As a form of environmental degradation, soil degradation directly or indirectly affects many live... more As a form of environmental degradation, soil degradation directly or indirectly affects many lives through decreased agricultural yields, increased flooding and habitat loss. Soil loss has been increasing in most parts of the world and is most pronounced in tropical developing countries where there is poor or zero soil and water conservation (SWC) planning and management activities. Identifying areas prone to soil erosion has also been inadequate, having not been informed by dedicated scientific studies. This is true of the poorly understood watershed of Welmel in the Oromia region of Ethiopia, where most livelihoods heavily rely upon agriculture. To plan effective SWC management techniques, a solid knowledge of spatial variations across different climate, land use and soil erosion is essential. This study has aimed at identifying potential areas needing SWC practices through conducting a spatial modeling of soil erosion within the Welmel watershed's Genale Dawa basin using a ge...
Bamboo is one of the world's most important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) which have been ad... more Bamboo is one of the world's most important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) which have been advocated for poverty alleviation in many regions. However, in Ethiopia it is utilized below its potential due to lack of scientific knowledge and awareness on its management and utilization. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the indigenous knowledge of highland bamboo management and utilization practices of local communities in Kokosa woreda. Five kebeles were purposively selected and 196 sample households (HHs) were selected randomly. Primary data was collected through face-to-face interview, direct observation, key informant interview and focus group discussion. The collected qualitative data was analyzed using simple descriptive statistics, mean and percentage values and standard error. The result of the study indicated that, local people have experience of developing bamboo stands using their indigenous knowledge on propagation techniques. Among the propagation techniques, bamboo offsetting (82%) was preferred most, where 89% of the source of bamboo offset was obtained from individual farmers. The local communities have experienced bamboo stand management practices of which fencing the bamboo stands (44%) was most applied followed by compost application (33%). Mean bamboo area coverage is 0.32 ha per household. The average number of bamboo landraces was 4. Bamboo landrace identification criteria used in the area are bamboo diameter (21.31%), length of internodes between nodes (21.20%), bamboo stem color (21.20%) and splitting nature (18.68%). Bamboo is used for a variety of traditional applications including house construction (100%), fencing (100%), fodder (99.48%), household furniture and utensils (92.34%), fuel wood (98.97%) and as cash source (100%). Traditionally, farmers somehow know how to take care for bamboo roots and rhizomes, which is a good habit to sustain bamboo resource utilization. Such habit has to be integrated with modern knowledge as skilled capability of the harvesters for scientific management is required.
Traditional coffee management varies across location and may result in different effect on struct... more Traditional coffee management varies across location and may result in different effect on structure and regeneration of woody species. This study was aimed to investigate the effect of forest coffee management practices on structure and regeneration of woody species in Bale Eco-Region, Southeastern Ethiopia. Eighty (20 m x 20 m) quadrants and five 5m x5m subplots within each main plot were laid out along parallel transect lines across the forests for collecting data from mature, and saplings and seedlings woody species respectively. Data on traditional forest coffee management, structure and regeneration status of woody species were collected through in depth interview with fourteen key informants and field surveying respectively. All plant species found in each plot were identified, and their number, height and DBH were measured following standard procedures. The density, basal area and size of growth forms between the forests were compared using t-test at 0.05 significance level. Slashing of under growth vegetation, thinning shade trees, hoeing under forest coffee, and cutting of shrubs and saplings were the traditional coffee management practiced in the forest coffee to improve its productivity to earn more income. The density, basal area and regeneration status of woody species in forest coffee area significantly (P<0.000) differ from the natural forest. The density, DBH and Height of woody species in both forests have inverted J shape and were varied significantly between the forests. The natural forest has good regeneration status but the forest coffee experienced fair regeneration. However, few saplings (2.3%) and matured trees (5.7%) were recorded in coffee forest, which may lead to subsequent loss off the forest coffee if current situation will continue. Therefore, researches on development of sustainable forest coffee management methods, and enhancing technical and economic capacity of inhabitants through training and diffusion of technologies that compensate socioeconomic benefit obtained through damaging woody species are crucial to sustain the forest coffee ecosystem in Harena forest.
As a form of environmental degradation, soil degradation directly or indirectly affects many live... more As a form of environmental degradation, soil degradation directly or indirectly affects many lives through decreased agricultural yields, increased flooding and habitat loss. Soil loss has been increasing in most parts of the world and is most pronounced in tropical developing countries where there is poor or zero soil and water conservation (SWC) planning and management activities. Identifying areas prone to soil erosion has also been inadequate, having not been informed by dedicated scientific studies. This is true of the poorly understood watershed of Welmel in the Oromia region of Ethiopia, where most livelihoods heavily rely upon agriculture. To plan effective SWC management techniques, a solid knowledge of spatial variations across different climate, land use and soil erosion is essential. This study has aimed at identifying potential areas needing SWC practices through conducting a spatial modeling of soil erosion within the Welmel watershed's Genale Dawa basin using a ge...
Bamboo is one of the world's most important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) which have been ad... more Bamboo is one of the world's most important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) which have been advocated for poverty alleviation in many regions. However, in Ethiopia it is utilized below its potential due to lack of scientific knowledge and awareness on its management and utilization. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the indigenous knowledge of highland bamboo management and utilization practices of local communities in Kokosa woreda. Five kebeles were purposively selected and 196 sample households (HHs) were selected randomly. Primary data was collected through face-to-face interview, direct observation, key informant interview and focus group discussion. The collected qualitative data was analyzed using simple descriptive statistics, mean and percentage values and standard error. The result of the study indicated that, local people have experience of developing bamboo stands using their indigenous knowledge on propagation techniques. Among the propagation techniques, bamboo offsetting (82%) was preferred most, where 89% of the source of bamboo offset was obtained from individual farmers. The local communities have experienced bamboo stand management practices of which fencing the bamboo stands (44%) was most applied followed by compost application (33%). Mean bamboo area coverage is 0.32 ha per household. The average number of bamboo landraces was 4. Bamboo landrace identification criteria used in the area are bamboo diameter (21.31%), length of internodes between nodes (21.20%), bamboo stem color (21.20%) and splitting nature (18.68%). Bamboo is used for a variety of traditional applications including house construction (100%), fencing (100%), fodder (99.48%), household furniture and utensils (92.34%), fuel wood (98.97%) and as cash source (100%). Traditionally, farmers somehow know how to take care for bamboo roots and rhizomes, which is a good habit to sustain bamboo resource utilization. Such habit has to be integrated with modern knowledge as skilled capability of the harvesters for scientific management is required.
Traditional coffee management varies across location and may result in different effect on struct... more Traditional coffee management varies across location and may result in different effect on structure and regeneration of woody species. This study was aimed to investigate the effect of forest coffee management practices on structure and regeneration of woody species in Bale Eco-Region, Southeastern Ethiopia. Eighty (20 m x 20 m) quadrants and five 5m x5m subplots within each main plot were laid out along parallel transect lines across the forests for collecting data from mature, and saplings and seedlings woody species respectively. Data on traditional forest coffee management, structure and regeneration status of woody species were collected through in depth interview with fourteen key informants and field surveying respectively. All plant species found in each plot were identified, and their number, height and DBH were measured following standard procedures. The density, basal area and size of growth forms between the forests were compared using t-test at 0.05 significance level. Slashing of under growth vegetation, thinning shade trees, hoeing under forest coffee, and cutting of shrubs and saplings were the traditional coffee management practiced in the forest coffee to improve its productivity to earn more income. The density, basal area and regeneration status of woody species in forest coffee area significantly (P<0.000) differ from the natural forest. The density, DBH and Height of woody species in both forests have inverted J shape and were varied significantly between the forests. The natural forest has good regeneration status but the forest coffee experienced fair regeneration. However, few saplings (2.3%) and matured trees (5.7%) were recorded in coffee forest, which may lead to subsequent loss off the forest coffee if current situation will continue. Therefore, researches on development of sustainable forest coffee management methods, and enhancing technical and economic capacity of inhabitants through training and diffusion of technologies that compensate socioeconomic benefit obtained through damaging woody species are crucial to sustain the forest coffee ecosystem in Harena forest.
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