International Research Journal of Agriculture and Soil Science

Abstract

Woodlands in Ethiopia are under heavy pressure and shrinking overtime. Despite the woodland's economic and ecological importance's, little attention has been given to monitor the condition of the resources through time. The aim of this study is to assess the status of western dry woodlands of Ethiopia by analyzing land use and land cover (LULC) dynamics and recommend their future sustainable management and development in view of their multi-functions, climate change mitigation potentials as well as local livelihood improvement. Remote sensing (RS) and Geographic Positioning System (GIS) were used to assess the LULC dynamics in three regional states (Amhara, Tigray, and Benshangul-Gumz). Three study sites: Metema, Kafta-Humera and Sherkole were selected, respectively. In all study sites the classes of agricultural land and bare land have expanded at an average rate of 2322.9 and 726.6 ha/year, respectively. On the other hand, the woodland cover in the three districts was decreasing at an average rate of 2833.8 ha/year in the past 25 years (1985-2010). The woodland cover was transformed mainly to agriculture at an average rate of 2057.9 ha/year.

Integrating knowledge on biophysical and socioeconomic potential to map clusters for future milk production in Ethiopia

“…Besides climate change, land use change could affect the dairy potential of a cluster. For example, shifting from grassland to cropland could reduce the availability of forage but could also increase the availability of crop residues and by-products for the dairy animal, the (Binyam et al 2015). The main changes detected in all study areas were the conversion of dry (lowland) woodlands into agricultural land and, to a lesser extent, of shrubland and grazing land into agricultural land, or bare (fallow) land.…”

“…Current production conditions are subject to various changes that could affect future production potential. For example, Ethiopian woodlands are subject to serious environmental impacts due to heavy pressure causing them to shrink over time due to extraction of fuel and construction wood and expansion of cash crops like sesame in the northwest (Binyam et al 2015). The two most anticipated changes by our key informants in Ethiopia are climate change and land use change, which hence have been elaborated below.…”