam Ethiopia Long-TermMonitoring of the Agricultural Environment 1984ndash1994 Berne SwitzerlandCentre for Development and Environment in association with the Ministryof Agriculture EthiopiaSolomon Abate 1994 Land Use Dynamics Soil Degradation and Potentialfor Sustainable Use in Metu Area Illubabur Region Ethiopia African StudiesSeries A13 Berne Switzerland University of Berne

191

Research

AUTHORS

Gete ZelekeAmhara Region Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI) PO Box 527Bahi Dar Ethiopiaararitelecomnetet

Hans HurniCentre for Development and Environment Institute of GeographyUniversity of Berne Hallerstrasse 12 3012 Berne Switzerlandhurnigiubunibech

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank the Geoprocessing Division of the Centre forDevelopment and Environment (CDE) at the University of Berne Switzer-land for their technical assistance while working with UNIX ARCINFO GISSpecial thanks go to the staff of Anjeni Research Unit Ethiopia for theirhelp during data collection in the field and to the Swiss Agency for Devel-opment and Cooperation for financing the study within the framework ofSCRP (Soil Conservation Research Programme initiated in 1981) andESAPP (East and Southern Africa Partnership Program since 1998)

Conclusion Though Gojam is naturally endowed with beautifullandscapes and soils with good potential it has beencontinuously exploited for centuries and its presentcondition is very alarming The spatial and temporalanalysis of land use and land cover change presentedhere though not an end in itself clearly indicates theprevalence of serious land degradation and the relatedproblems the area will face in the near future (see alsoHerweg and Stillhardt 1999) The changes have beendramatic for the traditional agricultural system and theimpacts are now highly visible Vegetation cover hascompletely declined the proportion of degraded landshas increased the total annual soil loss rate is high(SCRP 2000) and soil productivity is dwindling Howev-er these processes have not yet been fully recognizedby planners and decision-makers who still believe thatagricultural potential can be tapped as before If thisperception is not corrected and current trends averted

the great agricultural potential of this part of the coun-try will soon be severely degraded perhaps beyondrecovery in some places

In general it can be concluded that the processesand associated problems observed have regionalnational and international implications (Hurni 1993)Hence a change in scenario is required a multilevelstakeholder approach to sustainable land managementis needed (Hurni 1998) To this end existing biophysi-cal socioeconomic land policy and institutional condi-tions need further careful investigation Moreoverintroduction of proper land management and tenuresystems population growth control mechanisms andintegrated environmental rehabilitation strategies mustbe given high priority at the least to prevent existingpotential from further deteriorating The authors alsobelieve that detailed investigations of household mech-anisms for adaptation to the changes observed areessential for future action