Diversification Patterns of Mixed Crop-Livestock Production in Smallholder Farming Systems and Its Implication for Household Food Security: The Case in Gudo Beret Watershed, North Shewa, Central Highlands of Ethiopia

Ethiopia has made efforts to tackle the challenges of low crop and livestock productivity and degradation of land resources through various rural development strategies. However, increasing demands for food, animal feed, fuel, and income-generating activities are putting pressure on the land. In thi...

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Autores principales: International Livestock Research Institute, Tamene, Lulseged D., Abera, Wuletawu
Formato: Conjunto de datos
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/132525
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author International Livestock Research Institute
Tamene, Lulseged D.
Abera, Wuletawu
author_browse Abera, Wuletawu
International Livestock Research Institute
Tamene, Lulseged D.
author_facet International Livestock Research Institute
Tamene, Lulseged D.
Abera, Wuletawu
author_sort International Livestock Research Institute
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Ethiopia has made efforts to tackle the challenges of low crop and livestock productivity and degradation of land resources through various rural development strategies. However, increasing demands for food, animal feed, fuel, and income-generating activities are putting pressure on the land. In this paper, we describe the production pressure and competition between crop and livestock production, quantify rates of land-use/cover (LULC) changes, and examine driving forces and consequences of land conversion. The study was conducted in Gudo Beret watershed, North Shewa Zone of Amhara region, Ethiopia. It used a combination of methods including remote sensing, household interviews, field observations, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Supervised and unsupervised image classification methods were employed to map LULC classes for 31 years (1984–2016). The results of satellite remote sensing revealed that 51% of the land in the study area was subject to accelerated land conversions. The household survey results indicated that feed resources and grain production pressures were 1.43 and 1.34 t ha−1 respectively. The observed annual changes in plantation and settlement areas were 2.6% and 2.9%. This was mainly at the expense of bushland and grazing land systems. Cropland increased (0.4% year−1) while grazing land reduced (3.5% year−1) under contrasting dynamics and competitive changes. An increase in human and livestock populations and farm expansion were major drivers of land conversion that adversely affected household livelihoods and the natural ecosystem. The consequences of these pressures resulted in a lack of animal feed, low crop-livestock productivity, and a reduction in natural vegetation coverage. We suggest that sustainable land resource management, more integrated crop-livestock production, and the use of productivity-enhancing technologies could play a role in managing competition for land resources.
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spelling CGSpace1325252024-10-25T07:55:00Z Diversification Patterns of Mixed Crop-Livestock Production in Smallholder Farming Systems and Its Implication for Household Food Security: The Case in Gudo Beret Watershed, North Shewa, Central Highlands of Ethiopia International Livestock Research Institute Tamene, Lulseged D. Abera, Wuletawu livestock crop production ethiopia food security remote sensing africa farming systems households east africa africa south of sahara farmland integrated crop-livestock systems land resources Ethiopia has made efforts to tackle the challenges of low crop and livestock productivity and degradation of land resources through various rural development strategies. However, increasing demands for food, animal feed, fuel, and income-generating activities are putting pressure on the land. In this paper, we describe the production pressure and competition between crop and livestock production, quantify rates of land-use/cover (LULC) changes, and examine driving forces and consequences of land conversion. The study was conducted in Gudo Beret watershed, North Shewa Zone of Amhara region, Ethiopia. It used a combination of methods including remote sensing, household interviews, field observations, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Supervised and unsupervised image classification methods were employed to map LULC classes for 31 years (1984–2016). The results of satellite remote sensing revealed that 51% of the land in the study area was subject to accelerated land conversions. The household survey results indicated that feed resources and grain production pressures were 1.43 and 1.34 t ha−1 respectively. The observed annual changes in plantation and settlement areas were 2.6% and 2.9%. This was mainly at the expense of bushland and grazing land systems. Cropland increased (0.4% year−1) while grazing land reduced (3.5% year−1) under contrasting dynamics and competitive changes. An increase in human and livestock populations and farm expansion were major drivers of land conversion that adversely affected household livelihoods and the natural ecosystem. The consequences of these pressures resulted in a lack of animal feed, low crop-livestock productivity, and a reduction in natural vegetation coverage. We suggest that sustainable land resource management, more integrated crop-livestock production, and the use of productivity-enhancing technologies could play a role in managing competition for land resources. 2021-08-05 2023-10-30T14:35:03Z 2023-10-30T14:35:03Z Dataset https://hdl.handle.net/10568/132525 en https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-018-0143-7 Open Access International Livestock Research Institute, (2021) Diversification Patterns of Mixed Crop-Livestock Production in Smallholder Farming Systems and Its Implication for Household Food Security: The Case in Gudo Beret Watershed, North Shewa, Central Highlands of Ethiopia. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/8IXPXX
spellingShingle livestock
crop production
ethiopia
food security
remote sensing
africa
farming systems
households
east africa
africa south of sahara
farmland
integrated crop-livestock systems
land resources
International Livestock Research Institute
Tamene, Lulseged D.
Abera, Wuletawu
Diversification Patterns of Mixed Crop-Livestock Production in Smallholder Farming Systems and Its Implication for Household Food Security: The Case in Gudo Beret Watershed, North Shewa, Central Highlands of Ethiopia
title Diversification Patterns of Mixed Crop-Livestock Production in Smallholder Farming Systems and Its Implication for Household Food Security: The Case in Gudo Beret Watershed, North Shewa, Central Highlands of Ethiopia
title_full Diversification Patterns of Mixed Crop-Livestock Production in Smallholder Farming Systems and Its Implication for Household Food Security: The Case in Gudo Beret Watershed, North Shewa, Central Highlands of Ethiopia
title_fullStr Diversification Patterns of Mixed Crop-Livestock Production in Smallholder Farming Systems and Its Implication for Household Food Security: The Case in Gudo Beret Watershed, North Shewa, Central Highlands of Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Diversification Patterns of Mixed Crop-Livestock Production in Smallholder Farming Systems and Its Implication for Household Food Security: The Case in Gudo Beret Watershed, North Shewa, Central Highlands of Ethiopia
title_short Diversification Patterns of Mixed Crop-Livestock Production in Smallholder Farming Systems and Its Implication for Household Food Security: The Case in Gudo Beret Watershed, North Shewa, Central Highlands of Ethiopia
title_sort diversification patterns of mixed crop livestock production in smallholder farming systems and its implication for household food security the case in gudo beret watershed north shewa central highlands of ethiopia
topic livestock
crop production
ethiopia
food security
remote sensing
africa
farming systems
households
east africa
africa south of sahara
farmland
integrated crop-livestock systems
land resources
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/132525
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