Land Use/Land Cover Changes Environmental Analysis and Implication for Sustainable Agriculture Development in Gambella Woreda, Gambell Region South Western Ethiopia
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2007-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa Universty
Abstract
The study area is located in Gambela Woreda of Gambela region (south western
Ethiopia), about 777 km from Addis Ababa. It is characterized by steep slop to
the east and lowland plain area to the western direction of the region. Gambela
region can be broadly classified into three agro-climatic zones, namely; moist
and dry wina dega, moist kola and dry kolla or berha, but this research study
focus mainly on moist Kolla agro-climate zone of Gambela Woreda.
The main objectives of this study have been to investigate the magnitude and
extent of land cover changes due to the expansion of cultivated land and to see
indigenous resources management practices in the study area. The data for the
study was acquired from the field survey using structured questionnaires, group
discussion, field observation and from the official un (published) documents. The
method of analysis involves the computation of quantitative indices. Such as
parentage, mean, coefficient of variation and standard deviation.
The qualitative results have show that the average holding size in the area is
0.75 hectare with minor disparities between the Woreda and PAs. The findings
also indicated fragmentation is greater among the indigenous farmers, since they
live near the riverbank area. The research also indicated land cover/land use
change in the last 16 years (1990 to 2006). Barren land and cultivated land area
have increased at the rate of 4.9 and 3 percent per annum.
Moreover, traditional soil management practices are less employed by the study
population to counter the depletion of soil nutrients. The study suggested that
deforestation and soil erosion problems need to be given due attention urgently
to maintain the stability and resilience of the agro-ecosystem. In addition,
integrating agriculture with other income generating non farm activities are also important to raise the living condition of the people and to combat burning of
natural forest for the purpose of hunting of wild animal and honey bee production
throughout the dry season in all sites of the study area.
Description
Keywords
Gambella Woreda, Gambell Region