Integrated Watershed Development from Sustainable Livelihood Perspective, case of Terri Watershed in Delanta Woreda, Ethiopia.

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Date

2010-06

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Addis Ababa University

Abstract

Watcrshcds, especially in the developing worl d, are increasingly being l11anageci for poverty alleviation as wel l as for environl11ental conservation objectives for rain fed agricu ltura l systel11. The l11ajor challenges of rural developl11ent in Ethiopia including Delanta Woreda are land degradation, low agricu ltural productivity and rural povert y, which are interconnected: In order to break these intertwined probl el11s, cOl11 l11u nity based illlegrated watershed developl11ent is practiced. Of course, this pract ice brought opportu nities for livelihood il11provel11ent of rural poor but its susta inabil ity is a chal lengi ng one. Past watershed studies fai led to consider key success racto rs of watershed development [Such as environmental , economic, technological, technical, social, insti tutional and physical). Therefore, the overal l objective of this study is to invest igate the main chal lenges and opportunities of integrated watershed development with the eye of sustainab le rural li veli hood perspecti ve. Both qu al itative and quantitative research ·l11 ethods were employed to gather and analyze data. Specifical ly, questionnaire survey, focus group di scuss ion, key informant interview, field observat ion and review of pertinent second ary data sources were utilized to generate the data. The key findi ngs of the study reveal that the l11aj ority of natural resources have been improved in the watershed because of the phys ical SWC and its technologies pract iced in the area. Fcollol11 ical ly, the household benefited from food- for- work; however, there were also challenges. Because of the investments on activities of income generati ng were low and not concurrently performed with SWC, the investment on physical SWC structures had not immediate economic return. Institutional ization of watershed development and social network were not given adequate attention in practice and challenging the sustai nabi lity of the community-based watershed development. On the other hand, agricultu ral activi ti es became an opportu nities for " iable option of the households, if there were adequate access to irrigation, agricultural inputs & technologies. Therefore, access or the communit ies to capacity buildin g and input technologies with socializing and institut ionali zing the watershed development should be done not an option, but imperative for susta inable li ve lihoods. Key words: watershed, susta inable development, asset, li ve lihood

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Keywords

watershed, susta inable development, asset, livelihood

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