Sustainable land management and its effects on water security and poverty: Evidence from a watershed intervention program in Ethiopia

This paper investigates the impacts of sustainable land management (SLM) on water security and poverty based on an evaluation of a watershed level SLM program promoted in Amhara regional state of Ethiopia. A household survey was conducted in two WLRC watersheds with SLM programming as well as comple...

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Autores principales: Kato, Edward, Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework, Tiruneh, Solomon, Ringler, Claudia
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/107266
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author Kato, Edward
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Tiruneh, Solomon
Ringler, Claudia
author_browse Kato, Edward
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Ringler, Claudia
Tiruneh, Solomon
author_facet Kato, Edward
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Tiruneh, Solomon
Ringler, Claudia
author_sort Kato, Edward
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This paper investigates the impacts of sustainable land management (SLM) on water security and poverty based on an evaluation of a watershed level SLM program promoted in Amhara regional state of Ethiopia. A household survey was conducted in two WLRC watersheds with SLM programming as well as complementary support and two adjacent watersheds without such programming. Our findings show that the SLM program significantly increased plot-level adoption of SLM practices, particularly of soil bunds and stone terraces. We also find that SLM contributes to water security for both crop and livestock production. Households in SLM-supported learning watersheds have more access to groundwater for irrigation and have higher crop yields for maize, mango and millet; have experienced improving water availability for livestock production in the past five years; and have higher income from livestock products than households in control watersheds. The positive impacts of SLM and complementary interventions on livestock income is attributed to the improved water security conditions in the learning watersheds, access to better animal forage planted along the SLM constructed structures, and animal vaccination and artificial insemination services that were part of the broader set of interventions. These findings further show that although SLM impacts were limited, the potential to improve welfare of smallholders across several livelihoods is enhanced when SLM is combined with other multifaceted complimentary interventions.
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spelling CGSpace1072662025-12-08T10:06:44Z Sustainable land management and its effects on water security and poverty: Evidence from a watershed intervention program in Ethiopia Kato, Edward Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework Tiruneh, Solomon Ringler, Claudia sustainability land management water conservation water management capacity development watershed management land degradation poverty This paper investigates the impacts of sustainable land management (SLM) on water security and poverty based on an evaluation of a watershed level SLM program promoted in Amhara regional state of Ethiopia. A household survey was conducted in two WLRC watersheds with SLM programming as well as complementary support and two adjacent watersheds without such programming. Our findings show that the SLM program significantly increased plot-level adoption of SLM practices, particularly of soil bunds and stone terraces. We also find that SLM contributes to water security for both crop and livestock production. Households in SLM-supported learning watersheds have more access to groundwater for irrigation and have higher crop yields for maize, mango and millet; have experienced improving water availability for livestock production in the past five years; and have higher income from livestock products than households in control watersheds. The positive impacts of SLM and complementary interventions on livestock income is attributed to the improved water security conditions in the learning watersheds, access to better animal forage planted along the SLM constructed structures, and animal vaccination and artificial insemination services that were part of the broader set of interventions. These findings further show that although SLM impacts were limited, the potential to improve welfare of smallholders across several livelihoods is enhanced when SLM is combined with other multifaceted complimentary interventions. 2019 2020-02-25T12:18:23Z 2020-02-25T12:18:23Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/107266 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/21520 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136361 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150237 https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3266 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Kato, Edward; Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Tiruneh, Solomon; and Ringler, Claudia. 2019. Sustainable land management and its effects on water security and poverty: Evidence from a watershed intervention program in Ethiopia. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1811. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133144.
spellingShingle sustainability
land management
water conservation
water management
capacity development
watershed management
land degradation
poverty
Kato, Edward
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Tiruneh, Solomon
Ringler, Claudia
Sustainable land management and its effects on water security and poverty: Evidence from a watershed intervention program in Ethiopia
title Sustainable land management and its effects on water security and poverty: Evidence from a watershed intervention program in Ethiopia
title_full Sustainable land management and its effects on water security and poverty: Evidence from a watershed intervention program in Ethiopia
title_fullStr Sustainable land management and its effects on water security and poverty: Evidence from a watershed intervention program in Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Sustainable land management and its effects on water security and poverty: Evidence from a watershed intervention program in Ethiopia
title_short Sustainable land management and its effects on water security and poverty: Evidence from a watershed intervention program in Ethiopia
title_sort sustainable land management and its effects on water security and poverty evidence from a watershed intervention program in ethiopia
topic sustainability
land management
water conservation
water management
capacity development
watershed management
land degradation
poverty
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/107266
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