Suchergebnisse

Like many developing countries, rural Ethiopia heavily depends on
biofuels. This dependency has been contributing to environmental
degradation and food insecurity of the people. However, a
comprehensive study has not been carried out to determine the
quantity of biofuels consumed and to distinguish rural households'
responses to growing scarcity of fuelwood. This would have helped the
design of appropriate strategies for the development of the energy
sector. This study analyses biofuel consumption patterns in four rural
villages in the northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. The results indicate
that fuelwood and cattle dung accounted for nearly 100% of the
domestic energy consumption, with cattle dung contributing to some
34% of the total. Fuelwood and dung combined, the per capita biofuel
consumption was estimated at 511.3kg per annum, with some variation
between villages and socio-economic groups owing to differences in
physical, environmental and socio-economic factors. Despite claims by
some studies, the pressure on the supply trend has affected
consumption of biofuels and necessitated improvisation on the part of
users. And the scarcity of wood use for various purposes has forced
households to plant trees. The number of trees planted by households
showed variation between villages and the different socio-economic
groups, owing to various physical and human factors. This (agro)
forestry practice is a good short-term solution to the existing problem
of fuelwood shortage. Since the practice also embodies multiple
positive implications for environmental management and agricultural
production it should to be encouraged. It is worth noting here that in
promoting tree planting (agro) foresters and environmental
management planners should take into account local level biophysical
and socio-economic realities.

Vulnerability to food insecurity is a major social and economic problem in drought-prone areas of Ethiopia. A range of factors from physical environmental circumstances to policy and institutions-related issues determine food security outcomes and vulnerability to food insecurity at the household level. The general objective of this study was to identify factors that determine households' vulnerability to food insecurity in drought prone areas of the Amhara Region of Ethiopia by using Lay Gaint woreda (district) as a case study site. Data were collected using questionnaire, in-depth interview and focus group discussions and both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis were employed. The results showed that the majority of households sampled (79.6 per cent) experienced food insecurity. The situation was worse among female-headed households that 86 per cent of them were food insecure. It was also found that 39 per cent of the female-headed households did not have farmland. The majority of sampled households employed ex-post coping strategies to reduce seasonal food shortages, such as reducing quantity of meals (69 per cent), borrowing from relatives and friends (68 per cent), selling small ruminants (64 per cent) and consuming less preferred foods (62 per cent). The main adaptive strategies employed by the majority of sampled households included diversifying livestock kept (68 per cent), planting trees (66 per cent) and livestock fattening (58 per cent). Binary logistic regression results showed that location or agro-climatic zone, number of livestock owned, education of household heads and availability of working labour were significant predictors of household vulnerability to food insecurity. This suggests that building household assets and geographically differentiated development interventions will improve household food security in the study area, and in other similar environments in the country.

The objective of this study was to examine extent and determinants of income poverty in selected rural villages located in different parts of the country. Data were collected through a detailed structured household survey, and descriptive statistics and econometric modelling were employed to analyze the data. Results confirm that there was abject rural poverty in the study areas; annual average per capita income was estimated at Birr 1092.30 (1.0 USD ~9.6 Birr). Some 66 per cent of the sample households (n = 240) were found to be below a poverty line, defined in official documents and adjusted for inflation in this study. The analysis of determinants of household poverty showed family size, land and livestock holdings, diversification in crop production, engagement in non-farm activities and utilization of microfinance services to be important correlates. Increased livelihood asset holdings, in terms of land and livestock, crop diversification, and engagement in non-farm activities were positively related to improved household welfare. Differences in community level natural resource endowments in terms of quality of land resources and microclimatic conditions appeared to have significant influence on the probability of households to be non-poor, through its impacts on crop productivity, as annual incomes were higher in villages where crop production constituted the primary source of household income. These results underline the importance of enhancing the poor's livelihood asset endowments, agricultural intensification, livelihood diversification and pursuing of geographically differentiated strategies in poverty reduction efforts. The need for promoting family planning was also shown by the inverse relationship between household sizes and poverty status of households.

During the last 100 years the Ethiopian upper Blue Nile Basin (BNB) has undergone major changes in land use, and is now potentially facing changes in climate. Rainfall over BNB supplies over two-thirds of the water to the Nile and supports a large local population living mainly on subsistence agriculture. Regional food security is sensitive to both the amount and timing of rain and is already an important political challenge that will be further complicated if scenarios of climate change are realized. In this study a simple spatial model of the timing and duration of summer rains (Kiremt) and dry season (Bega), and annual rain over the upper BNB was established from observed data between 1952 and 2004. The model was used to explore potential impacts of climate change on these rains, using a down-scaled ECHAM5/MP1-OM scenario between 2050 and 2100. Over the observed period the amount, onset and duration of Kiremt rains and rain-free Bega days have exhibited a consistent spatial pattern. The spatially averaged annual rainfall was 1490 mm of which 93% was Kiremt rain. The average Kiremt rain and number of rainy days was higher in the southwest (322 days) and decreased towards the north (136 days). Under the 2050-2100 scenario, the annual mean rainfall is predicted to increase by 6% and maintain the same spatial pattern as in the past. A larger change in annual rainfall is expected in the southwest (ca. +130 mm) with a gradually smaller change towards the north (ca. +70 mm). Results highlight the need to account for the characteristic spatiotemporal zonation when planning water management and climate adaptation within the upper BNB. The presented simple spatial resolved models of the presence of Kiremt and annual total rainfall could be used as a baseline for such long-term planning.