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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

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

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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
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/8IXPXX
 
Creator International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
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.
 
Subject Agricultural Sciences
Social Sciences
livestock
crop production
households
smallholders
population growth
land degradation
farming systems
integrated crop-livestock systems
land resources
farmland
food security
remote sensing
ETHIOPIA
EAST AFRICA
AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA
AFRICA
 
Language English
 
Contributor IFPRI-KM
Mekuria, Wuletaw (University of Gondar)
Mekonnen, Kindu (International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI))
Thorne, Peter (International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI))
Bezabih, Melkamu (International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI))
Tamene, Lulseged (International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT))
Abera, Wuletawu (International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT))
 
Type sample survey data (SSD)