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1 Haileslassie, A.; Hagos, Fitsum; Awulachew, Seleshi Bekele; Peden, D.; Gebreselassie, S.; Negash, F. 2008. Production systems in the Blue Nile Basin: implications for environmental degradation and upstream and downstream linkages. Paper presented at the Ethiopia National Nile Development Forum, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 20-21 March 2008. 37p.
River basins ; Environmental degradation ; Erosion ; Sedimentation ; Water productivity ; Farming systems ; Cropping systems ; Double cropping ; Cereals ; Maize ; Sorghum ; Barley ; Wheat ; Livestock ; Pastoralism ; Farmers attitudes ; Economic aspects / Sudan / Ethiopia / Blue Nile River Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H041754)
(478KB 0.32 MB)
The Blue Nile Basin (Abay in Ethiopia) covers wide range landscapes and climatic zones in Ethiopia and Sudan. Different agricultural production systems, in the basin, evolved in response to those diverse landscapes and climatic zones, and the attendant human decision dynamics that responds to changing livelihood opportunities. Many production systems studies recognized only mixed agriculture in the highlands and pastoralism in the lowland areas. Now it is widely recognized that several other factors such as land-use, vegetation cover, and different land and water management practices are important in defining production systems. These study approaches help to capture the diverse water and land related livelihoods of the farming communities in upstream and downstream parts of the basin and their impact on their respective environments. In this review, we follow a similar approach but focus at the basin scale to define and characterize major production systems and associated subsystems specifically: small grain cereals-based mixed crop-livestock and maize-sorghum-perennials systems and their associated subsystems. We then focus on water management practices in rainfed and irrigated systems. We also synthesized impacts of those production systems on the environment and upstream-downstream linkage using erosion, sedimentation, livestock and crop water productivity, soil nutrient balances as indicators. Evidences suggest that natural ecosystem services (e.g. regulation services such as nutrient recycling and redistribution) are severely threatened in the Blue Nile basin. On-site and off-site effects of pedogenic processes like sediment removal, transportation, redistribution and attendant environmental impacts (e.g. nutrient balances and water productivity) are highly correlated with dominant farming practices and attendant anthropogenic interventions. Indicators such as water productivity and soil nutrient depletion and farmers’ activities to replenish the lost nutrients are also strongly related to the degree of the farmers’ resource endowments. In view of initiating the upstream community to invest more on land and water management, options for payment for environmental services (PES) must be sought and, interventions that enhance sustainable ecosystem management must use integrated approaches and farming system/subsystems as entry point.
2 Erkossa, Teklu; Awulachew, Seleshi Bekele; Hagos, Fitsum. 2009. Characterization and productivity assessment of the farming systems in the upper part of the Nile Basin. Ethiopian Journal of Natural Resources, 11(2):149-167.
Farming systems ; Agropastoral system ; River basins ; Crop production ; Sole cropping ; Double cropping ; Shifting cultivation ; Water management ; Soil management ; Livestock / Ethiopia / Nile River Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H044658)
(0.39 MB)
Rainfed agriculutre in Ethiopia is constrained by temporal and spatial variations in climate and severe land degradation caused by soil erosion that is exacerbated by lack of appropriate technologies. The continued shrinking per capita agriculutral land due to population growth and diminishing land quality challenges the livelihood of the communities. This requires multifaceted and targeted interventions. Testing and scalling up of interventions require a relatively uniform system, but the basin’s potential and constraints for crop and livestock productivity is hetrogenous. Farming systems are often taken as important entry point for scaling up of agricultural technolgies. Based on secondary data on climate, soil, crop and livestock, and the master plan of the subbasins, this study clustered and mapped the major farming systems and subsystems in the Nile Basin. Two major systems, the mixed crop-livestock farming and the pastoral/agropastoral livelihoods have been identified. The former was sub-grouped into the cereal based, coffee-tree crops complex and the enset-root crops complex subsystems. The cereal based system was further classified into the single cropping, double cropping and shifting cultivation subsystems, each of which was subdivided based on the dominant crop. The current productivity of the major crops in each farming systems was analysed and found to be lower than not only their potential but also their national average. However, some selected soil, water and crop management technologies have shown substantial yield increase. Thereore, it is believed scaling up of proven tachnologies within a farming system can substantially enhance crop yield and imrpove livelhood.
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