Livelihood diversification could be determined by complex and diversified factors. Yet, unlike the rural areas, the situation is unexplored in the case of towns of developing economies. The objective of this study was to identify the determinants of households’ livelihood diversification in a sub-Saharan town. Data were collected from 151 households and 4 key informants. In addition, secondary data were collected to supplement the primary data. Descriptive statistics were employed to identify the households’ livelihood strategies. The level of households’ livelihood diversification was estimated by the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index, whereas multinomial logistic regression was employed to investigate the determinants of the households’ livelihood diversification. The result of the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index shows the presence of three levels of livelihood diversification among households: no diversification (11.26%), moderately diversified (26.49%), and highly diversified (62.25%). The model analysis revealed that out of eighteen predictor variables, only seven variables, namely, total cattle possession (B = 0.329, p < 0.1 ), land ownership (B = 120.572, p < 0.01 ), income from irrigation (B = 2.902, p < 0.05 ), total annual cash income (B = 0.000, p < 0.01 ), price fluctuation problem (B = 2.899, p < 0.05 ), market price fluctuation plus total cattle possession (B = 12.892, p < 0.01 ), and no price fluctuation plus total cash income (B = 0.000, p < 0.01 ) were found significantly influencing households’ livelihood diversification. Households in the study town are engaged in different livelihood diversification strategies rather than relying on farm only for improving their wellbeing, and livelihood diversification was gaining a dominant role in households’ income. Even if the Ethiopian agricultural policy gives more attention to the agriculture sector, there is evidence that households’ income is not limited to agriculture. Therefore, nonfarm livelihood diversification should be strengthened by government initiatives to sustain households’ livelihood diversification.

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The introduction of water hyacinth poses a serious threat to economic viability of Lake Tana and its environments. This study aimed to capture the spatial coverage of water hyacinth and its effect on water loss in Lake Tana using quantitative research methods. Four satellite images representing each season of 2019 were downloaded from USGS. In addition, pan evaporation data were taken from the National Meteorological Agency. ArcGis 10.4, Envi 5.3, Qgis 3.12.1 plug in CSP and Excel used to manage land use land cover classification and water loss estimation analysis. The seasonal coverage of water hyacinth was 15.35, 4.14, 11.82 and 13.59 km 2 in winter, autumn, summer and spring 2019 respectively representing 0.63 and 0.17 percent of the Lake as a maximum and minimum coverage. The mean daily evaporation of Lake Tana was 5.14 mm/day, but this increased to 18.85 mm/day due to the presence of water hyacinth. The mean net daily water loss due to water hyacinth at Lake Tana was 0.14 km 2 while 52,62 km 3 in 2019. The study concludes that water hyacinth caused enormous negative impact on the water volume reduction in Lake Tana. Management of the Lake Tana environment and control of the water hyacinth weed are recommended to sustain the Lake.