Identification of suitable areas for fodder production in Ethiopia

Despite Ethiopia’s significant livestock population, the largest in Africa, productivity is constrained by the seasonality of feed quality and quantity. Developing improved fodder production systems can contribute to poverty reduction goals and thereby enhance social-ecological resilience through bu...

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Autores principales: Worqlul, Abeyou W., Dile, Yihun T., Bezabih, Melkamu, Adie, Aberra, Srinivasan, R., Lefore, Nicole, Clarke, Neville
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/118453
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author Worqlul, Abeyou W.
Dile, Yihun T.
Bezabih, Melkamu
Adie, Aberra
Srinivasan, R.
Lefore, Nicole
Clarke, Neville
author_browse Adie, Aberra
Bezabih, Melkamu
Clarke, Neville
Dile, Yihun T.
Lefore, Nicole
Srinivasan, R.
Worqlul, Abeyou W.
author_facet Worqlul, Abeyou W.
Dile, Yihun T.
Bezabih, Melkamu
Adie, Aberra
Srinivasan, R.
Lefore, Nicole
Clarke, Neville
author_sort Worqlul, Abeyou W.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Despite Ethiopia’s significant livestock population, the largest in Africa, productivity is constrained by the seasonality of feed quality and quantity. Developing improved fodder production systems can contribute to poverty reduction goals and thereby enhance social-ecological resilience through building risk buffering assets. Therefore, this study focuses on evaluating the suitability of lands for selected fodder crops in Ethiopia applying GIS-based Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques and accessing the irrigation potential of the shallow groundwater. Groundwater data collected from the British Geological Survey (BGS) was used to assess the groundwater irrigation potential. The fodder crops selected were Napier (Pennisetum purpureum), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), oats (Avena sativa), vetch (Vicia sativa), and desho (Pennisetum pedicellatum). The key factors that significantly affect land suitability for fodder production evaluated include climate (rainfall and evapotranspiration), physical land features (land use, soil, and slope), and market access (livestock population and proximity to roads). The factors were weighted with a pairwise comparison matrix followed by reclassification and overlaying to identify suitable areas for irrigated fodder production. The results indicated that ∼ 31% of the country (∼350,500 km2) is highly suitable for producing desho, followed by vetch (23%), Napier (20%), Alfalfa (13%), and Oats (12%). The basin level analysis indicated that the Abbay river basin has the largest suitable area for Napier and Oats production while the Genale-Dawa River basin has the largest suitable area for alfalfa, vetch, and desho production. The analysis also indicated that the suitable area has access to groundwater that could be accessed with simple water-lifting technologies (≤30 m from the surface). This study provides useful insights for decision-makers, practitioners, and the private sector to prioritize and scale fodder production in Ethiopia.
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spelling CGSpace1184532025-10-26T13:01:34Z Identification of suitable areas for fodder production in Ethiopia Worqlul, Abeyou W. Dile, Yihun T. Bezabih, Melkamu Adie, Aberra Srinivasan, R. Lefore, Nicole Clarke, Neville feeds forage animal feeding livestock Despite Ethiopia’s significant livestock population, the largest in Africa, productivity is constrained by the seasonality of feed quality and quantity. Developing improved fodder production systems can contribute to poverty reduction goals and thereby enhance social-ecological resilience through building risk buffering assets. Therefore, this study focuses on evaluating the suitability of lands for selected fodder crops in Ethiopia applying GIS-based Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques and accessing the irrigation potential of the shallow groundwater. Groundwater data collected from the British Geological Survey (BGS) was used to assess the groundwater irrigation potential. The fodder crops selected were Napier (Pennisetum purpureum), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), oats (Avena sativa), vetch (Vicia sativa), and desho (Pennisetum pedicellatum). The key factors that significantly affect land suitability for fodder production evaluated include climate (rainfall and evapotranspiration), physical land features (land use, soil, and slope), and market access (livestock population and proximity to roads). The factors were weighted with a pairwise comparison matrix followed by reclassification and overlaying to identify suitable areas for irrigated fodder production. The results indicated that ∼ 31% of the country (∼350,500 km2) is highly suitable for producing desho, followed by vetch (23%), Napier (20%), Alfalfa (13%), and Oats (12%). The basin level analysis indicated that the Abbay river basin has the largest suitable area for Napier and Oats production while the Genale-Dawa River basin has the largest suitable area for alfalfa, vetch, and desho production. The analysis also indicated that the suitable area has access to groundwater that could be accessed with simple water-lifting technologies (≤30 m from the surface). This study provides useful insights for decision-makers, practitioners, and the private sector to prioritize and scale fodder production in Ethiopia. 2022-06 2022-03-24T10:00:47Z 2022-03-24T10:00:47Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/118453 en Open Access Elsevier Worqlul, A.W., Dile, Y.T., Bezabih, M., Adie, A., Srinivasan, R., Lefore, N. and Clarke, N. 2022. Identification of suitable areas for fodder production in Ethiopia. Catena 213:106154.
spellingShingle feeds
forage
animal feeding
livestock
Worqlul, Abeyou W.
Dile, Yihun T.
Bezabih, Melkamu
Adie, Aberra
Srinivasan, R.
Lefore, Nicole
Clarke, Neville
Identification of suitable areas for fodder production in Ethiopia
title Identification of suitable areas for fodder production in Ethiopia
title_full Identification of suitable areas for fodder production in Ethiopia
title_fullStr Identification of suitable areas for fodder production in Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Identification of suitable areas for fodder production in Ethiopia
title_short Identification of suitable areas for fodder production in Ethiopia
title_sort identification of suitable areas for fodder production in ethiopia
topic feeds
forage
animal feeding
livestock
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/118453
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