Publications

Study region: Akaki is a headwater catchment of Awash River Basin that hosts the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. The area encompasses several agglomerated towns, water supply, and hydropower reservoirs and is characterized by a chain of mountains and floodplains. Due to basin rainfall, and the expansion of urbanized areas, the catchment is frequently affected by flooding. Study focus: This study evaluates dynamic Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) approach to improve rainfall estimation over the catchment by blending four high-resolution satellite rainfall estimate (SRE) products. Using daily data (2003–2019) observed at thirteen stations as a reference, seven statistical metrics served to assess the point and spatial scale accuracy of the rainfall estimates. New hydrological insights: Main findings from this study are: (i) the blended product outperformed the individual SRE products by notably improving correlation with in-situ observed rainfall, and reducing the error of the estimated rainfall, (ii) the blended and individual SRE products performed better in the highlands than the lowlands of the catchment, and (iii) the amount of daily rainfall during the main-rainy season was mostly overestimated by the individual SRE products but was fairly estimated by the blended product. This study showed the nonexistence of surpassing individual SRE products and emphasized the blending of several products for gaining optimal results from each product.

Sustainable agriculture focuses using agricultural resources with minimum possible negative environmental externality to produce more food. The present study reports the environmental and health risks associated with the use, management and handling of agrochemical in the Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia. Six Woredas (or districts) covering both upstream and downstream areas and major ecosystems were selected. Data were collected using focus group discussion, key informant interviews, field observation and literature review. Pesticide Risks in the Tropics for Man, Environment and Trade tool was used to analyse data. Results indicated that local community’s awareness on use, handling and management of pesticides was low. Applications of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides polluted surface water systems and affected aquatic animals and plants with different level of risk (i.e. from no or insignificant risk to acute and chronic levels). The level of risks of using agrochemical on aquatic animals, human and the environment increased when the agricultural practices changed from good to non-good practices (i.e. increasing frequency of application). The types of agrochemicals determined the levels of risks on aquatic animals, human and the environment. For example, copper hydroxide and Lambda pose high risk, whereas Chlorpyrifos poses possible risk on fish under good agricultural practices. Also, the results indicated that the level of risks of using agrochemicals on fish and aquatic vertebrates was high for few pesticides (e.g. Chlorpyrifos) under both good and bad agricultural practices. The results of the present study support decision makers, practitioners and farmers to put corrective measures when importing agrochemicals, provide targeted risk management schemes including training on safety measures and screen agrochemicals on the market, respectively.

In recent years, farmer-led irrigation development has gained the interest of development partners and governments in the Global South following its success in enhancing agricultural production and livelihoods in South Asia. However, little is known about the socio-economic situation of farmers who receive public support for its expansion. Considering its rapid expansion in sub-Saharan Africa, we take the case of Ethiopia and explore the relationship between irrigation suitability and farmers’ socio-economic status. We find that high-value crop producers and wealthier farmers are most likely to make private investments and also benefit from public support in farmer-led irrigation expansion if investments are directed to land areas highly suitable for irrigation. Cultivation of high-value crops (fruit, vegetables) was common in areas more suitable for irrigation but staple crop cultivation (cereals, legumes) was negatively associated with irrigation suitability. Wealth status (consumption expenditure, asset index, and land size) was also positively correlated with irrigation suitability. A 10 per cent increase in groundwater irrigation suitability score was associated with a 2 per cent increase in per-capita consumption expenditure. Results imply that policies aiming to facilitate farmer-led irrigation development should combine biophysical information on land and water suitability for irrigation with household socio-economic characteristics and existing agricultural systems.

This paper analyses the relationship between cyclical labour migration and agrarian transition in the uplands of Nepal, Ethiopia and Kenya. It shows that while migration decision-making is linked to expanding capitalist markets, it is mediated by local cultural, political and ecological changes. In turn, cyclical migration goes on to shape the trajectory of change within agriculture. The dual dependence on both migrant income and agriculture within these upland communities often translates into an intensifying work burden on the land, and rising profits for capitalism. However, on some occasions this income can support increased productivity and accumulation within agriculture – although this depends on both the agro-ecological context and the local agrarian structure.

The actual accuracy of satellite rainfall products is often unknown due to the limitation of raingauge networks. We evaluated the effect of gauge representativeness error on evaluation of rainfall estimates from the CHIRPS (Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data) rainfall product. The reference data were collected using an experimental raingauge network within a small watershed of 1690 ha, which is comparable to the CHIRPS resolution. The study applied a total bias approach, decomposed into hit, missed and false biases, and an error-variance separation method to evaluate gauge representativeness error at the scale of CHIRPS pixel size, as well as modeled the spatial correlation field of daily rainfall with a three-parametric exponential model. The results indicate that the gauge representativeness error is still too large to ignore in evaluating satellite rainfall. However, it is significantly affected by sample size and caution should be exercised when the rainfall data has a small sample size.

Land degradation is a global challenge that affects lives and livelihoods in many communities. Since 1950, about 65% of Africa’s cropland, on which millions of people depend, has been affected by land degradation caused by mining, poor farming practices and illegal logging. One-quarter of the land area of Ethiopia is severely degraded. As part of interventions to restore ecosystem services, exclosures have been implemented in Ethiopia since the 1980s. But the lack of tools to support prioritization and more efficient targeting of areas for large-scale exclosure-based interventions remains a challenge. Within that perspective, the overarching objectives of the current study were: (i) to develop a Geographic Information System-based multicriteria decision-support tool that would help in the identification of suitable areas for exclosure initiatives; (ii) to provide spatially explicit information, aggregated by river basin and agroecology, on potential areas for exclosure interventions and (iii) to conduct ex-ante analysis of the potential of exclosure areas for improving ecosystem services in terms of increase in above-ground biomass (AGB) production and carbon storage. The results of this study demonstrated that as much as 10% of Ethiopia’s land area is suitable for establishing exclosures. This amounts to 11 million hectares (ha) of land depending on the criteria used to define suitability for exclosure. Of this total, a significant proportion (0.5–0.6 million ha) is currently under agricultural land-use systems. In terms of propriety river basins, we found that the largest amount of suitable area for exclosures falls in the Abay (2.6 million ha) and Tekeze (2.2 million ha) river basins, which are hosts to water infrastructure such as hydropower dams and are threatened by siltation. Ex-ante analysis of ecosystem services indicated that about 418 million tons of carbon can be stored in the AGB through exclosure land use. Ethiopia has voluntarily committed to the Bonn Challenge to restore 15 million ha of degraded land by 2025. The decision-support tool developed by the current study and the information so generated go toward supporting the planning, implementation and monitoring of these kinds of local and regional initiatives.

To tackle the problem of soil erosion and moisture stress, the government of Ethiopia introduced a yearly mass campaign where communities get together and implement various soil and water conservation (SWC) and water harvesting (WH) practices. Although the interventions are believed to have reduced soil erosion/sediment yield and enhanced surface and ground water, quantitative information on the impacts of various options at different scales is scarce. The objective of this study was to assess the impacts different land uses, SWC and WH interventions on water and suspended sediment yield (SSY) at plot and watershed scales in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Standard erosion plot experiments and hydrological stations were used to monitor the daily water and SSY during 2014 to 2017. The results show differences between treatments both at plot and watershed scales. Runoff and soil loss were reduced by an average 27 and 37%, respectively due to SWC practices at the plot level. Overall, SWC practices implemented at the watershed level reduced sediment yield by about 74% (in the year 2014), although the magnitude of sediment reduction due to the SWC interventions reduced over time. At both scales it was observed that as the number of years since SWC measures have been in place increased, their effectiveness declined due to the lack of maintenance. This study also revealed that extrapolating of plot data to watershed scale causes over or under estimation of net erosion.

Study region: The Akaki catchment is found in the Upper Awash River Basin in Ethiopia. Study focus: Understanding the accuracy of rainfall forecasts in the data-scarce urban catchment has a multitude of benefits given the increased urban flood risk caused by climate change and urbanization. In this study, accuracy of the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model rainfall forecast was evaluated using citizen science data. Categorical and continuous accuracy evaluation metrics were used beside gauge representativeness effect. New hydrological insights for the region: The rainfall forecasts performance accuracy is high for 1–3- days lead-time but deteriorates for 4–5-days lead-time. The WRF model captured the temporal dynamics and the rainfall amount according to the estimated KGE values. The model has relatively higher detection performance for no rain and light rain events (lt; 6 mm/day), but it has lower performance for moderate and heavy rain events (gt; 6 mm/day). Use of data from a single rain gauge misrepresents the accuracy level of the rainfall forecast in the study area. The gauge representativeness error contributed a variance of 28.08–83.33 % to the variance of WRF-gauge rainfall difference. Thus, the use of citizen science rainfall monitoring program is an essential alternative source of information where in-situ rainfall monitoring is limited that can be used to understand the “true” accuracy of WRF rainfall forecasts.

Over the last two decades, several data sets have been developed to assess flood risk at the global scale. In recent years, some of these data sets have become detailed enough to be informative at national scales. The use of these data sets nationally could have enormous benefits in areas lacking existing flood risk information and allow better flood management decisions and disaster response. In this study, we evaluate the usefulness of global data for assessing flood risk in five countries: Colombia, England, Ethiopia, India, and Malaysia. National flood risk assessments are carried out for each of the five countries using six data sets of global flood hazard, seven data sets of global population, and three different methods for calculating vulnerability. We also conduct interviews with key water experts in each country to explore what capacity there is to use these global data sets nationally. We find that the data sets differ substantially at the national level, and this is reflected in the national flood risk estimates. While some global data sets could be of significant value for national flood risk management, others are either not detailed enough, or too outdated to be relevant at this scale. For the relevant global data sets to be used most effectively for national flood risk management, a country needs a functioning, institutional framework with capability to support their use and implementation.

Citizen Science can fulfill the quest for high-quality and sufficient environmental data, such as rainfall. However, the factors affecting the quality of rainfall data collected by the citizen scientists are not well understood. In this study, we examined the effect of citizen scientists’ attributes on the quality of rainfall data. For this purpose, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), stepwise regression and Multiple Linear Regressions (MLR) were used. A quality control procedure was developed and applied for daily observed rainfall data collected in the summer rainy season of 2020. Attributes of the citizen scientists’ were gathered for those who collected rainfall data in the urban and peri-urban Akaki catchment which is located in the Upper Awash sub-basin, Ethiopia. We found that easy-to-detect errors, which were identified during the initial stage of quality control, formed most of the errors in the rainfall data. The PCA and the stepwise regression results revealed that four dominant attributes (education level, gauge relative location, use of smartphone app, and supervisor’s travel distance) highly affected the rainfall data quality. The MLR model using these four prominent dominant variables performed very well with R2 value of 0.98. The k-fold cross validation result showed that the developed model can be used to predict the relationships between data quality and attributes of citizen scientists with high accuracy. Hence, the PCA technique, stepwise regression and MLR model can provide useful information regarding the influence of citizen scientists’ attributes on rainfall data quality. Therefore, future studies should carefully consider citizen scientists’ attributes when engaging and supervising citizen scientists, with a comprehensive data quality control while monitoring rainfall.

Water management has followed a basin unit paradigm for several decades. This framing often inherits a pre-defined spatial and institutional boundary of analysis, one that largely fails to account for various externalities influencing water security beyond the hydrological unit. Moving away from this established basin-scale analysis, we present the concept of problemscapes, a systems approach for understanding how multiple physical and social drivers surrounding (and as part of) contextual water systems determine how they work and, ultimately, the outcomes in terms of the water security they provide. By first discussing the concept of boundaries for water paradigms, we argue that problemscapes can help us understand water security as a more dynamic and hybrid system by adapting these boundaries; enabling a clearer understanding of leverage points, interconnections and possible strategic solutions to longer-term water security challenges. We apply the method for establishing and utilizing a problemscape analysis across the Central Rift Valley, Upper Awash, and Abbay basins, as well as the capital city of Addis Ababa. The interactions in this part of Central Ethiopia are notoriously complex, with sets of critical water management issues at national and international scale, hybrid water security challenges across user communities, and contested management at different scales amidst multiple, and sometimes competing, ideologies. We show that problemscaping as an approach could support future planning decisions for long-term water security by enabling a systems perspective to emerge where complexity and connectivity between actors, institutions, and physical and social entities is considered.

Kitchen gardening is considered a way to reconnect with agriculture and complement the cereal-based relief food offered to refugees in East Africa. This work aimed at profiling mineral content of okra in four refugee camps and settlements located in Ethiopia and Uganda and its contribution to adequate intake (AIs) or recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) for young children and pregnant and lactating women (PLW). The study also evaluated the applicability of portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) as compared with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for mineral profiling of okra powder samples. The contents of minerals (mg kg-1) from the ICP-MS readings were in the following ranges: K (14,385–33,294), Ca (2610–14,090), P (3178–13,248), Mg (3896–7986), Cu (3.81–19.3), Fe (75.7–1243), Zn (33–141) and Mn (23.1–261). Regardless of geographic origin, at low-end consumption probability (17 g day-1 for young children and 68 g day-1 for PLW), okra could contribute 15% (2.7–12.9%) AI for macro-minerals (K and Ca). In addition, the contributions to RDA values for Fe and Zn, elements of known public health interest, ranged from 4.5 to 34.7% for young children. Interestingly, regression lines revealed strong agreement between ICP-MS and PXRF readings for Mn and Zn, with R2 valuesgt;0.91. This information is useful in support of nutrition-sensitive kitchen gardening programs through scaling culturally important crops in refugee settings.

Governments in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are keen to expand irrigation to improve food security and are placing particular emphasis on adoption and use of smallholder private groundwater irrigation. Yet private irrigation is a multi-stage technology, the adoption of which is affected by fiscal support and extension services offered on different investment stages but also by uncertainties around actions that need to be undertaken in these stages. Groundwater-based irrigation in Ethiopia presents a case where policy has focused on fiscally easing the purchase of pumps while considerable ambiguity (unquantifiable uncertainty) exists around the outcomes of drilling boreholes (reaching water). In this paper, we examine farmers’ willingness to adopt smallholder private irrigation packages in response to lower pump prices following tax breaks, loan availability, and reduction in ambiguities related to borehole drilling, using a discrete choice experiment (DCE) in two districts of Ethiopia. The results indicate that the provision of loans and reduction in ambiguities related to well drilling have the greatest effect on the probability of farmers adopting irrigation packages. Lowering pump prices has the smallest effect. Pump-type has a small effect, with energized pumps preferred over manual ones. In exploring heterogeneity in preferences, we find that farmers without irrigated plots and those with greater market access have a greater preference for the provision of loans, while those with greater market access also have greater preferences for reductions in well drilling ambiguities. The results of this choice experiment suggest that reducing ambiguities around well drilling (initial investments) is an essential and cost-effective step toward expanding groundwater-based irrigation in Ethiopia.

Reliance on groundwater in Sub-Saharan Africa is growing and expected to rise as surface water resource variability increases under climate change. Major questions remain about how groundwater will be used, and who informs these decisions. We represent different visions of groundwater use by ‘pathways’: politically and environmentally embedded socio-technological regimes for governing and managing groundwater systems. We presented policy actors (9 sets), development and research stakeholders (4 sets), and water users (6 sets) in three river basins in Ethiopia, Niger and Tanzania with information on the social and environmental impacts of six ‘Groundwater Development Pathways’, before gathering their opinions on each, through Multicriteria Mapping (MCM). Participants preferred pathways of low-intensity use, incorporating multiple agricultural, pastoral and domestic purposes, to high-intensity single-use pathways. Water availability and environmental sustainability, including water quality, were central concerns. Participants recognised that all groundwater uses potentially impinge upon one another affecting both the quantity and quality of abstracted water. Across participant groups there was ambiguity about what the most important water use was; each expressed demands for more detailed, certain modelling data. Water users preferred community or municipal-scale management regimes, perceiving that water quality was more likely to be safeguarded by institutions at these levels, whereas policy and development actors preferred individual-scale management, viewed as more efficient in terms of operation and maintenance. We conclude that MCM, combined with more detailed modelling, can provide an effective framework for policy actors to understand other stakeholders’ perspectives on groundwater development futures, enabling equitable, inclusive decision-making and governance.

The Meki catchment in the Central Rift Valley basin of Ethiopia is currently experiencing irrigation expansion and water scarcity challenges. The objective of this study is to understand the basin’s current and future water availability for agricultural intensification. This was done by simulating scenarios through an integrated SWAT-MODFLOW model to assess the water balance. The scenarios were co-developed with communities who expressed their aspirations for agricultural intensification in conjunction with projected climate change. The results show that with the present land use and climate, the catchment is already water stressed and communities cannot meet their irrigation water demand, particularly in the first irrigation season (October–January). However, in the second irrigation season (February–May) water resource availability is better and increasing irrigated area by 50% from the present extent is possible. With a climate change scenario that favours more rainfall and shallow groundwater use, agricultural intensification is feasible to some extent.

Closing the yield gap and enhancing efficiency in rainfed maize production systems in Ethiopia requires urgent action in increasing the productivity of degraded agricultural land. The degradation of land through continuous compaction and decline in the organic matter has resulted in a wide-spread formation of a hardpan that restricts deep percolation, prevents plant root development, and, ultimately can lead to increased erosion. Studies exploring practical low-cost solutions to break the hardpan are limited in Ethiopia. The main objective was to evaluate soil mechanical (i.e. modified plow or Berken plow) or biological intervention (i.e. intercropping with pigeon pea) effectiveness to enhance soil water management and crop yield of rainfed maize systems whilst reducing soil erosion and runoff. Five farm fields, each including four plots with different tillage treatments, were monitored during two rainy seasons in 2016 and 2017. The treatments were: (i) farmers practice under conventional (CT) tillage; plots tilled three times using an oxen driven local plow Maresha, (ii) no-till (NT), (iii) Berken tillage (BT), plots tilled three times using an oxen pulled Berken plow, and (iv) biological (CT + Bio), taprooted pigeon pea intercropped with maize on plots conventionally tilled. Results showed that mean tillage depth was significantly deeper in the BT (28 cm) treatment compared to CT and CT + Bio (18 cm) treatments. Measured soil penetration resistance significantly decreased up to 40 cm depth under BT and maize roots reached 1.5 times deeper compared to roots measured in the CT treatment. Under BT, the estimated water storage in the root zone was estimated at 556 mm, 1.86 times higher compared to CT, 3.11 times higher compared to NT and 0.89 times higher compared to CT + Bio. The positive effects on increased water storage and root development resulted in an average increase in maize grain (i.e. 15%, 0.95 t ha- 1 ) and residual above ground biomass (0.3%, 6.4 t ha- 1 ) leading to a positive net benefit of 138 USD ha- 1 for the BT treatment compared to the CT treatment. The negative net benefit obtained under CT and CT+Bio was mainly related to the high labor cost related to plowing, weeding, planting, and fertilizer application whilst in the NT this was related to the significantly lower maize yields. The positive effects in the BT treatment, and to some extent the CT+Bio treatment show great potential for smallholder rainfed maize systems where degraded soils with hardpans and high variability in rainfall prevail.

Polycentric irrigation water governance allows community institutions to deliver better irrigation services. This study examined the Irrigation Water User Associations (IWUAs) service delivery performance in the Ketar subbasin, Ethiopia, focusing on four irrigation schemes. The irrigation water user associations in the subbasin were measured on their legal registration and financial status, while the four schemes were examined on their bylaw implementation, decision transparency, water allocation, and infrastructure management. Three hundred eleven (311) randomly selected irrigators were surveyed. The study showed that 73 and 21% of the modern and traditional IWUAs in the subbasin are legally registered and collect an average ETB 1200/year/ha which is insignificant for Oamp;M. The four schemesapos; water distribution disparity ranges from 3.5 to 8.4 L/s at farmersapos; plots. 47 and 62% of the respondents depicted their dissatisfaction with the water allocation and satisfaction with IWUAsapos; decision-making transparency, respectively. The study also revealed that the IWUAs are compounded with weak infrastructure management that resulted in substantial water loss ranging from 12 to 49%. Besides, 70% of respondents witnessed a lack of gender-based irrigation incentives for female irrigators. Improving these services makes the polycentric irrigation water governance play an exponential beneficial role in alleviating the consequence of unregulated water use.

Degradation of crop and grazing lands is a pervasive problem that negatively impacts agricultural productivity and livelihoods of crop-livestock farmers in the Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia. Area enclosure together with a cut and carry livestock feeding system is often advocated as an approach for the regeneration of degraded grazing lands. This paper reports the results of a two-year farmer participatory study conducted to assess the effects of infiltration trenches (ITs) and Chloris gayana Kunth (Rhodes grass; cultivar Masaba; tetraploid; C4 grass species) reseeding on restoration of degraded grazing lands. A split plot design was used with IT as the main plot and C. gayana reseeding as a sub-plot on 28 private grazing plots under enclosure. The results showed that IT alone increased soil moisture content and prolonged the growing period. IT and C. gayana reseeding together significantly (P = 0.05) increased herbage dry matter yield and improved soil chemical properties. The highest mean herbage dry matter yield (21 Mg ha-1 per cut) was recorded for plots treated with IT and reseeded with C. gayana. The higher herbage dry matter yield was attributed to increased soil moisture and the resultant prolonged growing period induced by the trenches coupled with the ability of C. gayana to effectively utilize the retained water. The results suggest that an integrated land management approach involving enclosure, in-situ water conservation and C. gayana reseeding can rapidly increase biomass productivity on degraded grazing lands while also enhancing soil quality with concomitant livelihood benefits for farmers.

Drought-related risk is among the major global challenges of our time. It negatively impacts food security and ecosystem health. It is becoming a persistent problem in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa and specifically in Ethiopia. Information on its intensity and spatiotemporal distribution is critical to contextualize interventions and build agroecosystem and community resilience. This study aims at analyzing spatiotemporal characteristics of meteorological drought over eight Agroecological Zones (AEZs) of the Awash Basin, Ethiopia. Annual gridded temperature and precipitation dataset obtained from the National Meteorological Agency of Ethiopia for the period 1983–2016, covering 1655 grid points, were used. The study applied the Standard Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) methods to characterize the meteorological droughts. The study applied Arc GIS 10.5 to map the drought hotspots. From the result, the value of SPEI and SPI methods was divergent in characterizing the magnitude and spatial occurrence of drought episodes. SPEI has more advantages in detecting dry months and a small advantage in detecting dry seasons compared to the SPI. Temporally, wet and dry years dominated the 1990s and 2010s, respectively. Drought dominated 1980s and normal years dominated the 2000s. The spatial context of drought hotspot showed that AEZs in the upper and lower parts of the Awash Basin were hit by severe to extreme drought while the escarpments and middle parts of the basin experienced mild to moderate drought. This contrasts with the common perception that the hot to warm arid lowlands AEZs are the only hotspot areas to drought. Moreover, previously none frequent drought AEZs, such as tepid to cool humid mid-highlands were identified as drought hotspots in the basin. This information could help policymakers to target AEZs and implement context-specific and informed drought risk management decisions and adaptation measures.

CONTEXT: On-farm water application in Ethiopia, as in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, is dominated by furrow irrigation, which resulted in inefficient water uses and related economic and environmental problems. A recent project introduced two on-farm water management tools, called wetting front detectors and Chameleon sensors, to some farmers in Koga irrigation scheme and facilitated for other farmers in the quaternary canal, who did not receive the technology, to learn from farmers who installed the tools on their plots. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to investigate the role of different social ties on information exchanges among farmers when some farmers have the signal on how long to irrigate a field during an irrigation event from on-farm water management tools. The study explored the relative importance of being neighbors, friends, spatial proximity of farms, and project induced pairings. METHODS: The study used a household survey data from all members of quaternary canals in the project that were in the technology, information, and control groups, as well as detailed network modules on how farmers with plots in the quaternary canal are associated with each other. A fixed effects econometric approach is used to control for time invariant household level and quaternary canal characteristics, while teasing out how the different social ties affect the information flow. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The results show that being in purposeful friendships as indicated by knowing each other’s decision on the use of agricultural inputs and its outcome, as well as being spatially proximate as indicated by having farm plots next to each other or usually passing by each other’s plots play a significant role in determining whether information-recipient farmers received information from the technology-recipient farmers as expected. Being relatives or neighbors played a minor role to facilitate information exchanges on how long to irrigate. In addition, ad-hoc pairs of farmers between technology-recipient and information-recipient created through the project within the quaternary canal did not play a significant role above and beyond the existing social ties of friendships and spatial proximity. SIGNIFICANCE: The findings have implications for effective ways of targeting in future scale up of such technologies as it informs that the roll out of such type of technologies and the extension services around it can better help technology diffusion and learning if they use friends and spatial proximates as anchors of information. That is, at times of over-subscription to such on-farm water management tools, information about the technology and the recommended duration of one irrigation turn can diffuse faster if the limited number of tools are distributed in such a way that friends and spatial proximates have access to a tool, rather than distributing the tools based on being neighbors or relatives.

Africa emits the lowest amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the global GHG budget. However, the continent remains the most vulnerable continent to the effects of climate change. The agricultural sector in Africa is among the most vulnerable sectors to climate change. Also, as a dominant agricultural sector, African agriculture is increasingly contributing to climate change through GHG emissions. Research has so far focused on the effects of GHG emissions on the agricultural and other sectors with very little emphasis on monitoring and quantifying the spatial distribution of GHG emissions from agricultural land in Africa. This study develops a new index: African Agricultural Land Greenhouse Gas Index (AALGGI) that uses scores and specific scale ranges for carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) to map the spatial variations in regional GHG emissions across Africa. The data for the three main GHGs (CO2, CH4, and N20) were downloaded from FAOSTAT. The data were analyzed through the newly developed African Agricultural Land Greenhouse Gas Index (AALGGI). This is an empirical index with scores ranging from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating higher levels of emissions. The results show that Southern and North African regions have the lowest amounts of agricultural land GHG emissions, with AALGGIs of 3.5 and 4.5, respectively. East Africa records the highest levels of GHG emissions, with an AALGGI of 8 followed by West Africa with an AALGGI of 7.5. With the continental mean or baseline AALGGI being 5.8, East and Middle Africa are above the mean AALGGI. These results underscore the fact that though Africa, in general, is not a heavy emitter of GHGs, African agricultural lands are increasingly emitting more GHGs into the global GHG budget. The low AALGGIs in the more developed parts of Africa such as Southern and North Africa are explained by their domination in other GHG emitting sectors such as industrialization and energy. The high rates of emissions in East Africa and Middle Africa are mainly linked to intensive traditional farming practices/processes and deforestation. These findings underscore the need to further leverage climate change mitigation actions and policy in Africa and most importantly the co-benefits of mitigation and adaptations in the most vulnerable regions.

Credit constraint is often considered as one of the key barriers to the adoption of modern agricultural technologies and low agricultural productivity in low- and middle-income countries. Past research and much of the policy discourse associate agricultural credit constraints with supply-side factors, such as limited access to credit sources or high costs of borrowing. However, demand-side factors, such as risk-aversion and financial illiteracy among borrowers could also affect credit-rationing of smallholder agricultural households. This study investigates the nature of credit constraints, factors affecting credit constraint status, and the effects of credit constraints on adoption and intensity of use of three modern agricultural technologies – small-scale irrigation, chemical fertilizer, and improved seeds. The paper also assesses whether credit constraints are gender-differentiated. Primary survey data were collected from sample farmers in Ethiopia and Tanzania, and Tobit and two-step hurdle econometric models were used to analyze these data. Results show that demand-side credit constraints are as important as supply-side factors in conditioning smallholders’ access to credit in both countries. We also find that credit is a binding constraint for the decision to adopt technologies and input use intensity in Tanzania but not statistically significant in Ethiopia. Results suggest that women are more likely to be credit constrained (from both the supply and demand sides) than men in both study countries. Based on these findings, we suggest that policies should focus on addressing both supply- and demand-side credit constraints to credit access, including through targeted interventions to reduce risk, such as crop insurance, and to strengthen the gender sensitivity of credit policies.

Adoption of climate smart agricultural (CSA) practices has been widely recognized as a promising and successful alternative to minimize the adverse impacts of climate change. However, their adoption among smallholder farmers remains low in developing countries, including Ethiopia. This study examines factors that influence adoption and the level of adoption of multiple CSA practices, including improved agronomy, soil and water conservation, drought tolerant high yielding crop variety, small-scale irrigation, integrated disease, pest, and weed management, and integrated soil fertility management, using survey data from 404 farm households in BaleEco Region (BER), Ethiopia. The study applied a multivariate probit model for analyzing the simultaneous adoptions of multiple CSA practices, and ordered probit model for examining the factors influencing the level of adoption. The CSA practices are found to be complementary. Moreover, farmersapos; adoption of multiple CSA practices, as well as their intensity of adoption, is significantly influenced by the age of the household head, education, land size, household total asset value, frequency of extension contacts, farmer awareness of climate change, farmer experience with climatic shocks, parcel fertility, slope, and severity of soil erosion. The studyapos;s findings suggest that agricultural policy makers and implementers of CSA should recognize the complementarity among CSA practices in order to intensify their adoption among BER farmers and disseminate CSA practices in other parts of the country. Moreover, policymakers should consider household socio-economic, institutional, and parcel-specific factors that positively influence CSA adoption.

The Sentinel-1 SAR dataset provides the opportunity to monitor floods at unprecedentedly high spatial and temporal resolutions. However, the accuracy of the flood maps can be affected by the image polarization, the flood detection method used, and the reference data. This research compared change detection and histogram thresholding methods using co-polarization (VV) and cross-polarization (VH) images for flood mapping in the Akaki catchment, Ethiopia, where Addis Ababa city is located. Reference data for the accuracy assessment were collected on the satellite overpass date. A new method, Root of Normalized Image Difference (RNID), has been developed for change detection. Multi-temporal flood maps using the best performing method and image polarization were generated from April to November of 2017–2020. Better accuracy was observed when using the RNID method on the VH polarization image with an overall accuracy of 95% and a kappa coefficient of 0.86. Results showed that flooding in the Akaki commonly begins in May and recedes in November, but flooding was most frequent and widespread from June to September. Irrigated land and built-up area accounted for 1057 ha and 544 ha of the inundated area, respectively. Several major roads in the study area were also affected by the floods during this period. Our findings indicate that the S-1 images were very useful for flood inundation mapping, the new change detection method (RNID) performed better in urban and peri-urban flood mapping, but the accuracy of the flood map significantly varied with the flood detection method and the image polarization.

This study assesses bias error of rainfall from climate models and related error propagation effects to simulated streamflow in the Gidabo sub-basin, Ethiopia. Rainfall is obtained from a combination of four global and regional climate models (GCM-RCMs), and streamflow is simulated by means of the Hydrologiska Byrns Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV-96) rainfall-runoff model. Five bias correction methods were tested to reduce the rainfall bias. To assess the effects of rainfall bias error propagation, percent bias (PBIAS), difference in coefficient of variation (CV), and 10th and 90th percentile indicators were applied. Findings indicate that the bias of the uncorrected rainfall caused large errors in simulated streamflow. All five bias correction methods improved the HBV-96 model performance in terms of capturing the observed streamflow. Overall, the findings of this study indicate that the magnitude of the error propagation varies subject to the selected performance indicator, bias correction method and climate model.

Multistakeholder platforms (MSPs) are the subject of increasing attention and investment in the domain of collaborative natural resource governance, yet evidence-based guidance is slim on policy and investment priorities to leverage the MSP approach. We provide a comparative analysis of eight landscape-level MSPs spanning seven countries (Peru, Brazil, India, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and a cross-border case from Kenya and Somalia), representing a diversity of resource systems covering forests, rangelands, and multiuse agricultural landscapes. Applying an adapted social-ecological systems framework, our synthesis identifies the influence of these MSPs on patterns of stakeholder interaction and draws implications for the design and organization of MSPs that are both appropriate and effective. From the cases, we distill lessons addressing: (1) how to design an MSP in relation to the governance context, including the fit between institutional and ecological dimensions of the system and with attention to cross-scale linkages; (2) how to implement inclusive processes that address power inequities, including through capacity building and procedural rules; and (3) how to support adaptive learning to expand the MSP’s influence over time, including monitoring outcomes, adapting the scope of stakeholder engagement, and investing in MSP durability.

Climate change impact studies that evaluated the biases of climate models’ simulations showed the presence of large systematic errors in their outputs. However, many studies continue to arbitrarily select bias correction methods for error reduction. This work evaluated the implications of bias correction methods on the projections of climate change impact on streamflow of the Gidabo sub-basin, Ethiopia. Climate outputs from four global climate model and regional climate model (GCM–RCM) combinations for the representative concentration pathway (RCP4.5) scenario were used. Five bias correction methods were used to reduce the systematic errors of the simulated rainfall data. The future changes in rainfall pattern, evapotranspiration, and streamflow were analyzed by using their relative percentage difference between the projected and the baseline period. The distribution mapping method provided better results in mean and extreme rainfall cases. This is also reflected in streamflow projections, as the daily interquartile range value indicates the lowest variability of the projected streamflow. The wet season streamflow will likely decrease in the future, whereas the short rainy season streamflow will increase. Our findings show that climate models and bias correction methods considerably limit the magnitude of future projections of streamflow. However, similar research should be conducted in other catchments to extend the conclusions of this study.

This study investigated the potential of using locally available municipal solid wastes (MSW) (such as food wastes from restaurants, charcoal dust, coconut husk and shell, and sawdust) as feedstock to produce noncarbonized fuel briquettes. A low-cost briquetting machine sourced from Alfaster Industries in Kenya served to demonstrate the concept. Using decomposed food waste resulted in briquettes with higher bulk density (+4%), greater net calorific value (+18%) and lower burning rate (-24%), compared to the use of regular food waste. There was no significant difference in ash content from the two briquette types. The results also indicate that decomposing food waste and mixing it with tree-based raw materials such as coconut waste, charcoal waste or sawdust improves the quality of briquettes, and enhances the temperatures achieved during combustion. This recycling solution has the potential to serve multiple benefits in MSW management for sustainable cities while reducing rural land degradation and deforestation.

Producing more food for a growing population requires sustainable crop intensification and diversification, particularly in high-potential areas such as the seasonal floodplain wetlands of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). With emerging water shortages and concerns for conserving these multi-functional wetlands, a further expansion of the cropland area must be avoided as it would entail increased use of blue water for irrigation and infringe on valuable protected areas. We advocate an efficient use of the prevailing green water on the existing cropland areas, where small-scale farmers grow a single crop of rainfed lowland rice during the wet season. However, soil moisture at the onset of the rains (pre-rice niche) and residual soil moisture after rice harvest (post-rice niche) may suffice to cultivate short-cycled crops. We developed a methodological approach to analyze the potential for green water cultivation in the pre- and post-rice niches in the Kilombero Valley Floodplain in Tanzania, as a representative case for seasonal floodplain wetlands in SSA. The three-step approach used open-access remote sensing datasets to: (i) extract cropland areas; (ii) analyze soil moisture conditions using evaporative stress indices to identify the pre- and post-rice niches; and (iii) quantify the green water availability in the identified niches through actual evapotranspiration (AET). We identified distinct patterns of green water being available both before and after the rice-growing period. Based on the analyses of evaporative stress indices, the pre-rice niche tends to be longer (~70 days with average AET of 20–40 mm/10-day) but also more variable (inter-annual variability gt;30%) than the post-rice niche (~65 days with average AET of 10–30 mm/10-day, inter-annual variability lt;15%). These findings show the large potential for cultivating short-cycled crops beyond the rice-growing period, such as green manure, vegetables, maize, and forage legumes, by shifting a portion of the nonproductive AET flows (i.e., soil evaporation) to productive flows in form of crop transpiration. A cropland area of 1452 to 1637 km2 (53–60% of the total cropland area identified of 2730 km2) could be cultivated using available green water in the dry season, which shows the significance of such change for food security, livelihoods, and resilience of the agricultural community in Kilombero. A wider application of the developed approach in this study can help identifying opportunities and guiding interventions and investments towards establishing sustainable intensification and diversification practices in floodplain wetlands in SSA.

Groundwater for Sustainable Livelihoods and Equitable Growth explores how groundwater, often invisibly, improves peoples’ lives and livelihoods. This unique collection of 19 studies captures experiences of groundwater making a difference in 16 countries in Africa, South America and Asia. Such studies are rarely documented and this book provides a rich new collection of interdisciplinary analysis. The book is published in colour and includes many original diagrams and photographs. Spring water, wells or boreholes have provided safe drinking water and reliable water for irrigation or industry for millennia. However, the hidden nature of groundwater often means that it’s important role both historically and in the present is overlooked. This collection helps fill this knowledge gap, providing a diverse set of new studies encompassing different perspectives and geographies. Different interdisciplinary methodologies are described that can help understand linkages between groundwater, livelihoods and growth, and how these links can be threatened by over-use, contamination, and ignorance. Written for a worldwide audience of practitioners, academics and students with backgrounds in geology, engineering or environmental sciences; Groundwater for Sustainable Livelihoods and Equitable Growth is essential reading for those involved in groundwater and international development.

Over the past decade, the water, energy, and food (WEF) nexus approach has evolved to become a focus of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) development strategies. However, a lack of empirical evidence, appropriate methods, and qualitative and quantitative tools to implement the WEF nexus approach has been highlighted. This chapter describes the application of the WEF nexus approach in the Songwe River Basin (SRB) located on the border between Malawi and Tanzania as a demonstration of how this lack of evidence and tools is starting to be addressed. The basin is currently facing rapid population growth, which is leading to a considerable increase in resource demand and environmental issues and has been identified as a priority basin for SADC. The SRB Development Programme (SRBDP) includes several projects that collectively aim to improve the environmental and socioeconomic status of the basin. The integrated approach proposed to assess the SRBDPapos;s expected outcomes through a WEF nexus lens is based on the development and application of qualitative and quantitative tools that support decision-makers to assess feasible sustainable development pathways in the basin, and more broadly in the SADC region. This chapter focuses on the qualitative analysis of the WEF nexus system and explains the process of identifying the major sectors and subsectors involved in the SRBDP, the main interlinkages between them, and potential synergies and trade-offs assessing how decisions made in a sector may influence others. The qualitative analysis of the SRB shows that although the projects included in the SRBDP are expected to have positive impacts on the environment and the socioeconomic system of the basin, downsides that may have an impact on human and ecosystem health are also possible. Early identification of such issues can help to limit detrimental impacts in the future. In the analysis, potential Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), objectives, and indicators that may be addressed in the SRB are identified, highlighting the importance of applying the holistic approach to enhance and boost the achievement of SDGs in the basin.

Fixing and implementing water charges in the irrigation sector is considered an important task for recovering operation and maintenance costs and promoting the efficient use of water. This study aims at developing an implementation strategy for water charges in the Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia. The study sets the agenda for this strategy by explaining why promoting the concept of fixing irrigation charges is necessary. Then it develops a conceptual framework, draws key lessons from global experiences, explores whether the new pricing policy is well aligned with national water policies and the roles and responsibilities of various actors and stakeholders involved, and identifies the factors for the successful implementation of this strategy. The study is mainly qualitative in nature, based on a review of the literature and consultations of key stakeholders. The study results call for clearly defining the key objectives of the policy, political commitment, and community participation, re-examining the role of institutions, capacity building, and establishing a multistakeholder platform. Basin-level implementation of this policy requires piloting and maintaining policy dynamics through adaptive management. The results provide generic lessons for other basins within Ethiopia and for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

This working paper was prepared under a research project from the Future Leaders – African Independent Research (FLAIR) fellowship programme – focusing on understanding hydrological changes in the Lake Tana sub-basin, Ethiopia, due to water abstraction, land use and climate change. FLAIR is funded by the UK government’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) through The Royal Society, UK. The study was jointly conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and staff of the Abbay Basin Development Office (ABDO). The paper provides information on the deterioration of streamflow data quality in the sub-basin. It demonstrates how to support the sub-basin by generating primary data and compiling current water abstraction data that are relevant for development planning. The project showed the possibility of conducting such activities with limited financial resources and time constraints but with strong collaboration. This work also demonstrated the need for a data alliance among stakeholders in the sub-basin.

The use of polluted water to irrigate is an increasing problem in the developing world. Lebanon is a case in point, with heavily polluted irrigation waters, particularly in the Litani River Basin. This study evaluated the potential health risks of irrigating vegetables (radishes, parsley, onions, and lettuce) using three water sources (groundwater, river water, and treated wastewater) and three irrigation methods (drip, sprinkler, and surface) over two growing seasons in 2019 and 2020. Water, crop, and soil samples were analyzed for physicochemical parameters, pathogens, and metals (Cu, Cd, Ni, Cr, and Zn). In addition, the bioaccumulation factor, estimated dietary intakes, health risk index, and target hazard quotients were calculated to assess the health risk associated with metal contamination. The study showed that, for water with less than 2 log E. coli CFU/100 mL, no pathogens (Escherichia coli, salmonella, parasite eggs) were detected in irrigated vegetables, irrespective of the irrigation method. With over 2 log E. coli CFU/100 mL in the water, 8.33% of the sprinkler-and surface-irrigated vegetables, and 2.78% of the drip-irrigated root crops (radishes and onions), showed some degree of parasitic contamination. E. coli appeared only on root crops when irrigated with water having over 3 log CFU/100 mL. The concentrations of most metals were significantly lower than the safe limits of the FAO/WHO of the Food Standards Programme Codex, except for zinc and chromium. The trends in the bioaccumulation factor and the estimated dietary intakes of metals were in the order of Cu lt; Cd lt; Ni lt; Cr lt; Zn. The target hazard quotient values for all metals were lower than 1.0. Under trial conditions, the adoption of drip irrigation with water with less than 3 log E. coli CFU/100 mL proved to be safe, even for vegetables consumed raw, except for root crops such as onions and radishes that should not be irrigated with water having over 2 log E. coli CFU/100 mL. Treated wastewater had no adverse effect on vegetable quality compared to vegetables irrigated with other water sources. These results support efforts to update the Lebanese standards for water reuse in agriculture; standards proposed in 2011 by the FAO, and currently being reviewed by the Lebanese Institution of Standards. This research will inform a sustainable water management policy aimed at protecting the Litani River watershed by monitoring water quality.

Agriculture in Africa is adversely affected by the loss of soil fertility. Conservation agriculture (CA) was introduced to curb the loss of soil fertility and water shortages and improve crop productivity. However, information on how CA practices enhance soil quality and nutrients is scarce in the sub-Saharan Africa context. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of CA and conventional tillage (CT) on soil organic matter and nutrients under irrigated and rainfed vegetable on-farm production systems. During the dry and wet monsoon phases in the northern Ethiopian Highlands, a four-year experiment with CA and CT was carried out on ten vegetable farms under rainfed and irrigated conditions. Although the increase in concentration of organic matter in CA was generally slightly greater than in CT, the difference was not significant. The average organic matter content in the top 30 cm for both treatments increased significantly by 0.5% a-1 from 3% to almost 5%. The increase was not significant for the 30–60 cm depth. The total nitrogen and available phosphorus concentrations increased proportionally to the organic matter content. Consequently, the extended growing season, applying fertilizers and livestock manure, and not removing the crop residue increased the nutrient content in both CA and CT. The increase in CA was slightly greater because the soil was not tilled, and hay was applied as a surface cover. Although CA increased soil fertility, widespread adoption will depend on socioeconomic factors that determine hay availability as a soil cover relative to other competitive uses.

July-September rainfall is a key component of Ethiopia’s annual rainfall and is a source of rainfall variability throughout inland Greater Horn of Africa. In this study we investigate the relative influences of the Mascarene (MH) and South Atlantic (AH) highs on July-September rainfall in a covarying region of the Greater Horn of Africa using CHIRPS observed rainfall and the ERA5 reanalysis. We show that a mixed metric using the circulation at 850 hPa of these two subtropical anticyclones (AH-MH), is better correlated with rainfall than individual high circulations. Variations in remote circulation are translated by changes in Central African westerlies and Turkana Jet wind speeds. We apply the AH-MH mixed metric to the CMIP5 and CMIP6 ensembles and show that it is a good indicator of mean July-September rainfall across both ensembles. Biases in circulation are shown to be related to the Hadley circulation in CMIP5 atmosphere-only simulations, while causes of biases in CMIP6 are more varied. Coupled model biases are related to southern ocean warm biases in CMIP5 and western Indian Ocean warm biases in CMIP6. CMIP6 shows an improved relationship between rainfall and Turkana Jet winds and Central African westerlies across the ensemble.

Investments in land management practices, such as stone and soil bunds, are a key strategy to recover degraded lands in Ethiopia. However, the benefits of these practices in relation to ecosystem services are not properly assessed and documented. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the benefits of land management practices in relation to provisioning, supporting and regulating ecosystem services. The study was conducted in four watersheds with selected indicators of provisioning, supporting and regulating ecosystem service. Generally, the results show that provisioning services (e.g. yield of crops), regulating services (e.g. organic matter accumulation) and supporting services (e.g. soil nutrient content) were improved with age of stone and soil bunds except in Jawe-gumbura watershed. Accordingly, in Alekit-wonz watershed, the grain yield of barley recorded from 4-year-old stone bunds was higher than the yield recorded from 2-year old soil bund. Similarly, in Borodo watershed, the grain yield of wheat from 5-year-old soil bunds was higher than the yield obtained from the control treatment. The results also showed that highest regulating and supporting ecosystem services were recorded in the accumulation zones in all watersheds compared with erosion zone. Similarly, the highest provisioning services were recorded at the accumulation zone in all watersheds. This shows that land management practices are effective to improve supporting, regulating and provisioning ecosystem services. Hence, more investments in land management are needed to enhance ecosystem services from degraded lands of Ethiopia.

Poor availability and accuracy of streamflow data constrains research and operational hydrology. We evaluated the status of forty streamflow stations and data quality in the Omo-Gibe basin, Ethiopia. The method included a 3-week field inspection of the stations. Inspection of stations followed common WMO guidelines for appropriate gauging sites. Feedback of observers was collected, and the streamflow data was analyzed. Most of the stations were installed on rivers at headwater catchments. Only 17% of the stations were fully operational whereas the remaining stations require major maintenance. Common problems of the time series data include short observation period, large number of missing records, and inhomogeneity. Nearly all observers expressed dissatisfaction due to lack of supervision, uncertain salary payments and lack of recognition of their contribution. The findings of this study indicate the need to investigate the institutional barriers that affected the homogeneity, completeness, and timeliness of the stream data.

In Addis Ababa and its environs, most urban wastewater is discharged into rivers without treatment. This study related urban wastewater characteristics to the prevalence of faecal, antibiotic resistant, and potentially pathogenic bacteria in rivers of the Akaki catchment across six locations, for the dry and wet season. Spatiotemporal variation in bacterial hazards across the catchment was up to 6 log10 units. Cooccurrence of sewage pollution marker gene HF183 in all river samples testing positive for the Vibrio cholerae marker gene ompW, and high levels of these two genes in untreated wastewater, identified human sewage as the likely source of Vibrio cholerae hazards in the catchment. Levels of the marker genes rodA for E. coli, HF183 for human host associated Bacteroides, ciaB for Arcobacter, and ompW for Vibrio cholerae were all higher in the dry season than in the wet season. Marker gene gyrB for Pseudomonas aeruginosa was not detected in the samples. From the sequencing data, notable bacterial genera in the dry season included wastewater pollution indicators Arcobacter and Aeromonas, whereas soil erosion may explain the greater prominence of Legionella, Vicinamibacter, and Sphingomonas during the wet season. Except for the most upstream location, all faecal coliform (FC) counts exceeded WHO standards of 1000 CFU/100 mL for unrestricted irrigation. Concerningly, 0.6–20% of FC had ESBL producing antimicrobial resistance traits. In conclusion, multiple bacterial hazards were of concern for river water users in the Akaki catchment, and elevated in the dry season, when the river water is being used for irrigation of vegetable fields that supply the markets of Addis Ababa. This reflects inadequate treatment and limited dilution of urban wastewater by the natural river flows during periods of low rainfall.

UAV-based multispectral vegetation indices are often used to assess crop performance and water consumptive use. However, their ability to assess the interaction between water, especially deficit irrigation, and nitrogen application rates in irrigated agriculture has been less explored. Understanding the effect of water-nitrogen interactions on vegetation indices could further support optimal water and N management. Therefore, this study used a split plot design with water being the main factor and N being the sub-factor. African eggplants were drip irrigated at 100% (I100), 80% (I80) or 60% (I60) of the crop water requirements and received 100% (F100), 75% (F75), 50% (F50) or 0% (F0) of the crop N requirements. Results showed that the transformed difference vegetation index (TDVI) was best in distinguishing differences in leaf moisture content (LMC) during the vegetative stage irrespective of the N treatment. The green normalized difference vegetation index (GNDVI) worked well to distinguish leaf N during vegetative and full vegetative stages. However, the detection of the interactive effect of water and N on crop performance required a combination of GNDVI, NDVI and OSAVI across both stages as each of these 3 VI showed an ability to detect some but not all treatments. The fact that a certain amount of irrigation water can optimize the efficiency of N uptake by the plant is an important criterion to consider in developing crop specific VI based decision trees for crop performance assessments and yield prediction.

This paper follows the transition from ethnobotany to a deeper scientific understanding of the food and medicinal properties of African agroforestry tree products as inputs into the start of domestication activities. It progresses on to the integration of these indigenous trees as new crops within diversified farming systems for multiple social, economic and environmental benefits. From its advent in the 1990s, the domestication of indigenous food and non-food tree species has become a global programme with a strong African focus. This review of progress in the third decade is restricted to progress in Africa, where multi-disciplinary research on over 59 species has been reported in 759 research papers in 318 science publications by scientists from over 833 research teams in 70 countries around the world (532 in Africa). The review spans 23 research topics presenting the recent research literature for tree species of high priority across the continent, as well as that in each of the four main ecological regions: the humid zone of West and Central Africa; the Sahel and North Africa; the East African highlands and drylands; and the woody savannas of Southern Africa. The main areas of growth have been the nutritional/medicinal value of non-timber forest products; the evaluation of the state of natural resources and their importance to local people; and the characterization of useful traits. However, the testing of putative cultivars; the implementation of participatory principles; the protection of traditional knowledge and intellectual property rights; and the selection of elite trees and ideotypes remain under-researched. To the probable detriment of the upscaling and impact in tropical agriculture, there has been, at the international level, a move away from decentralized, community-based tree domestication towards a laboratory-based, centralized approach. However, the rapid uptake of research by university departments and national agricultural research centres in Africa indicates a recognition of the importance of the indigenous crops for both the livelihoods of rural communities and the revitalization and enhanced outputs from agriculture in Africa, especially in West Africa. Thus, on a continental scale, there has been an uptake of research with policy relevance for the integration of indigenous trees in agroecosystems and their importance for the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. To progress this in the fourth decade, there will need to be a dedicated Centre in Africa to test and develop cultivars of indigenous crops. Finally, this review underpins a holistic approach to mitigating climate change, as well as other big global issues such as hunger, poverty and loss of wildlife habitat by reaping the benefits, or ‘profits’, from investment in the five forms of Capital, described as ‘land maxing’. However, policy and decision makers are not yet recognizing the potential for holistic and transformational adoption of these new in

A large proportion of the rural population in Ethiopia depends on community-managed forests for food security and livelihoods. However, the government and development partners have paid little attention to the governance challenges which limit the contributions of community-managed forests to food security and livelihoods. Also lacking is a synthesis of evidence relating to the requirements for improved governance to support the efforts of decision makers and practitioners. This paper attempts to review and synthesize the available evidence with the aim of identifying the requirements to achieve improved governance in community-managed forests. The results revealed that failure to devise benefit-sharing mechanisms which consider the heterogeneity of rural communities was prevalent. Interference of local authorities and elite capture in decision-making processes of forest and landscape restoration also compromised the willingness of rural communities to engage in collective action. Requirements such as the identification of the needs of specific categories of communities and enabling of the negotiation of diverse interests in the design and implementation of interventions could improve the governance of community-managed forests. Developing management plans and business model scenarios which balance the ecological and socio-economic goals at a local level in collaboration with rural communities is important to improve the governance of community-managed forests. There is also a need to revisit the practice of evaluating the performance of community-managed forests almost exclusively based on the goals of climate change adaptation and mitigation and biodiversity conservation.

Community-led watershed development activities, including the establishment of exclosures (areas where both livestock and farming activities are excluded) on degraded communal grazing land, have become a common practice in Ethiopia since the 1990s. However, it is not yet fully understood how these exclosures change soil organic carbon and total soil nitrogen in different soil types and under different agroecologies. A meta-analysis using data gathered from the most relevant peer reviewed articles from Ethiopian exclosure systems was conducted to assess the variation in the effects of exclosures on soil carbon and nitrogen and to investigate the factors controlling change. The results demonstrate that after 16 years, exclosures can increase soil organic carbon and total soil nitrogen up to an effect size greater than two. This is moderated by soil type, exclosure age, landscape position and agroecology. More effective restoration of soil carbon was observed in less developed Leptosols and Cambisols than in more developed Luvisols, and in drier than more humid agroecologies. The results suggest that soil type and agroecology should be taken into consideration when planning and implementing exclosures on degraded communal grazing land. The findings of this study provide base line information for the future expansion of exclosures, and guide where to focus implementation. They also provide criteria to be used when planning and establishing exclosures to restore soil carbon and nitrogen. In addition, the results generated through this meta-analysis provide better understanding of the spatial and temporal variation of the effectiveness of exclosures to restore soil carbon and nitrogen.

Study region: Robit-Bata watershed, Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. Study focus: Stable isotopes of water (Oxygen-18 and Deuterium) were used as tracers to estimate the contribution of groundwater in shallow hillslope aquifers to streamflow in the Robit-Bata watershed. To assess the spatiotemporal variability of shallow groundwater and develop a hydrograph separation technique, we collected rainfall, shallow groundwater, and streamflow samples and analyzed their d18O and d2 H isotopic compositions. The local meteoric water line (LMWL) and local evaporative line (LEL) of the study area were determined and compared with the global meteoric water line (GMWL). A standard unweighted two-component isotope-based hydrograph separation model was used to determine the percentage contribution of shallow groundwater to streamflow. New hydrological insights for the region: The LMWL (d2 H = 8.63d18O + 18.2) mostly showed heavy isotopic enrichment relative to GMWL, and the LEL (d2 H = 5.45d18O + 6.96) indicated isotopic enrichment compared to Ethiopian lakes. Shallow groundwater responded rapidly to rainfall, with good spatial correlation depending on topographic positions of wells. Pre-event water contributed 90% when the watershed reached maximum storage. This finding gives insight towards the predominant runoff generation process and has significant implications for sustainable dry season irrigation expansion in the area as the sub-surface flow drains out of the watershed from October onwards reducing water tables in the shallow wells.

Assessing the magnitude of smallholder farmers’ livelihood vulnerability to drought is an initial step in identifying the causal factors and proposing interventions that mitigate the impacts of drought. This study aimed to assess smallholders’ livelihood vulnerability to the drought in the upper Awash sub-basin, Ethiopia. Household (HH) and climate data were used for indicators related to sensitivity, exposure, and adaptive capacity that define vulnerability to drought. The vulnerability of farmers’ livelihood to drought was compared among the studies agroecological zone (AEZ) and farm typologies. The result illustrated a diverse magnitude of vulnerability index (VI) ranging from -1.956 to -4.253 for AEZ. The highest magnitude of VI was estimated for livelihood in the lowland AEZ, while the lowest magnitude of VI was estimated in midland AEZ. This could be accounted for by the fact that lowland farmers shown the highest exposure (0.432) and sensitivity (0.420) and the lowest adaptive capacity (0.288). A closer look at farmers’ livelihood typology, in each of the AEZ, showed substantial diversity of farmers’ livelihood vulnerability to drought, implying potential aggregations at AEZ. Accordingly, the vulnerability index for livestock and on-farm-income-based livelihood and marginal and off-farm-income-based livelihood typologies were higher than the intensive-irrigation-farming-based smallholders’ livelihood typology. Based on the result, we concluded that procedures for smallholders’ livelihood resilience-building efforts should better target AEZ to prioritize the focus region and farmers’ livelihood typology to tailor technologies to farms. Although the result emphasizes the importance of irrigation-based livelihood strategy, the overall enhancement of farmers adaptive capacity needs to focus on action areas such as reducing the sensitivity and exposure of the households, improving farmers usage of technologies, diversify farmers’ livelihood options, and, hence, long-term wealth accumulation to strengthen farmers’ adaptive capacity toward drought impacts.

Understanding the different perceptions of the local community regarding the use and management of common pool resources, such as exclosures, could better support targeted interventions by government and development partners. Here, we report on a study conducted in the Gomit watershed, northwestern Ethiopia, using a survey and key informant interviews, to examine community perceptions on (a) the biophysical condition (i.e., challenge of land degradation and restoration), (b) the action situations (userapos;s access to and control over resources and decision-making processes involved in taking actions in managing the exclosure), (c) actorsapos; interactions (formal and informal institutions involved in the management of exclosures), and (d) perceived outcomes (benefits and tradeoffs of managing exclosures). Many people in the Gomit watershed recognize land degradation as a serious problem and believe that exclosures support restoration of degraded landscapes and improve ecosystem services. Informal institutions play a key role in managing exclosures by improving benefit sharing and mobilizing the local community for collective action. However, some community members have concerns about recent expansion of exclosures because of (a) limited short-term derived benefits, (b) reductions in fuelwood availability, (c) increased degradation of remaining communal grazing lands, and (d) poor participation of marginalized groups in decision making. Addressing such concerns through the promotion of short-term benefits of exclosures and increasing community participation in decision-making and benefit sharing is crucial. The study provides evidence to support government and development partners on the establishment and management of exclosures through identifying the benefits and drawbacks as perceived by different sectors of the community.

This research report presents the first comprehensive framework of business models in terms of developing, marketing and scaling Index-based flood insurance (IBFI). The report evaluated ten case studies on agricultural insurance schemes (macro, meso and micro levels), globally, to develop public-private partnership business models for creating value (product development) and capturing value (product marketing). This report highlights four broad groups of interrelated factors that influence the uptake and scaling of agricultural insurance: (i) behavioral factors that influence farmers’ enthusiasm to invest in insurance; (ii) financial factors that stipulate governments’ willingness to provide financial support; (iii) legal and regulatory factors, which set ground rules for fair business and govern their adherence by stakeholders; and (iv) facilitating factors, including product design and development, business models, research and development, data availability, and awareness creation, which help ensure an efficient supply of insurance services. In summary, the report highlights the need for designing innovative IBFI and its potential benefits for uptake, and efforts for implementing IBFI as a potential risk transfer tool for comprehensive climate risk management among small-scale and marginal farmers.

Livestock is an integral part of the agricultural system in sub-Saharan Africa, serving as a food source, income, fertilizer, and power for farming and transportation. However, the productivity of the livestock system has been hampered due to a lack of sufficient quantity and quality feed. This study evaluates the gaps and constraints of fodder and nutritional potential for livestock feed using small-scale irrigation (SSI). The study comprised of 30 randomly selected farmers from two different ecological zones in Ethiopia. Half of the farmers cultivated Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) in the Robit watershed in northern Ethiopia, and the other half cultivated mixed vetch (Lathyrus cicera) and oats (Avena sativa) in Lemo watershed in southern Ethiopia. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and Agricultural Policy Environmental eXtender (APEX) were applied in an integrated manner to assess the impacts of SSI at the watershed and field-scale levels, respectively. The watershed-scale analysis showed that there is a substantial amount of surface runoff and shallow groundwater recharge that could be used for dry season fodder production using irrigation. Field data calibrated APEX model indicated that Napier yield could be maximized with 550 mm of water in Robit watershed. While in the Lemo watershed, maximum vetch and oats yield may be achieved with 250 mm of water. The major constraints for Napier and oats production in the study sites were soil fertility, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, and vetch production was limited by high temperature. Fodder samples were collected at the time of harvest to evaluate feed quality. The nutritional analysis indicated that Napier grass has a higher dry matter and ash (mineral) content compared to oats and vetch. However, vetch has higher crude protein content (18%) compared to Napier (10%) and oats (6%). Overall the study indicated that cultivating vetch provided superior performance in terms of providing quality feed and environmental services.

Recently, increasing attention has been paid to entrepreneurial ecosystems and the process of their formation and function. Researchers have noted the important role that intermediary organizations such as incubators play in connecting various actors within ecosystems. Yet our understanding of this role is limited to a few empirical insights. Using resource dependence and embeddedness as theoretical lenses, the present research examines the role of incubators in entrepreneurial ecosystem formation and function, and analyzes how intermediation activities shape collaboration patterns embedded within entrepreneurial ecosystems. Our findings are based on an empirical investigation of two entrepreneurial ecosystems, one in Kenya and one in Uganda. Our analysis of 38 semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurial actors in these ecosystems reveals the underlying structural, operational, and relational conditions that influence the actors’ interaction with each other. We propose three collaboration patterns that emerge among actors in entrepreneurial ecosystems under these conditions: one-sided dependency-based, joint dependency-based, and mutual dependency-based collaborations. We discuss these patterns in detail and identify the circumstances in which each is most likely to occur. This empirical setting clearly shows that beyond their primary roles of providing space, network, and advice to entrepreneurs, intermediary organizations in entrepreneurial ecosystems play a significant role in orchestrating collaborations. Finally, we reflect on the limitations of this study and offer implications for future research.

Scaling is a ubiquitous concept in agricultural research in the global south as donors require their research grantees to prove that their results can be scaled to impact upon the livelihoods of a large number of beneficiaries. Recent studies on scaling have brought critical perspectives to the rather technocratic tendencies in the agricultural innovations scaling literature. Drawing on theoretical debates on spatial strategies and practical experience of agricultural innovation scaling in Ethiopia, this paper adds to the current debate on what constitutes scaling and how to overcome critical scaling constraints. The data for the paper came from a qualitative assessment using focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and document analysis on scaling work done in Ethiopia by a USAID-funded research for development project. The paper concludes with four broad lessons for the current understating of agricultural innovation scaling. First, scaling of agricultural innovations requires a balanced focus on technical requirements and associated social dynamics surrounding scaling targets, actors involved and their social relations. Second, appreciating the social dynamics of scaling emphasizes the fact that scaling is more complex than a linear rolling out of innovations towards diffusion. Third, scaling may not be strictly planned; instead, it might be an extension of the innovation generation process that relies heavily on both new and long-term relationships with key partners, trust, and continuous reflection and learning. Fourth, the overall implication of the above three conclusions is that scaling strategies need to be flexible, stepwise, and reflective. Despite the promises of flourishing scaling frameworks, scaling strategies it would appear from the Africa RISING experience that, if real impact is to be achieved, approaches will be required to be flexible enough to manage the social, processual and emergent nature of the practice of scaling.

Worldwide, off-grid solar photovoltaic irrigation is currently being developed with the expectation that it will help secure water access to increase food production, reduce fuel-based carbon emissions and energy costs, and increase human resilience to climate change. In developing countries across the Middle East and North Africa, South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, the adoption of solar technology in agriculture to lift groundwater is rapidly expanding, following decreases in pump costs, economic incentives, and development partner initiatives. Solar irrigation potentially provides a cost-effective and sustainable energy source to secure food production and sustain livelihoods in line with multiple Sustainable Development Goals, but achieving such potential requires improved policies and institutions to coordinate across numerous stakeholders, objectives, and approaches. This paper uses cases and observations from across regions to propose a framework to support policy, regulation, and monitoring for environmentally sustainable and socio-economically inclusive solar irrigation investments. While not exhaustive, the components seek to address the intersection of energy, water and food security, as well as social equity. The paper emphasizes the need for an understanding of how solar irrigation can be scaled to be both accessible for smallholder farmers and environmentally sustainable.

In this study, the impact of climate change on the streamflow of the Arjo-Didessa catchment, Upper Blue Nile basin, is evaluated. We used the outputs of four climate models for two representative concentration pathway (RCP) climate scenarios, which are RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. Streamflow simulation was done by using the HEC-HMS rainfall-runoff model, which was satisfactorily calibrated and validated for the study area. For the historic period (1971–2000), all climate models significantly underestimated the observed rainfall amount for the rainy season. We therefore bias-corrected the climate data before using them as input for the rainfall-runoff model. The results of the four climate models for the period 2041 to 2070 show that annual rainfall is likely to decrease by 0.36 to 21% under RCP 4.5. The projected increases in minimum and maximum temperature will lead to an increase in annual evapotranspiration by 3 to 7%, which will likely contribute to decreasing the annual flows of Arjo-Didessa by 1 to 3%. Our results show that the impact is season dependent, with an increased streamflow in the main rainy season but a decreased flow in the short rainy season and the dry seasons. The magnitudes of projected changes are more pronounced under RCP 8.5 than under RCP 4.5.

Arid areas in East Africa are characterized by physical water scarcity. The physical water scarcity is further exacerbated by poor water quality (mainly salinity and fluoride) of mainly groundwater sources. Combined physical water scarcity and poor water quality makes the region a hydrogeologically difficult environment. Nevertheless, some viable high-yielding aquifers exist in East Africa. Difficult hydrogeology means that the best practices of reaching rural dwellers, towns, and urban centers require specialized financial, technical, and engineering approaches. The chapter describes the hydrogeology difficulty and the ongoing management strategies and its implications for the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector in East Africa arid regions.

Establishing worldwide sustainable and phosphorus efficient cropping systems is urgently needed because the supply of suitable phosphate rock is limited, and excess phosphorus in streams causes eutrophication. One of the impediments in the developing world for sustainable P practices is the lack of studies on P transport and its eventual disposition in the environment. One of these regions with few studies is the Ethiopian Highlands, with permeable volcanic soils. The objective was to establish baseline data on P watershed export in the (sub)humid highlands. Two contrasting watersheds were selected near Lake Tana. For 2 years, stream discharge and sediment, total P, dissolved P, and bioavailable particulate P concentrations were determined at the watershed outlet. The first watershed is the 57 km2 Dangishta, with lava intrusion dikes, forcing subsurface flow through faults to the surface and preventing gully formation. Subsurface flow was half of the 1745 mm annual precipitation, and surface runoff and erosion were minimal. The second watershed is the 9 km2 Robit Bata with 1,420 mm precipitation. The banks of several river banks were slumping. The upper part of the watershed generates saturation excess runoff. A hillslope aquifer in the lower part provided interflow. The average sediment concentrations of 10.5 g L-1 in the stream in Robit Bata (11 times that in Dangishta) reflected the sediments from banks slipping in the stream. The hydrology and the soil loss directly affected the phosphorus export. In Dangishta, the total P concentration averaged 0.5 mg L-1 at the outlet. In Robit Bata, the average total P concentration was 2 mg L-1 . The bioavailable particulate P concentration was only twice the concentration in the runoff water. The low phosphorus content of the subsoil slipping in Robit Bata moderated biologically available particulate P at the outlet. Average dissolved P concentrations for both watersheds were around 0.1 mg L-1 in the low range found in temperate climates. It reflects the difference in length of time that phosphorus fertilizers have been applied. Our research concludes that commonly implemented practices such as strengthening river banks and stabilizing gully might not lead to improved water quality in Lake Tana.

Study region: Central Rift Valley Lakes sub-basin, Ethiopia. Study focus: The competition for water is rapidly increasing in Central Rift Valley lakes sub-basin due to the combined effect of various water resources developments. However, the impacts of recent and future water resources development pathways on the water balance of the three interconnected lakes (i.e. Lake Ziway, Langano and Abiyata) are unknown. The Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) model was used to assess the development impacts on water resources of the interconnected lakes. We considered three development pathways that are, recent (2009–2018), short-term (2019–2028) and long-term development (2029–2038). Lake Ziway water inflows from six catchments were estimated using the Hydrologiska Byrns Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV) rainfall-runoff model. Crop water requirements for irrigation schemes were estimated by the CROPWAT model. New hydrological insights for the region: WEAP simulations show a total water demand of 102.3 Mm3 under the recent development pathway that increases by 46% and 118% for short-term and long-term development pathways, respectively. This will notably affect the water balance of the interconnected lakes and cause an unmet water demand of 47.9 Mm3 for the long-term (2028–2038). For Lake Ziway and Abiyata, water levels will decrease substantially to cause water scarcity in the long-term, and developments in Lake Ziway will significantly affect water storage in Lake Abiyata storages in Lake Abiyata. Overall, future developments will threaten the water resource of the interconnected lake system.

Improving water security is critical to delivering the best outcomes for development. In Ethiopia, the upper Awash sub-basin supports expanding urban and industrial areas, with increasing water demands. Studies have preferentially focused either on surface water hydrology or on groundwater characterization. However, novel tools are required to support the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater for competing users under potential climate change impacts. In this paper, we present research based on a WEAPMODFLOW link configured for four catchments in the upper Awash sub-basin (Akaki, Melka Kunture, Mojo, and Koka). The Akaki catchment supplies water for Addis Ababa city. Unlike most surface water hydrological models, both supply (surface water and groundwater) and demand (domestic, industrial, and livestock) are modeled. The tool was used to evaluate the impacts of population growth, leakage, expansion of surface and groundwater supply schemes, and climate change scenarios up to the year 2030. Considering the high population growth rate scenario for Addis Ababa city, the unmet domestic water demand may increase to 760 MCM in 2030. Water leakage through poor water supply distribution networks contributed about 23% of the unmet water demand. Though not significant compared with population and water loss stresses, climate change also affect the supply demand condition in the basin. Planning for more groundwater abstraction without considering additional surface water reservoir schemes will noticeably impact the groundwater resource, with groundwater levels projected to decline by more than 20 m. Even more groundwater level decline is observed In the Akaki catchment, where Addis Ababa city is located. Conjunctive use of surface and groundwater not only boosts the supply demand situation in the basin but will lift off some of the stresses from the groundwater resources. Even under the likely increase in temperature and low precipitation climate scenarios, the conjunctive use resulted in a significant increase in domestic water demand coverage from 26% for the reference condition to 90% in 2030, with minimum effect on the groundwater resources. To improve water security conditions through sustainable utilization of both surface and groundwater resources, policy responses need to consider surface and groundwater conjunctive use. Minimizing water leakage should also be given the highest priority.

Study region: Awash River Basin, Ethiopia Study focus: Many river basins in sub-Saharan Africa have become vulnerable due to the impact from climate change, weak governance and high levels of poverty. One of the primary concerns is the elevated salinity and the degradation of water quality in the Awash River. Located in the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia, the Awash River has unique hydrochemistry due to water-rock interactions. However, in recent years, increasing anthropogenic activities including the discharge from saline Lake Beseka into the Awash River has caused some concern. This study used an Integrated Catchment Model to simulate chloride concentration in the Awash River Basin by taking both natural and anthropogenic sources of salinity into consideration. Future scenarios of climate change and Lake Beseka discharge were examined to assess the impact to the river water quality. New hydrologic insights: Results show that Lake Beseka has made significant contribution to the rise of the salinity in the Awash River. If the trend of human interference (e.g. increased irrigation and unregulated water transfer) continues, the river downstream of Lake Beseka could see Cl increases up to 200 % in the near future (2006–2030). The modeling results are essential for generating long term plans for proper utilization of water resources especially in the region where the resources and the economic capacity to meet the water demand is lacking.

This chapter summarizes the findings from analyses conducted by AKADEMIYA2063 on local staple food market dynamics during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. With the outbreak of the highly contagious virus in Africa in March 2020, various measures were implemented by African governments to contain its spread. These measures included bans on public gatherings and markets; restrictions on movement within and between countries; closures of schools, restaurants, and hotels; and curfews. All these measures were likely to cause market disruptions and revenue losses for vulnerable groups by disrupting supply and demand of agricultural staples, either directly or indirectly. The objective of these analytical studies is therefore to generate evidence on how the various COVID-19 response measures have affected food supply and demand patterns in Africa, taking into account the locational characteristics (that is, whether an area is urban or rural, has a surplus or deficit of the commodity in question, and is in a coastal or landlocked country) and whether the commodity is perishable or nonperishable. Such evidence can then be used to inform efforts to anticipate and respond to food crises arising from infectious disease outbreaks and the measures implemented to limit their spread.

Irrigation expansion is a critical development intervention to address food security challenges in Ethiopia. However, only a fraction of the country’s irrigation potential has been utilized so far. Information about the location and spatial extent of irrigated and rainfed areas is an important requirement for sustainable water resources development and agricultural planning. Currently, considerable variations exist in the irrigated area estimates made by different government agencies. In addition, irrigated area maps created as part of global mapping efforts have a spatial resolution of anywhere between 10 kilometers and 250 meters, making them too coarse for planning and management at a subnational scale. This study aims to develop an irrigated area map of Ethiopia using satellite images to support agricultural water management practices in the country, using multi-temporal, multi-resolution data sets from 2015 to 2016 with a spatial resolution of 30 m. The total area of croplands was estimated as 21.8 million hectares (Mha), of which only 1.11 Mha were mapped as the irrigated area. This is only around 5% of the estimated total agricultural area. The accuracy of the results was evaluated using geographic coordinates of irrigated areas provided by the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture. The results confirmed that irrigated areas can be identified reasonably well by analyzing seasonal trends in vegetation and moisture levels.

Governments in sub-Saharan Africa promote the expansion of irrigation to improve food security, primarily through the adoption and use of groundwater-based smallholder private irrigation. Using the case of Ethiopia, we examine farmers’ willingness to adopt smallholder private irrigation packages in response to subsidies on pump prices, loan availability and reduction in ambiguities related to borehole drilling. The results of the research highlight that subsidizing pump prices may not be the best use of public funds to expand irrigation. Instead, decreasing ambiguities around borehole drilling is likely to play a significant role and is a cost-effective step toward expanding groundwater-based irrigation and increasing the adoption of pumps by small-scale farmers. The policy implication is that the government should help farmers minimize the uncertainties and cost of unsuccessful drilling. This will require the government to study groundwater hydrogeology, use information on groundwater depth, seasonality and recharge to drill boreholes, and absorb the costs of unsuccessful drilling.

This brief analyzes selected policy and programmatic changes reported by countries across Africa resulting from the BRs and the agricultural JSRs. It is based on data and other information collected using an online questionnaire from the Directors of Agricultural Planning, or their representatives, from 14 countries—Angola, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Zambia— and from representatives of two RECs, the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community. In addition, a review was conducted of the country BR briefs produced following the first BR of 2017 (AUC 2018) and the second of 2019 (AUC 2020) for several of these countries. The BR data reported by the countries was also analyzed.

Large cities in developing countries are facing the challenge of rapid urban population growth, which results in increasing waste generation. In Nairobi, the solid waste situation is characterized by low coverage of collection, pollution from uncontrolled dumping, inefficient public services, unregulated and uncoordinated private sector operators and lack of key solid waste management infrastructure. About 3,121 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated daily, of which about 850 tons are collected and the remaining is burnt or dumped in unauthorized sites or landfilled in the Dandora dumpsite causing health and environmental problems. The recovery of nutrients from the organic content of MSW for reuse in agriculture has the potential to address the dual challenge of waste management and soil nutrient depletion. This study assessed the economic and environmental impact of decentralized composting business model in Nairobi based on a comparison with the baseline scenario using an indicator expressed in tons CO2 equivalent. The cost–benefit analysis was based on data collected from existing compost plants in Kenya. To assess the sensitivity of the results to variation in input variables, a simulation model was developed using the Monte Carlo method. The decentralized composting business model resulted in a net GHG emission saving of 1.21 tons CO2-eq/ton of compost, being both financially and economically feasible with more than 70% chance of economic success. Assessing the economic and environmental impact is an important tool for decision making and to ensure that the business model results in desired benefits to society.

Study region: The Lake Tana sub-basin, upper Blue Nile, Ethiopia. Study focus: The Lake Tana sub-basin is one of the agricultural growth corridors for Ethiopia’s ambitious plan to expand irrigation. Despite the booming irrigation activities in the sub-basin, limited information exists on the rate of irrigation expansion and its impact on the water balance of the sub-basin. This study collected and organized smallholder irrigation data in the subbasin to identify the actual irrigated area, the abstracted irrigation water, and its implications on seasonal water availability. The area under small-scale irrigation was estimated through data obtained from ’woredas’ (districts) databases. Crop patterns were obtained through field surveys. Irrigation water abstracted at daily timescale was measured. New hydrological insights for the Region: In the sub-basin, 38,694 ha was under small-scale irrigation in 2020/21. Surface water is the dominant water source, and it supplies about 80% of irrigation withdrawal. Water abstraction for small-scale irrigation is about 430 MCM per dry season (~50% of dry season flow). The eastern side of the sub-basin faces water shortages as the dry season flow is not sufficient for irrigation. With the prospects of more irrigation expansion, small-scale irrigation water withdrawals pose concerns of water scarcity at local level and to the water balance of the sub-basin. Hence, there is urgent need for adaptive management of the small-scale irrigation effect on the sub-basin’s hydrology.

This study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of a mobile phone-based thermal and UAV-based multispectral imaging to assess the irrigation performance of African eggplant. The study used a randomized block design (RBD) with sub-plots being irrigated at 100% (I100), 80% (I80) and 60% (I60) of the calculated crop water requirements using drip. The leaf moisture content was monitored at different soil moisture conditions at early, vegetative and full vegetative stages. The results showed that, the crop water stress index (CWSI) derived from the mobile phone-based thermal images is sensitive to leaf moisture content (LMC) in I80 and I60 at all vegetative stages. The UAV-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Optimized Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (OSAVI) correlated with LMC at the vegetative and full vegetative stages for all three irrigation treatments. In cases where eggplant is irrigated under normal conditions, the use of NDVI or OSAVI at full vegetative stages will be able to predict eggplant yields. In cases where, eggplant is grown under deficit irrigation, CWSI can be used at vegetative or full vegetative stages next to NDVI or OSAVI depending on available resources.

This paper argues for more creativity and flexibility in agricultural research for development (AR4D) scaling and impact evaluation in complex contexts. While acknowledging the importance of setting reasonable end-of-project targets and outcomes, we argue that the achievement of outcomes and impacts, particularly in complex contexts, requires adaptive management and acknowledgment that significant positive outcomes and impacts may occur after the project funding cycle is complete. The paper presents a practitioner-developed approach to scaling AR4D innovations called Impact Tracking (IT). We illustrate IT in practice by presenting three case studies from Ethiopia in which IT proved crucial to achieving impact. The paper concludes by drawing lessons from the case studies and discussing what implications IT may have for development practitioners.

The paper draws on the Community Capitals Framework to frame and analyze the process of rural women’s empowerment through agricultural interventions in two districts of Ethiopia. A blend of qualitative data collection methods comprising group discussions, life histories, and key informant interviews was used. Our study shows that investing in social, human, financial, cultural, natural, physical, and political capitals resulted in increased assets within those capitals and others amongst the beneficiaries. The interaction between capitals builds “power with”, “power within”, “power to” and “power over” in an upward spiral. Specifically, the interaction between social, human and financial capitals is a key entry point to rural women’s empowerment. Cultural capital intermediates the interaction and flow of capital assets during the empowerment process. We argue that empowering women requires an approach that enhances their capability to identify and systematically manage interactions among capitals that foster their voice and agency.

Little is known about the occurrence of emerging pollutants (EPs) in waters in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region despite the extensive use of low-quality water there. Available data dealing with the sources, occurrence and removal of EPs within the MENA region in different categories of water is collected, presented and analyzed in this literature review. According to the collected database, the occurrence and removal efficiency of EPs in the water matrix in the MENA region is available, respectively, for 13 and six countries of the 18 in total; no available data is registered for the rest. Altogether, 290 EPs have been observed in different water matrices across the MENA countries, stemming mainly from industrial effluents, agricultural practices, and discharge or reuse of treated wastewater (TWW). Pharmaceutical compounds figure among the most frequently reported compounds in wastewater, TWW, surface water, and drinking water. Nevertheless, pesticides are the most frequently detected pollutants in groundwater. Worryingly, 57 cases of EPs have been reported in different fresh and drinking waters, exceeding World Health Organization (WHO) and European Commission (EC) thresholds. Overall, pharmaceuticals, organic compounds, and pesticides are the most concerning EP groups. The review revealed the ineffectiveness of treatment processes used in the region to remove EPs. Negative removals of some EPs such as carbamazepine, erythromycin, and sulfamethoxazole were recorded, suggesting their possible accumulation or release during treatment. This underlines the need to set in place and strengthen control measures, treatment procedures, standards, and policies for such pollutants in the region.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the context of global migration. From a migration perspective, the pandemic is a source of insecurities that challenge migrants, their livelihoods and migration governance. Meanwhile, curtailment in movement has led to economic decline affecting labour markets. For migrant origin and hosting countries, this poses multidimensional development challenges. Analysis from March to August 2020 of China, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal and Thailand highlights the varying ways in which they are all severely affected by the disruptions in migration, suggesting a potentially emerging complex situation in migration patterns and pathways. The disruptions in migration and remittances have had a profound impact on migrants and migrant-sending households. The uncertainty of migration returning to pre-pandemic levels and the potential of lasting consequences on migrants and migration patterns and pathways, suggests a future of greater risk and exploitation, and a wider gap between formal and informal migration. This paper calls for greater mobility cooperation between countries and suggests strengthening mobility migration frameworks and policies for safer migration and for the rights of migrants.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the preferences of people in the Bale Eco-Region (BER) for better ecosystem services and to calculate their mean Willingness to Pay (WTP) for selected attributes of conservation practices to maintain watershedapos;s ecosystem functions, using a choice modeling approach. Results from reforestation attributes revealed that the average WTP for reforestation characteristics were 3,053 ($145.38), 2,516 ($119.83), and 1,827 ($87) Ethiopian Birr (ETB)/year for higher, medium, and low impact improvement scenarios respectively, to midland communities. Lowland respondentsapos; mean WTP for exclosure attributes were estimated at 882 ($42), 1,558 ($74.19), and 2,383 ($113) ETB yearly for low, medium, and high impact improvement scenarios respectively. This indicates that respondents from both lowland and midland communities are willing to spend a substantial amount of resource and time (measured in terms of money) on to improve ES in the BER. The study provides valuable input to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of possible interventions conserving natural resources in the BER. Moreover, using this study was an important step for initiating the process of Payment for Ecosystem Services in the BER where local communities, in Ethiopia and beyond could contribute to rehabilitating Ecosystem Services.

Study Region: The Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes basin is found in the main Ethiopian Rift Valley system. Study Focus: Understanding the hydrological impact of El Nio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is of a paramount importance for society since it substantially affects the environmental and socio-economic conditions. The relation between ENSO indicators (SOI, MEI and Nio3.4) and streamflow magnitude was statistically evaluated with partial correlation, cross correlation, extreme streamflow indices and streamflow deficits to provide empirical evidence on how ENSO phases (La Nia and El Nio) affect streamflow variability. Trends of streamflow and ENSO indicators were tested using the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test. New Hydrological Insights for the Region: Our findings indicate that the partial correlation between the catchment area and ENSO effect on streamflow were not statistically significant at p lt; 0.05 after removing the south-north gradient. The direction of the ENSO effect is spatially inconsistent since El Nio (La Nia) causes positive deviation in some catchments and negative deviation for other catchments. Though statistically insignificant, reduced flow is detected for many catchments during El Nio years. For most catchment, the extreme high flow has a larger magnitude during La Nia than El Nio whereas the extreme low flow has a larger magnitude during El Nio than La Nia years. Overall, the relationship between ENSO and streamflow of the study area is found spatially inconsistent and statistically insignificant for most catchments.

Lake Ziway is providing water for a wide variety of sectors in the central rift valley of Ethiopia. However, there is a lack of systematic study that informs the effect of water abstraction on the lake water balance. In the present study, we conducted a Water Abstraction Survey (WAS) to estimate actual water withdrawal from the lake and developed a water balance model of the lake to evaluate the associated impact on the lake water storage and outflow for three development plans. The mean error and root mean square error of the simulated lake water level as compared with observed counterparts were estimated as 0.1 and 0.2 m, respectively, which is smaller than the range of the observed fluctuation of the lake water level under natural condition. Our findings indicate that the actual storage and outflow of Lake Ziway are significantly impacted by the existing water withdrawal. When the future development plans are fully implemented, the annual amount of irrigation and domestic water withdrawal from the lake will reach 95 Mm3 . This will cause the lake water level to drop by 0.94 m, which translates to 38 km2 reductions in the lake surface area. Consequently, the lake will lose 26.5% of its actual storage volume when the future development plan (2029–2038) is implemented as compared to the observed storage between 1986 and 2000. Hence, the current impact of water resources development around the lake is substantially large and will exacerbate in the future. This indicates the need for urgent actions to monitor and manage water abstraction from the lake.

The frequency and intensity of extreme climate events such as heavy rainfall and droughts are expected to increase with climate change and are predicted to severely affect the agriculture sector. However, drought vulnerability of rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa is not well documented, despite these communities being composed of mainly smallholder farmers whose livelihoods depend on rainfed agriculture. In this study, we evaluated the vulnerability of a rural community in Ethiopia to drought using both primary and secondary data. The primary data was generated from a household survey, whereas the secondary data was obtained from the National Meteorology Agency of Ethiopia and Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation (CHIRP) product. We decomposed vulnerability in to three components which are exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to drought based on indices derived from the primary and secondary data. Results show that the average score for exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity is nearly equal. High seasonal water variability coupled with severe, frequent, and long drought status increases exposure to drought in the study area. The main factor which affects sensitivity to drought in this community is the land cover. For adaptive capacity, the social capital of the community is low while their physical capital is high. The overall estimated drought vulnerability shows that the community is moderately vulnerable. The community’s exposure and sensitivity analyses show the need to increase the amount of moisture stored within the soil with the adoption of appropriate soil and water conservation techniques. Results also show that the head of the household’s educational level, the number of livestock owned, and annual income affect the community’s adaptive capacity.

The hydrological impact of many expensive investments on watershed interventions remains unquantified due to lack of time series data. In this study, remote sensing imagery is utilized to quantify and detect vegetation cover change in Magera micro-watershed, Ethiopia, where sustainable land management interventions have been implemented. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values were retrieved for the period 2010 to 2019, which encompasses before, during and after the interventions. Mann-Kendal trend test was used to detect temporal trends in the monthly NDVI values. In addition, multiple change-point analyses were carried out using Pettitt’s, Buishand’s and Standard Normal Homogeneity (SNH) tests to detect any abrupt changes due to the watershed interventions. The possible influence of rainfall on changes in vegetation cover was investigated. A significant increasing trend (from 1.5% to 33%) was detected for dense vegetation at the expense of a significant reduction in bare land from 40.9% to 0.6% over the analysis period. An abrupt change in vegetation cover was detected in 2015 in response to the interventions. A weak and decreasing correlation was obtained between monthly rainfall magnitude and NDVI values, which indicates that the increase in vegetation cover is not from rainfall influences. The study shows that the sustainable land management has an overall positive impact on the study area. The findings of this research support the applicability of remote sensing approaches to provide useful information on the impacts of watershed intervention investments.

The Middle East and North Africa region experiences severe socioeconomic and political impacts during droughts and faces increasing drought risk in future climate projections. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s Sendai Framework and the International Drought Management Programme provide a global standard (a norm) to manage droughts through natural hazard risk reduction approaches. We use participatory engagement to evaluate whether norm diffusion has taken place in four countries. Data were collected in interviews, focus groups, workshops, and policy documents. Analysis reveals incomplete norm diffusion; stakeholders subscribe to relevant values, but national policies and implementation do not fully reflect the norm. Process tracing reveals that the availability of drought early warning data is a key barrier to risk reduction. Further more, a drought early warning system would not be feasible or sufficient unless paired with policy measures and financial mechanisms to reduce the political and economic costs of a drought declaration.

Understanding the influence of large-scale oceanic and atmospheric variability on rainfall over Ethiopia has huge potential to improve seasonal forecasting and inform crucial water management decisions at local levels, where data is available at appropriate scales for decision makers. In this study, drivers of Ethiopia‘s main rainy season, July-September (JAS), are investigated using correlation analysis with sea surface temperature (SST). The analysis showed local spatial variations in the drivers of JAS rainfall. Moreover, the analysis revealed strong correlation between March to May (MAM) SST and JAS rainfall in particular regions. In addition to the influence of SSTs, we highlighted one of the mechanisms explaining the regional pattern of SST influence on Ethiopian rainfall, the East African Low-Level Jet. Moreover, examining the occurrence of large-scale phenomena provided additional information, with very strong ENSO and positive IOD events associated with drier conditions in most part of Ethiopia. A sub-national analysis, focused at a scale relevant for water managers, on the Awash basin, highlighted two distinct climate zones with different relationships to SSTs. June was not included as part of the rainy season as in some areas June is a hot, dry month between rainy seasons and in others it can be used to update sub-seasonal forecasts with lead time of one month for JAS rainfall. This highlights the importance of understanding locally relevant climate systems and ensuing sub-seasonal to seasonal forecasts are done at the appropriate scale for water management in the complex topography and climatology of Ethiopia.

African eggplant, a traditional and important nutrient-dense crop to Tanzania’s nutrition and food security. However, yields remain low as a result of sub-optimal irrigation and fertilizer practices. To reduce the yield gap, a randomized split-plot design set up with irrigation as a main and nitrogen (N) treatments as a sub-factor. The irrigation regimes were 100 % (I100), 80 % (I80) and 60 % (I60) of crop water requirements whilst nitrogen levels were 250 kg N/ha (F100), 187 kg N/ha (F75), 125 kg N/ha (F50) and 0 kgN/ha (F0). The study evaluated the effect of irrigation water and N on crop growth variables and yield, fruit quality, WUE and NUE. The study showed the importance of combining different irrigation performance indicators which responds to different levels of water and nitrogen to evaluate and assess suitable irrigation and fertilizer strategies for African eggplant. The crop growth variables (plant height and LAI) had a good correlation with fruit yield (R2 = 0.6 and 0.8). The fruit quality was best performed by 100 % water in combination with 75 % N treatment. The best WUE and NUE was attained at 80 % and 100 % levels of water in combination with 75 % N. However, minimizing trade-offs between the various indicators, the optimal application for African eggplant would likely be around 80 % of the total irrigation requirement and 75 % of the N requirement in sandy clay loam soils under tropical sub-humid conditions.

Wetlands are abundant across the African continent and provide a range of ecosystem services on different scales but are threatened by overuse and degradation. It is essential that national governments enable and ensure the sustainable use of wetland resources to maintain these services in the long run. As informed management decisions require reliable, up-to-date, and large coverage spatial data, we propose a modular Earth observation-based framework for the geo-localisation and characterization of wetlands in East Africa. In this study, we identify four major challenges in spatial data supported wetland management and present a framework to address them. We then apply the framework comprising Wetland Delineation, Surface Water Occurrence, Land Use/Land Cover classification and Wetland Use Intensity for the whole of Rwanda and evaluate the ability of these layers to meet the identified challenges. The layers’ spatial and temporal characteristics make them combinable and the information content, of each layer alone as well as in combination, renders them useful for different wetland management contexts.

This study was conducted in Lake Hawassa catchment, Ethiopia where policy programs are aiming to restore degraded lands with participation of local stakeholders. We assessed the system in relation to natural resource management and degradation using the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) conceptual framework and conducted a stakeholder analysis to understand stakeholder interest, influence and interactions amongst the different categories of stakeholders. Data were collected using key informant interviews, field observation and a literature review. Results indicate that the degradation of natural resources in the catchment is attributed to several interlinked socio-economic and biophysical factors. Identified stakeholders include government and non-governmental organizations, local administrative bodies, civil society, the private sector and farmers. Most of the stakeholders have a role in landscape restoration, have similar interests and strategic options, and are flexible and innovative. Moderate to pronounced trust exists among identified stakeholders and could provide an opportunity to achieve better coordination and collective action amongst the different stakeholders. However, considerable differences between stakeholders in power, power resources and influence were detected due to differences in access to information, communication and negotiation skills, practical relevance, and social relations. The costs for empowerment measures could be low, as many of the stakeholders have access to and control of resources and high level of basic competencies. Our findings could guide practitioners and policy makers on whom and how to engage when planning and implementing natural resources management and landscape restoration interventions at catchment level.

At the end of 2021, CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) will be replaced by Initiatives housed within One CGIAR. This new modality is intended to achieve higher levels of impact at a faster rate and at reduced cost compared to the CRPs. As One CGIAR begins, there is a unique opportunity to reflect on what has worked in different contexts. In this paper, we provide findings that relate to One CGIAR’s overarching view of how it will achieve positive and measurable impacts, and for agricultural research for development (AR4D) more generally. Specifically, we draw from three related CRP evaluations to identify how different types of AR4D approaches have contributed to successful outcomes. In the final section of the paper, we present our conclusions and provide a list of recommendations for the science and technology policy of One CGIAR and possibly other integrated research for development programs.

Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) are the leading contributors to the decline and loss of ecosystem services in the world. The present study covered the Central Rift Valley lakes basin in Ethiopia, focusing on the valley floor and the East and West escarpments, to analyze changes in LULC and to estimate associated losses in ecosystem service values (ESVs). Covering both upstream and downstream areas in the basin, the study addressed major gaps in existing studies by connecting the sources and sinks of material (e.g., sediment and water) in source-to-lake systems. Additionally, the study facilitated the identification of critical areas for conserving natural resources and reversing the decline of associated ESVs in the Central Rift Valley. A post-classification comparison approach was used to detect LULC changes between 1973 and 2020 using four Landsat images from 1973, 1990, 2005 and 2020. The value transfer valuation method was used to estimate the changes in ESVs due to LULC changes. Among the seven major identified LULC classes, farmlands, settlements, and bare lands showed positive changes, while forestlands, grasslands, shrublands and waterbodies showed negative changes over the last 47 years. The expansion of farmlands, for example, has occurred at the expense of grasslands, forestlands and shrublands. The changes in LULC over a period of 47 years resulted in a total loss of US $62,110.4 × 106 in ESVs. The contributors to the overall loss of ESVs in decreasing order are provisioning services (US $33,795.1 × 106 ), cultural services (US $28,981.5 × 106 ) and regulating services (US $652.9 × 106 ). The results imply that addressing the degradation of land and water resources is crucial to reversing the loss of ecosystem services and achieving the national Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to food and water security (SDGs 2 and 6) and life on land (SDG 15).

This report presents a spatial analysis conducted at global scale to identify areas of high suitability for implementing the Underground Transfer of Floods for Irrigation (UTFI) approach. The study used multiple global spatial datasets, and the related data were arranged under three categories – water supply, water demand and water storage – to assess global UTFI suitability. Among the river basins with high suitability, the Awash in Ethiopia, Ramganga in India (one of the major tributaries of the Ganges River Basin) and Chao Phraya in Thailand were selected for the economic analysis in this study. The results from this study are intended to provide a first step towards identifying the broad areas (at the river basin or country scale) where more detailed investigation would be worthwhile to ascertain the technical and economic feasibility of UTFI, with greater confidence.

Water-permit systems are widely used across Africa as a blanket requirement for small and micro irrigation enterprises, as well as large enterprises. The present study aimed to, first, further understand the implications of permit systems for both the most vulnerable and the state, and, second, based on the findings, identify options for pro-poor water legislation that also meet the water governance requirements of the state. The growing recognition of the importance of farmer-led irrigation development for food security across the continent underlines the importance of these questions. Focusing on Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and other African countries, we found that permit systems criminalized instead of protected the water rights of small-scale farmers. Moreover, little if any attention is paid to the logistical burdens and costs to the state of implementing such systems relative to the intended revenue generation. As many small-scale farmers in Africa were found to operate under customary land and water tenure systems, the study proposes a hybrid system of water rights that formally recognizes such practices, along with the use of permits, including enforcement of conditions for large users, to serve the interests of both the state and small-scale farmers.

Built water infrastructure impacts the balance of services provided by a river and its flow regime. Impacts on both commercial and subsistence activities should be considered in water management decision-making. Various methods used to define mandatory minimum environmental releases do not account for the inherent and often complex trade-offs and synergies which must be considered in selecting a balance of ecosystem and engineered services. This paper demonstrates the value and use of optimised many-objective trade-off analysis for managing resource-systems providing diverse and sometimes competing services. Using Kenya’s Tana River basin as a demonstration it shows controlled releases from multi-reservoir systems can be optimised using multiple performance metrics, representing individual provisioning ecosystem and engineered services at different locations and relating to different time periods. This enables better understanding the interactions between natural and built assets, and selecting river basin interventions that appropriately trade-off their services. Our demonstration shows prioritising Kenya’s statutory minimum environmental ‘reserve’ flows degrades flood-related provisioning services. Low overall flow regime alteration correlates negatively with consistency of hydropower generation, but positively with other provisioning services.

Gully erosion has many negative impacts on both cultivated and grazing lands in Ethiopian highlands. The present study was conducted in Chentale watershed, Ethiopia, to quantify the contribution of gully erosion, and to assess its temporal changes. Within the Chentale watershed, we selected a sub-watershed (104.6 ha) and nested gully catchment, and gauged for stream flow and sediment concentration data in 2015 and 2016. We measured gully dimensions before and after the onset of the rainy season in 2016 to determine soil loss due to gully erosion. The temporal changes of gully expansion were determined by digitizing gully plain area from Google earth images taken in 2005 and 2013. The results support that gullies were expanding at higher rate in recent years. Area covered by gullies in the watershed increased from 1.84 to 3.43 ha between 2005 and 2013, indicating that the proportion of the watershed covered by gullies was nearly doubled in the investigated period. The estimated soil loss from the main watershed and gullies catchment was 6 and 2 t ha-1 year-1 in 2015, and was 7 and 9 t ha-1 year-1 in 2016, respectively. The results support that gullies were the main contributors of soil erosion in the watershed, and that integrated soil and water conservation measures are required to reduce soil erosion.

Gullies that are expanding at alarming rate are responsible for the majority of soil losses in the (sub) humid highlands of Ethiopia. Few affordable and effective methods for gully erosion control are available in the highlands. The objective of the study was to develop cost-effective measures to halt gully expansion by determining stable-bank conditions under a variety of environmental situations using the Bank Stability and Toe Erosion Model (BSTEM). The study was carried out in the sub humid Debre Mawi watershed, located 30 km south of Lake Tana. Input data for the BSTEM model were collected using field surveys and soil sampling. After the BSTEM was tested on actual measured soil data, soil cohesion and internal friction angle were calibrated against observed gully bank retreat. Using the calibrated parameters, the model evaluated the stabilization of the existing gully bank under different scenarios in which groundwater table, bank angle and bank height, tension crack depth, vegetation, and toe protection were varied. Finally, the head-cut of the study gully was treated based on the model recommendation. The simulated results showed that a 5 m deep gully was stable under fully saturated conditions when the bank toe is protected, its upper surface is vegetated, and its bank angles do not exceed 45. If the depth of the gully is less than 5 m or if its water table is deeper than 0.5 m, only regrading the gully bank to an angle of 45 can stabilize the gully. BSTEM showed to be an effective tool that can be used to evaluate gully control measures.

Land resources in developing countries are facing intense degradation due to deforestation and subsequent loss of organic matter from continuous tillage that causes soil erosion and gulley formation. The Ethiopian highlands are especially and severely affected. One of the land and water management practices to counteract this problem, fenced areas to prevent livestock access (called exclosures), has been in practice for the last few decades in the semi-arid highlands of Ethiopia but its effect on degraded landscapes has not been well researched – especially in the sub-humid and humid highlands. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of exclosures on improving degraded landscapes in the sub-humid highlands. The research was carried out in the Ferenj Wuha watershed, in the northwestern sub-humid Ethiopian highlands, where land and water management practices were implemented starting in 2011. Vegetation was inventoried and aboveground biomass, carbon and nutrient stock determined for communal grazing land, exclosures and for other uses. In addition, soil samples were collected for nutrient analysis. Our results show that exclosures have a richer and more diverse set of plant species compared to communal grazing land. Establishment of an exclosure also enhanced organic carbon, total nitrogen and available phosphorus. Over a six-year period, aboveground biomass increased by 54 Mg ha 1 (or 81%) at the watershed scale because of the conversion of communal grazing land to exclosures. The improvement in soil nutrients due to exclosures, in turn, increased carbon and nutrient stock. The results support regeneration of degraded landscapes by restoring vegetation, soil fertility, carbon and nutrient stocks in the Northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. However, additional research is required to more accurately quantify these improvements because current research efforts that sample only the surface soils seem to indicate that the capacity of exclosures to increase soil carbon storage is decreasing when annual rainfall is increasing.

We describe the technical feasibility of metagenomic water quality analysis using only portable equipment, for example mini-vacuum pumps and filtration units, mini-centrifuges, mini-PCR machines and the memory-stick sized MinION of Oxford Nanopore Technologies, for the library preparation and sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. Using this portable toolbox on site, we successfully characterized the microbiome of water samples collected from Birtley Sewage Treatment Plant, UK, and its environs. We also demonstrated the applicability of the portable metagenomics toolbox in a low-income country by surveying water samples from the Akaki River around Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing workflow, including DNA extraction, PCR amplification, sequencing library preparation, and sequencing was accomplished within one working day. The metagenomic data became available within 24e72 h, depending on internet speed. Metagenomic analysis clearly distinguished the microbiome of pristine samples from sewage influenced water samples. Metagenomic analysis identified the potential role of two bacterial genera not conventionally monitored, Arcobacter and Aeromonas, as predominant faecal pollution indicators/waterborne hazards. Subsequent quantitative PCR analysis validated the high Arcobacter butzleri abundances observed in the urban influenced Akaki River water samples by portable next generation sequencing with the MinION device. Overall, our field deployable metagenomics toolbox advances the capability of scientists to comprehensively monitor microbiomes anywhere in the world, including in the water, food and drinks industries, the health services, agriculture and beyond.

Applicability of satellite rainfall products must be explored since rain gauge networks have limitations to provide adequate spatial coverage. In this study, Climate Hazards InfraRed Precipitation (CHIRP) satellite-only product was evaluated for rainfall-runoff modeling whereas the simulated runoff served as input to simulate the water levels of Lake Ziway from 1986 to 2014. CHIRP dataset was bias-corrected using power transformation and used as input to Hydrologiska Byrns Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV) model to simulate streamflow of Meki and Katar catchments. Results showed that gauged catchments of Meki and Katar contributed 524 and 855 mm to the annual lake inflow, respectively. The estimated runoff from ungauged catchments is 182 mm that amounts to approximately 8.5% of the total lake inflow over the period 1986–2000. The results of lake level simulation show good agreement from 1986 to 2000, but deteriorating agreement after 2000, which is mainly attributed to errors in water balance terms and human-induced impacts. For the period 1986–2000, the water balance closure error for the lake was 67.5 mm per year, which accounts for 2.9% of the total lake inflow from rainfall and river inflow. This study shows bias correction increases the applicability of CHIRP satellite product for lake water balance studies.

Smallholder agriculture constitutes the main source of livelihood for the Ethiopian rural community. However, soil degradation and uneven distribution of rainfall have threatened agriculture at present. This study is aimed at investigating the impacts of conservation agriculture on irrigation water use, nutrient availability in the root zone, and crop yield under supplementary irrigation. In this study, conservation agriculture (CA), which includes minimum soil disturbance, grass mulch cover, and crop rotation, was practiced and compared with conventional tillage (CT). We used two years’ (2018 and 2019) experimental data under paired-t design in the production of a local variety green pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). The results showed that CA practices significantly (a = 0.05) reduced irrigation water use (13% to 29%) and runoff (29% to 51%) while it increased percolated water in the root zone (27% to 50%) when compared with CT practices under the supplementary irrigation phase. In addition, CA significantly decreased NO3-N in the leachate (14% to 44%) and in the runoff (about 100%), while PO4-P significantly decreased in the leachate (33% to 50%) and in the runoff (16%) when compared with CT. Similarly, CA decreased the NO3-N load in the leachate and in the runoff, while the PO4-P load increased in the leachate but decreased in the runoff. The yield return that was achieved under CA treatment was 30% higher in 2018 and 10% higher in 2019 when compared with the CT. This research improves our understanding of water and nutrient dynamics in green pepper grown under CA and CT. Use of CA provides opportunities to optimize water use by decreasing irrigation water requirements and optimize nutrient use by decreasing nutrient losses through the runoff and leaching.

When drought hits water-scarce regions, there are significant repercussions for food and water security, as well as serious issues for the stability of broader social and environmental systems. To mitigate these effects, environmental monitoring and early warning systems aimed at detecting the onset of drought conditions can facilitate timely and effective responses from government and private sector stakeholders. This study uses multistage, participatory research methods across more than 135 interviews, focus groups, and workshops to assess extant climatic, agricultural, hydrological, and drought monitoring systems; key cross-sector drought impacts; and drought monitoring needs in four countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region: Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Jordan. This extensive study of user needs for drought monitoring across the MENA region is informing and shaping the ongoing development of drought early warning systems, a composite drought indicator (CDI), and wider drought management systems in each country. Overarching themes of drought monitoring needs include technical definitions of drought for policy purposes; information-sharing regimes and data-sharing platforms; ground-truthing of remotely sensed and modeled data; improved data quality in observation networks; and two-way engagement with farmers, organizations, and end-users of drought monitoring products. This research establishes a basis for informing enhanced drought monitoring and management in the countries, and the broad stakeholder engagement can help foster the emergence of effective environmental monitoring coalitions.

Climatic variability and change result in unreliable and uncertain water availability and contribute to water insecurity in Africa, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas and where water storage infrastructure is limited. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR), which comprises purposeful recharge and storage of surface runoff and treated wastewater in aquifers, serves various purposes, of which a prominent one is to provide a means to mitigate adverse impact of climate variability. Despite clear scope for this technology in Africa, the prevalence and range of MAR experiences in Africa have not been extensively examined. The objective of this article is provide an overview of MAR progress in Africa and to inform the potential for future use of this approach in the continent. Information on MAR from 52 cases in Africa listed in the Global MAR Portal and collated from relevant literature was analyzed. Cases were classified according to 13 key characteristics including objective of the MAR project, technology applied, biophysical conditions, and technical and management challenges. Results of the review indicate that: (i) the extent of MAR practice in Africa is relatively limited, (ii) the main objective of MAR in Africa is to secure and augment water supply and balance variability in supply and demand, (iii) the surface spreading/infiltration method is the most common MAR method, (iv) surface water is the main water source for MAR, and (v) the total annual recharge volume is about 158 Mm3 /year. MAR schemes exist in both urban and rural Africa, which exemplify the advancement of MAR implementation as well as its out scaling potential. Further, MAR schemes are most commonly found in areas of high inter-annual variability in water availability. If properly planned, implemented, managed, maintained and adapted to local conditions, MAR has large potential in securing water and increasing resilience in Africa. Ultimately, realizing the full potential of MAR in Africa will require undertaking hydrogeological and hydrological studies to determine feasibility of MAR, especially in geographic regions of high inter-annual climate variability and growing water demand. This, supported by increased research to gauge success of existing MAR projects and to address challenges, would help with future siting, design and implementation of MAR in Africa.

Understanding recharge processes is fundamental to improve sustainable groundwater resource management. Shallow groundwater (SGW) is being developed for multiple purposes in Ethiopia without consideration of monitoring. We established a citizen science-based hydro-meteorological monitoring network, with a focus on SGW recharge estimation, in Eshito micro-watershed, Ethiopia. Citizen scientists collected rainfall, groundwater-level and stream water-level data. We characterized the shallow aquifer using pumping tests. The data were used to estimate SGW recharge using three methods: chloride mass balance, water-level fluctuation (WLF) and baseflow separation. Approximately 20% and 35% of annual rainfall amount contributes to recharge based on the chloride mass balance and WLF results, respectively. Baseflow separation showed recharge values for the watershed vary from 38% to 28% of annual rainfall at the upstream and downstream gauging stations, respectively. This study shows that the recharge in previously unmonitored micro-watersheds can be studied if citizens are involved in data generation.

Integration of remote sensing data sets from multiple satellites is tested to simulate water storage variation of Lake Ziway, Ethiopia for the period 2009-2018. Sixty Landsat ETM+/OLI images served to trace temporal variation of lake surface area using a water extraction index. Time series of lake levels were acquired from two altimetry databases that were validated by in-situ lake level measurements. Coinciding pairs of optical satellite based lake surface area and radar altimetry based lake levels were related through regression and served for simulating lake storage variation. Indices for extracting lake surface area from images showed 91–99 % overall accuracy. Lake water levels from the altimetry products well agreed to in-situ lake level measurements with R2 = 0.92 and root mean square error of 11.9 cm. Based on this study we conclude that integrating satellite imagery and radar altimetry is a viable approach for frequent and accurate monitoring of lake water volume variation and for long-term change detection. Findings indicate water level reduction (4 cm/annum), surface area shrinkage (0.08km2 /annum) and water storage loss (20.4Mm3 /annum) of Lake Ziway (2009–2018).

We present an evidence-based approach to identify how best to support development of groundwater for smallscale irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We argue that it is important to focus this effort on shallow groundwater resources. We demonstrate and test this proposal at a case study site: Dangila woreda in the northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. This site was selected to allow exploration of a shallow weathered volcanic regolith type aquifer formation which is found to the South of Lake Tana and also exists more extensively across Ethiopia. We believe lessons from this case study are transferable and there is a case for arguing that shallow groundwater represents a neglected opportunity for promoting sustainable small-scale irrigated agriculture in SSA. In comparison with other global regions, the groundwater resources of SSA are among the least understood; borehole records and hydrogeological studies are lacking. Assessments of groundwater resources do exist, but they rely on remotely sensed data combined with modelling at national or regional scale, and they focus on deeper aquifers. There is a need for these broad evaluations to be supplemented by localised and detailed assessments. The case study here presents such an assessment in order to support analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with developing small-scale irrigation utilising shallow groundwater. A multimethod groundwater recharge assessment was conducted utilising formal and community-based monitoring, field investigation and existing published data. Water table recovery tests at existing hand dug wells confirm that well yields of 1 l/s are achievable at the end of the wet season when water would be available to support an additional irrigated crop. Hydraulic conductivity estimates ranged from 0.2 to 6.4 m/d in the dry season and from 2.8 to 22.3 m/day in the wet season. Specific yield estimations have a wider range though the mean value of 0.09 is as would be expected. Records of groundwater levels and rainfall monitored by the local community for the period April 2014 to April 2018 show that all the wells maintained useable water levels beyond the end of the rainy season. An assessment of the hydrology of the Kilti catchment provided insights into groundwater availability within the wider area. The catchment receives about 1600 mm/year of rainfall, of which about 350 mm/year enters the groundwater as recharge, discharging to the river as baseflow with a similar amount of rapid runoff contributing to a total river flow of about 400 mm/year. The lowest value of baseflow is 82% of the mean baseflow, which suggests a degree of buffering and indicates that groundwater is available even in a very dry year. We conclude that arguments previously put forward against the promotion of shallow groundwater use for agriculture in SSA appear exaggerated. Our analysis challenges the view that shallow aquifers are unproductive and that irrigation will have u

Background: Grazing by livestock and cultivation have been considered as two important causes of soil erosion and nutrient export. However, there has been limited evidence that grazing or cultivation matters to soil erosion and nutrient export in Ethiopia. Hence, this study was conducted in the Galesa watershed in Ethiopia to examine the effects of grazing and cultivation on runoff, soil loss, and nutrient export. Daily values of runoff, soil erosion, and nutrient outflow were measured for three consecutive years following standard procedures. Independent t test was performed to check if the means of runoff, soil loss, and nutrient loss from grazing and cultivated lands were significantly different. Moreover, repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test if mean values of runoff, soil loss, and nutrient export varied significantly over the study years. Results: Although the average annual runoff depth was 7.8% higher in grazing land (GL), soil erosion was significantly lower (39%) in GL as compared to cultivated land (CL). Similarly, sediment and runoff-associated annual losses of total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P), exchangeable potassium (K), and organic carbon (OC) were low in the GL treatments. Lowest losses of total N (9.30 kg ha-1 year-1 ), available P (0.83 kg ha-1 year-1 ), and exchangeable K (1.84 kg ha-1 year-1 ) were recorded in GL treatment. Likewise, lowest losses of sediment-associated total N (32.8 kg ha-1 year-1 ), available P (0.39 kg ha-1 year-1 ), exchangeable K (0.23 kg ha-1 year-1 ), and soil organic carbon (630 kg ha-1 year-1 ) were recorded from GL over the 3 years of experimentation. Conclusion: Our results indicate that cultivation increased soil erosion as compared to grazing. Although there were significant reductions in soil erosion and nutrient export from grazing lands compared with cultivated lands, the absolute losses were still high. This implies the need for grazing land management using appropriate physical and biological erosion control measures to increase productivity and reduce soil erosion as well as nutrient export.

Investments in irrigation contribute to poverty reduction and enhance food security. This paper considers irrigation investments more broadly in the context of rural–urban linkages and thus examines rural irrigation schemes and peri-urban and urban agriculture using freshwater, groundwater and wastewater. We present case studies from East, West and Southern Africa, while focusing on the imperative of smallholders and of food security and nutrition. Evidence from Big Data and telecoupling show that, amid global change and sustainability issues, irrigation development strengthens connections between humans and nature with notable benefits to food security. Transforming investments to feed the future generation require priority investments in irrigation, solar energy for groundwater pumping, groundwater development policy, and integration of peri-urban and urban agriculture into food systems. Equally important will be no-regret interventions in wastewater reuse, water storage and groundwater buffer, micro-irrigation, and wholesale reconfiguration of farming systems, through anticipatory investments, to safeguard food security and sustainability into the distant future.

This paper presents results of a data partnership framework for strengthening evidence-based planning and implementation that was initiated in 2019 in five selected African countries (Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, and Togo) during the second round of the CAADP biennial review (BR) process. It analyzes the effect of the activities conducted on the data reporting rate and the quality of data reported in the five pilot countries, compared with what was achieved in like-pilot countries. The like-pilot countries are non-pilot countries that have characteristics like the pilot countries at the baseline which affect selection into the pilot or the data reporting and quality outcomes. Different methods (standard deviations, propensity score matching, and two-stage weighted regression) are used to identify the like-pilot countries, and a difference-in-difference method is used to estimate the effect of the pilot activities on the outcomes. The capacity-strengthening activities focused on working with the country Biennial Review (BR) team to: assess the inaugural or 2018 BR process and identify the data gaps; constitute and train members of data clusters to compile and check the data for the 2020 BR; and then validate and submit the data. The findings show that the activities helped the pilot countries to improve their performance in the data reporting rate and the quality of data reported in the 2020 BR. The largest improvement is observed in Togo and Senegal, followed by Kenya and Malawi, and then Mozambique. The average increase in the data reporting rate between 2018 and 2020 BRs for the pilot countries is greater than the average progress made in the like-pilot countries by about 6 to 9 % pts. This derives mostly from improvements in the data reporting rate for the indicators under theme 3 on ending hunger. Regarding the quality of data reported (measured as the percent of the data reported that have issues) too, the pilot countries on average performed better than the like-pilot countries, especially with respect to the data reported under themes 2 on investment in agriculture and 3 on ending hunger. But most of the estimated differences have low or no statistical significance. Implications for sustaining the progress made in the pilot countries, as well as for extending the activities to other countries, for the next rounds of the BR are discussed.

Endosulfan, a mixture of a- and -isomers, is used by farmers in the wet and dry season for khat and onion production. Khat leaf samples were collected in farmer fields at intervals of 1 h; 1, 5, 9 and 14 d after application. The dissipation rate of a- and -isomers and residue level in khat were compared with residue levels in onion. The extraction was done by using Quick Easy Cheap Effective Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) method and analyzed by Gas Chromatography – Electron Capture Detector (GC-ECD). Greater residue a- and -isomer endosulfan levels were found in khat compared to onion as khat leaves are sprayed repeatedly in two week. Residue levels of khat exceeded the tolerable EU limit of 0.05 mg.kg-1 for leafy vegetables and herbs. For both raw and processed onion sample a- and endosulfan residues level were below the tolerable of limit EU regulation for bulb vegetables (i.e. 0. 1 mg.kg-1). The mean half-life for the a-isomer of endosulfan was 3.4 d in the wet season and 3.6 d in the dry season whilst that for the -isomer was 5.0 d and 5.4 d respectively. Both isomers dissipated fastest in the wet season under conditions of high humidity and precipitation. The -isomer persisted longer and had a lower dissipation rate from plants surface compared to the a-isomer.

Land degradation is a critical problem around the world. Intensive rain-fed and irrigated crop and livestock systems have contributed to the degradation of land and natural resources. Numerous institutional and socioeconomic challenges complicate attempts to reverse land degradation, including the lack of short-term incentives for investment; low investment by communities in natural resources management that offers little immediate financial reward; failure of public sector institutions to invest sufficiently in natural resources management because of low, immediate political rewards; and sectoral fragmentation, among others. In poor communities, the incentive to extract short-term economic returns from land and natural resources often outweighs perceived benefits from investing in long-term environmental restoration, and related economic and ecosystem returns. Restoring degraded ecosystems through the establishment of exclosures – areas that are excluded from woodcutting, grazing and agricultural activities – is an increasingly common practice in the Ethiopian Highlands, and regional states are also following this practice. This report proposes and applies an adapted business model to explore the feasibility of exclosures for land restoration. It aims to identify short-term revenue streams from activities that can be carried out within exclosures, such as beekeeping, harvesting fodder for livestock fattening, and cultivating high-value plant species, including fruits and herbs. These are feasible, sustainable economic activities that could allow for the restoration of ecosystem services over the long term. Mobilization of financial resources, engagement of local communities, provision of training and continuous follow-up, as well as facilitation of market opportunities in the value chain for local communities and enterprises (e.g., creating market linkages and establishing innovation platform to engage with market actors) could support the sustainable implementation of the revenue streams.

Application of participatory modelling to water-saving strategies in smallholder farming is rare. Farmer-preferred and efficient strategies were identified through participatory modelling. The farmersapos; basin irrigation and scheduling (I), farmersapos; scheduling with furrow strategy (II), farmersapos; scheduling with alternate furrow strategy (III) and scheduling at 55% maximum allowable depletion (MAD) (IV) were evaluated for maize (Zea mais) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) using the FAO AquaCrop model. The results showed that I resulted in over-irrigation for maize and under-irrigation for barley, while IV resulted in maximum yield (8.6 t ha-1 for maize and 2 t ha-1 for barley) with maximum (1.8 kg m-3) and minimum (0.8 kg m-3) water productivity of maize under IV and I, respectively. A shift from I to IV (most preferred strategy by farmers) can save 8440 mm of water, which can possibly bring back 18.5 ha of land into irrigation. It is essential to interact with farmers on a basis of mutual comprehension to increase their trust and to lay a base for discussion, awareness raising and decision making. The transdisciplinary approach, Community of Practice (CoP) and Learning Practice Alliance (LPA) were appropriate platforms for participation. The increased crop yield and water productivity may contribute to ecological and economical sustainability and social equity.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the historical skill of models in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) in two regions of Ethiopia: northwestern Ethiopia and the Awash, one of the main Ethiopian river basins. An ensemble of CMIP5 models was first selected so that atmosphere-only (Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project, AMIP) and fully coupled simulations could be directly compared, assessing the effects of coupled model sea surface temperature (SST) biases. The annual cycle, seasonal biases, trends, and variability were used as metrics of model skill. In the Awash basin, both coupled and AMIP simulations had late Belg or March-May (MAM) rainy seasons. In connection to this, most models also missed the June rainfall minimum entirely. Northwest Ethiopia, which has a unimodal rainfall cycle in observations, is shown to have bimodal seasonality in models, even in the AMIP simulations. Significant AMIP biases in these regions show that model biases are not related to SST biases alone. Similarly, a clear connection between model resolution and skill was not found. Models simulated temperature with more skill than rainfall, but trends showed an underestimation in Belg (MAM/April-May (AM)) trends, and an overestimation in Kiremt or July-September (JAS/June-September (JJAS)) trends. The models which were shown to have the most skill in a range of categories were HadGEM2-AO, GFDL-CM3, and MPI-ESM-MR. The biases and discrepancies in model skill for different metrics of rainfall and temperature found in this study provide a useful basis for a process-based analysis of the CMIP5 ensemble in Ethiopia.

This brief assesses the current state of migration-related policies in Ethiopia, and provides some early recommendations and policy pointers based on work carried out under the AGRUMIG project. In Ethiopia, the scale of migration and its impacts on rural and urban transformations are underestimated and probably increasing. There is a lack of a coherent national migration policy in the country, which is a potential development hindrance. Establishing a national migration policy and improving bilateral arrangements with receiving countries could help Ethiopia reap greater positive impacts from migration and remittance income, including assisting in crucial processes of social transformation in rural areas.

Purpose: The need to increase women’s access to extension has been extensively discussed. This paper assesses women’s access to extension services through the Plantwise extension approach as a baseline for future comparison of women’s access through other extension approaches. It also assesses whether crops that men and women farmers seek plant health advice on are similar or not, and attempts to disperse assumptions that continue to be made about what crops women and men grow. Approach: We analysed data from the Plantwise Online Management System for 13 countries using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings: We show that the Plantwise extension approach enables higher levels of women’s access than generally reported for agricultural extension, that the crops that women and men seek extension advice on is not gender dependent, and there are few clear distinctions between their crops of interest. Practical implications: There is limited literature studying gender inclusiveness in different extension approaches. The findings add to the documentation of assessing women’s access to demand-driven extension. Theoretical implications: Plantwise is a new extension approach which needs to be assessed from spatial and temporal perspectives to understand whether demand-driven extension enables increased women’s access over time. Originality/value: Extension service provision is often based on assumptions about what crops are being grown. Small studies have challenged these assumptions, but this large dataset enables us to test these assumptions more thoroughly across 13 countries adding to the weight of evidence against the existence of women’s and men’s crops.

Feeding 9 billion people in 2050 will require sustainable development of all water resources, both surface and subsurface. Yet, little is known about the irrigation potential of hillside shallow aquifers in many highland settings in sub-Saharan Africa that are being considered for providing irrigation water during the dry monsoon phase for smallholder farmers. Information on the shallow groundwater being available in space and time on sloping lands might aid in increasing food production in the dry monsoon phase. Therefore, the research objective of this work is to estimate potential groundwater storage as a potential source of irrigation water for hillside aquifers where lateral subsurface flow is dominant. The research was carried out in the Robit Bata experimental watershed in the Lake Tana basin which is typical of many undulating watersheds in the Ethiopian highlands. Farmers have excavated more than 300 hand dug wells for irrigation. We used 42 of these wells to monitor water table fluctuation from April 16, 2014 to December 2015. Precipitation and runoff data were recorded for the same period. The temporal groundwater storage was estimated using two methods: one based on the water balance with rainfall as input and baseflow and evaporative losses leaving the watershed as outputs; the second based on the observed rise and fall of water levels in wells. We found that maximum groundwater storage was at the end of the rain phase in September after which it decreased linearly until the middle of December due to short groundwater retention times. In the remaining part of the dry season period, only wells located close to faults contained water. Thus, without additional water sources, sloping lands can only be used for significant irrigation inputs during the first 3 months out of the 8 months long dry season.

This analysis revisits the decades-old relative deprivation theory of migration. In contrast to the traditional view that migration is driven by absolute income maximization, we test whether relative deprivation induces migration in the context of sub-Saharan Africa. Taking advantage of the internationally comparable longitudinal data from integrated household and agriculture surveys from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda, we use panel fixed effects to estimate the effects of relative deprivation on migration decisions. Using per capita consumption expenditure and multidimensional wealth index as well-being measures, we find that a household’s migration decision is based not only on its absolute well-being level but also on the relative position of the household in the well-being distribution of the community in which it resides. We also discover that the effect of relative deprivation on migration is amplified in rural, agricultural, and male-headed households. Results are robust to alternative specifications including the use of Hausman Taylor Instrumental Variable (HTIV) estimator and pooled data across the five countries. Results confirm that the “migration-relative deprivation” relationship also holds in the context of sub-Saharan Africa. We argue that policies designed to check rural–urban migration through rural transformation and poverty reduction programs should use caution because such programs can increase economic inequality, which further increases migration flow.

Smallholder farmers in Africa rely heavily on rainfed agriculture. Those who have access to irrigation often receive it at no charge, but quantity, frequency and reliability may be limited without adequate revenue for maintenance and operation. Moreover, the absence of fees means that there are no pricing signals to encourage conservation of this scarce resource. In a situation where farmers do not pay for irrigation water use, this study investigates demand-side issues by eliciting farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for access to irrigation water. This study employs choice experiment (CE) and contingent valuation methods (CVMs) to value access to irrigation water, taking Ethiopia as a case in point. Unlike previous studies, this study covers current users and non-users of irrigation water using the same baseline (status quo) conditions — no irrigation — and compares the preferences of these two groups. The four attributes identified in the CE are number of crop seasons, frequency of watering in a season, crop type, and payment level. Results show that marginal WTP was Birr 17.7 (US$ 0.98), 261.8 (US$ 14.54) and 87.6 (US$ 4.87) for number of crop seasons, watering frequency in a season and crop type, respectively. Our estimates of farmers’ WTP for operation and maintenance of irrigation schemes per hectare of irrigated land range from Birr 738 (US$ 41.00) (from the CE) to Birr 784 (US$ 43.56) (from the CVM). We also find that, compared to current users, non-users were willing to pay more in general, as well as for the number of crop seasons specifically.

Land restoration is considered to be the remedy for 21st century global challenges of land degradation. As a result, various land restoration and conservation efforts are underway at different scales. Ethiopia is one of the countries with huge investments in land restoration. Tremendous land management practices have been implemented across the country since the 1970s. However, the spatial distribution of the interventions has not been documented, and there is no systematic, quantitative evidence on whether land restoration efforts have achieved the restoration of desired ecosystem services. Therefore, we carried out a meta-analysis of peer-reviewed scientific literature related to land restoration efforts and their impacts in Ethiopia. Results show that most of the large-scale projects have been implemented in the highlands, specifically in Tigray and Amhara regions covering about 24 agroecological zones, and land restoration impact studies are mostly focused in the highlands but restricted in about 11 agroecological zones. The highest mean effect on agricultural productivity is obtained from the combination of bunds and biological interventions followed by conservation agriculture practices with 170% and 18% increases, respectively. However, bunds alone, biological intervention alone, and terracing (fanya juu) reveal negative effects on productivity. The mean effect of all land restoration interventions on soil organic carbon is positive, the highest effect being from “bunds + biological” (139%) followed by exclosure (90%). Reduced soil erosion and runoff are the dominant impacts of all interventions. The results can be used to improve existing guidelines to better match land restoration options with specific desired ecosystem functions and services. Although the focus of this study was on the evaluation of the impacts of land restoration efforts on selected ecosystem services, impacts on livelihood and national socioeconomy have not been examined. Thus, strengthening socioeconomic studies at national scale to assess the sustainability of land restoration initiatives is an essential next step.

Credit constraint is considered by many as one of the key barriers to adoption of modern agricultural technologies, such as chemical fertilizer, improved seeds, and irrigation technologies, among smallholders. Past research and much policy discourse associates agricultural credit constraints with supply-side factors, such as limited access to credit sources or high costs of borrowing. However, demand-side factors, such as risk-aversion and financial illiteracy among borrowers, as well as high transaction costs, can also play important roles in credit-rationing for smallholders. Using primary survey data from Ethiopia and Tanzania, this study examines the nature of credit constraints facing smallholders and the factors that affect credit constraints. In addition, we assess whether credit constraints are gender-differentiated. Results show that demand-side credit constraints are at least as important as supply-side factors in both countries. Women are more likely to be credit constrained (from both the supply and demand sides) than men. Based on these findings, we suggest that policies should focus on addressing both supply- and demand-side credit constraints, including through targeted interventions to reduce risk, such as crop insurance and gender-sensitive policies to improve women’s access to credit.

Small-scale irrigation (SSI) provides great benefits to farmers in terms of increased yields and profits, better food and nutrition security and greater resilience to climate shocks. Ethiopia has high potential for expanding SSI and has invested considerably in this area in recent years. Despite these investments, several challenges to further expansion of irrigation technologies remain. Different stakeholders in the country play important roles in overcoming these barriers to further scale technologies for SSI. This paper explores institutional arrangements for the diffusion of small-scale irrigation technologies by mapping the landscape of key actors involved, their interconnections, and their influence. This paper draws on an analysis of stakeholder data collected through two participatory workshops in Ethiopia, one at the national level and one at the Oromia regional level, using the Net-Map approach. Results show the dominance of government actors in the diffusion of SSI at both the national and regional levels, while most private sector and NGO actors remain in the periphery. Participants in both workshops highlighted the need for increased financing services to support the adoption of SSI and measures aimed at increasing the supply of high-quality irrigation equipment, such as modern water lifting technologies. One notable difference between the national and regional results was that at the regional level, farmers, and to some extent traders and input suppliers, were considered to be more influential in the diffusion of irrigation technologies, while they were considered marginal actors at the national level.

Effective watershed planning requires an understanding of the hydrology. In the humid tropical monsoon climates and especially in volcanic highland regions such as the Ethiopian Highlands, the understanding of watershed processes is incomplete. The objective is to better understand the hydrology of the volcanic regions in the humid highlands by linking the hillslope processes with the discharge at the outlet. The Ene-Chilala watershed was selected for this study. The infiltration rate, piezometric water levels and discharge from two nested sub watersheds and at the watershed outlet were measured during a four-year period. Infiltration rates on the hillsides exceeded the rainfall intensity most of the time. The excess rain recharged a perched hillside aquifer. Water flowed through the perched aquifer as interflow to rivers and outlet. In addition, saturation excess overland flow was generated in the valley bottoms. Perched water tables heights were predicted by summing up the recharge over the travel time from the watershed divide. Travel times ranged from a few days for piezometers close to the divide to 40 days near the outlet. River discharge was simulated by adding the interflow from the upland to overland flow from the saturated valley bottom lands. Overland flow accounted only for one-fourth of the total flow. There was good agreement between predicted and observed discharge during the rain phase therefore the hillslope hydrologically processes were successfully linked with the discharge at the outlet.

This working paper was produced under the European Union Horizon 2020 funded AGRUMIG project and traces the impact of Covid-19 on migration trends in seven project countries – China, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal and Thailand. The context of global migration has changed dramatically due to the coronavirus pandemic. Both within and between countries there has been a substantial curtailment of movement. As a result of multiple lockdowns, economic activity has severely declined and labor markets have ground to a halt, with mass unemployment in industrialized economies looming on the horizon. For both migrant hosting and origin countries – some are substantially both – this poses a set of complex development challenges. Partners of the AGRUMIG project undertook a rapid review of impacts across project countries, exploring the impacts on rural households but also identifying the persistent desire to migrate in spite of restrictions.

Despite increasing popularity of farmer-led irrigation in Ethiopia, little is known about socio-economics of farmers who receive public support in accelerating its expansion. We investigate this question by combining spatial land suitability for groundwater- and solar irrigation with pre-existing socioeconomic data. We find that if public support in farmer-led irrigation expansion were to be provided to farmers who own land areas that are also spatially highly suitable for irrigation, high-value crop cultivators and wealthier farmers would most likely benefit from such investments. Specifically, we find evidence that farmers in land areas more suitable for groundwater irrigation cultivated more high value crops such as vegetables, fruits, and cash crops. Cultivation of staple crops such as cereals, oilseeds, legumes and root crops were negatively associated with groundwater irrigation suitability. In addition, we find a positive correlation between farmers’ wealth status (measured by consumption expenditure, asset index, and land size) and groundwater irrigation suitability. Controlling for regional differences and current irrigation coverage, one percent increase in irrigation suitability score was associated with 0.2% increase in per-capita consumption expenditure. Land areas that were suitable for irrigation were more likely to belong to large-holders than smallholders. Results imply that policies which aim to facilitate farmer-led irrigation development in Ethiopia should not rely only on spatial suitability for irrigation. Household socio-economics and existing agricultural practices are equally important.

This working paper was prepared under a development and conservation project – Societal Development and Ecosystems Conservation in Sahelian Wetlands (SAWEL) – focusing on improving food security and nutrition in the Sahel region by helping to safeguard wetlands through ecologically sustainable agricultural water management. SAWEL is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). This paper provides an overview of the current situation with regards to hydrological monitoring in the Ziway-Shala sub-basin in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia, including details of existing river and lake gauging stations in the sub-basin. The study was jointly conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Hydrosolutions through consultation with staff of the Rift Valley Lakes Basin Development Office (RVLBDO), field trips to gauging stations, inspection of data recording books and reviewing previous studies. In addition to highlighting gaps in hydrological monitoring in the Ziway-Shala sub-basin, opportunities (e.g., remote sensing and citizen science) for novel, non-traditional hydrological monitoring are also presented.

The estimation of crop water demand and understanding groundwater use is an essential component for managing water effectively. Groundwater is the main source of irrigation in Dangila. However, there is a lack of information in the study area on amount of irrigated land, irrigation water use and demand, groundwater recharge. Consequently, the objective of this study is to determine the groundwater recharge and its potential for dry season irrigation. The study was conducted in Brante watershed of 5678 ha located in Dangila woreda, Ethiopia. Water table data from twenty-five wells and discharge data at the outlet of the watershed used to assess recharge amount in 2017. To calculate irrigation water demand, CROPWAT model was used. Questionnaires were undertaken to assess groundwater use. A KOMPSAT-2 image was used to map shallow groundwater irrigated vegetables in February 2017. From the soil water balance method, the annual groundwater recharge was 17,717,690 m3 which is 15.8% of annual rainfall, and recharge amount of 14,853,339 m3 was obtained using water table fluctuation method. From satellite image classification the area coverage of dry season irrigated vegetables (onion, tomato, pepper) below the main road was 4.02 ha. From CROPWAT result, seasonal irrigation water demand for onion, Tomato, and pepper was 333,314, and 261 mm respectively. However, the questioners result indicates that farmers apply in average 20% more water than crop water demand. In the watershed 60,150 m3, 62,750 m3 and 41,603 m3 of water was abstracted for irrigation, domestic and livestock use respectively. The ratio of groundwater use to groundwater recharge at the watershed scale was found to be only 1%. This study indicates that the current use of groundwater was sustainable. For better improvement of household livelihood irrigation can be further expand using ground water. Future work should be performed to determine if the method outlined in this research could be used to accurately estimate available water potential.

A correct and timely land use/land cover (LULC) classification provides indispensable information for the effective management of environmental and natural resources. However, earlier studies mapped the LULC map of Bilate Sub-basin using remote sensing images that were acquired for a single season. Hence, these studies did not consider the seasonal effects on the accuracy of LULC classification. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate changes in classification accuracy for images acquired during wet and dry seasons in the Bilate Sub-basin. LULC of the study area was classified using the Landsat 8 satellite imageries. Based on field observations, we classified the LULC of the study area into 9 dominant classes. The classification for the two seasons resulted in a noticeable difference between the LULC composition of the study area because of seasonal differences in the classification accuracy. The overall accuracy of the LULC maps was 80%for the wet season and 90% for the dry season with Kappa coefficient values of 0.8 and 0.9 respectively. Therefore, the two seasons showed a significant difference in the overall accuracy of the classification. However, we discovered that when the classification accuracy was tested locally, that is for individual pixels, the results were not the same. In Bilate Sub-basin, several pixels (14.71%) were assigned to different LULC classes on the two seasons maps while 85.29% of the LULC classes remained unaltered in the two maps. According to the classification results, the season had a noticeable effect on the accuracy of LULC classification. This suggests that for LULC classification, multitemporal images should be used rather than a single remote sensing image.

With decreasing aquifer levels, increasing groundwater pollution, inequitable access, and generally poor management outcomes, better groundwater governance has been put forward as a recipe to address these challenges worldwide. Existing recommendations focus on improved legal frameworks, monitoring and control of access and abstraction through permits or formal rights. In addition, decentralized water management, enforcement of regulations, and supply-side technological solutions are seen as cornerstone components of good groundwater governance systems. However, until now, these approaches have generally failed to reconcile the fundamental dynamics and properties of groundwater as a natural resource and of governance as a social and political phenomenon. This has caused a disregard for local to planetary boundaries, power dynamics, and intra- and intergenerational inequalities in access to benefits from groundwater. As the current general notion of good groundwater governance is limited, solutions put forward are also partial and do not encompass the wider challenges affecting groundwater governance, in effect replacing sustainable management goals and policy for governance as a process. This paper takes a particular look at the Middle East and North Africa and agricultural groundwater use for irrigation to constructively redefine groundwater governance and fully address the multilayered and multifaceted core challenges of groundwater governance. Equally, the paper puts forward a new conceptual thinking that will help support the effective development of governance-based solutions to achieve sustainable, socially acceptable, resilient and equitable resource use.

Ethiopia has decades of experience in implementing land and water management interventions. The overarching objectives of this review were to synthesize evidences on the impact of implementation of land and water management practices on agricultural landscapes in Ethiopia and to evaluate the use of adaptive management (AM) approaches as a tool to manage uncertainties. We explored how elements of the structures and functions of landscapes have been transformed, and how the components of AM, such as structured decision-making and learning processes, have been applied. Despite numerous environmental and economic benefits of land and water management interventions in Ethiopia, this review revealed gaps in AM approaches. These include: (i) inadequate evidence-based contextualization of interventions, (ii) lack of monitoring of bio-physical and socioeconomic processes and changes post implementation, (iii) lack of trade-off analyses, and (iv) inadequacy of local community engagement and provision of feedback. Given the many uncertainties we must deal with, future investment in AM approaches tailored to the needs and context would help to achieve the goals of sustainable agricultural landscape transformation. The success depends, among other things, on the ability to learn from the knowledge generated and apply the learning as implementation evolves.

The engagement of communities (non-scientists) in the collection of reliable hydrometeorological data (a citizen science approach) has the potential to address part of the data gaps in Ethiopia. Due to the high cost of establishing and maintaining gauging stations, hydrometeorological monitoring in the country tends to focus on large river basins (gt; 1,000 km2) with little or no consideration of small watersheds (lt; 100 km2). However, hydrologic data from small watersheds are critical for two main reasons: (i) measure the impacts of watershed management interventions on water resources; and (ii) inform local development plans, such as small- and micro-scale irrigation development. Therefore, this paper examines the institutional arrangements for hydrometeorological monitoring and the practices followed by the Basin Development Authority and National Meteorology Agency in Ethiopia. It is important to investigate the possibilities of embedding a citizen science approach into the data collection systems of these two organizations, as this will help to address data gaps, particularly at micro-watershed levels. Based on the assessments, there is potential to embed the approach into the institutional structure of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) for hydrometeorological monitoring in micro-watersheds, due to the following reasons: (i) MoA has a high demand for hydrometeorological data from small rivers to be used for small- and micro-scale irrigation development, and for measuring the impacts of watershed development interventions on water resources; and (ii) MoA has an institutional structure from federal to community level that supports the engagement of communities in development interventions. However, effectively embedding the citizen science approach into regular monitoring of MoA depends on the clear distribution of mandates; developing legal, ethical, methodological and quality frameworks; and developing clear data sharing and incentive mechanisms involving all partners.

There is a proactive interest in recovering water, nutrients and energy from waste streams with the increase in municipal wastewater volumes and innovations in resource recovery. Based on the synthesis of wastewater data, this study provides insights into the global and regional “potential” of wastewater as water, nutrient and energy sources while acknowledging the limitations of current resource recovery opportunities and promoting efforts to fast-track highefficiency returns. The study estimates suggest that, currently, 380 billion m3 (m3 = 1,000 L) of wastewater are produced annually across the world which is a volume fivefold the volume of water passing through Niagara Falls annually. Wastewater production globally is expected to increase by 24% by 2030 and 51% by 2050 over the current level. Among major nutrients, 16.6 Tg (Tg = million metric ton) of nitrogen are embedded in wastewater produced worldwide annually; phosphorus stands at 3.0 Tg and potassium at 6.3 Tg. The full nutrient recovery from wastewater would offset 13.4% of the global demand for these nutrients in agriculture. Beyond nutrient recovery and economic gains, there are critical environmental benefits, such as minimizing eutrophication. At the energy front, the energy embedded in wastewater would be enough to provide electricity to 158 million households. These estimates and projections are based on the maximum theoretical amounts of water, nutrients and energy that exist in the reported municipal wastewater produced worldwide annually. Supporting resource recovery from wastewater will need a step-wise approach to address a range of constraints to deliver a high rate of return in direct support of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 6, 7 and 12, but also other Goals, including adaptation to climate change and efforts in advancing “netzero” energy processes towards a green economy.

Groundwater in sub-Saharan Africa supports livelihoods and poverty alleviation1,2 , maintains vital ecosystems, and strongly influences terrestrial water and energy budgets3 . Yet the hydrological processes that govern groundwater recharge and sustainability—and their sensitivity to climatic variability—are poorly constrained4,5 . Given the absence of firm observational constraints, it remains to be seen whether model-based projections of decreased water resources in dry parts of the region4 are justified. Here we show, through analysis of multidecadal groundwater hydrographs across sub-Saharan Africa, that levels of aridity dictate the predominant recharge processes, whereas local hydrogeology influences the type and sensitivity of precipitation–recharge relationships. Recharge in some humid locations varies by as little as five per cent (by coefficient of variation) across a wide range of annual precipitation values. Other regions, by contrast, show roughly linear precipitation–recharge relationships, with precipitation thresholds (of roughly ten millimetres or less per day) governing the initiation of recharge. These thresholds tend to rise as aridity increases, and recharge in drylands is more episodic and increasingly dominated by focused recharge through losses from ephemeral overland flows. Extreme annual recharge is commonly associated with intense rainfall and flooding events, themselves often driven by large-scale climate controls. Intense precipitation, even during years of lower overall precipitation, produces some of the largest years of recharge in some dry subtropical locations. Our results therefore challenge the ‘high certainty’ consensus regarding decreasing water resources4 in such regions of sub-Saharan Africa. The potential resilience of groundwater to climate variability in many areas that is revealed by these precipitation–recharge relationships is essential for informing reliable predictions of climate-change impacts and adaptation strategies.

Increase in salinity levels poses a threat to many hot and arid farming areas in the Middle East and North Africa region. In some cases, farmers install desalination units to produce freshwater to irrigate high-value crops. However, the produced reject brine is an environmental hazard since it is disposed off in the soil creating a vicious circle of salinity aggravation. The current work focuses on the financial aspect of using the reject brine, generated from reverse osmosis (RO) unit, to grow fish (Sparidentex hasta, sobaity sea bream) and halophytic species (Salicornia bigelovii, Distichlis spicata, and Sporobolus virginicus) for various uses in an integrated farming approach. Different water treatments (RO brine, RO brine mixed with groundwater, aquabrine, and aquabrine mixed with groundwater) were tested to evaluate their impact on halophytes’ growth and production. Irrigating with RO brine resulted in positive net returns for S. bigelovii, directed for fresh tips’ production, as well as for the grasses D. spicata and S. virginicus. However, more returns were obtained when RO brine passed through the aquaculture system where it got enriched with more nutrients due to fish waste. Irrigation with brine from the aquaculture system tripled S. bigelovii production (23.7 t/ha) and increased returns per ha of approximately US $76,000 over irrigating with RO brine directly, compared to the US $5571 and the US $1884 for D. spicata and S. virginicus, respectively. Halophytic crops constitute one of the very few sustainable options to improve food and nutrition security in salt-affected regions, contributing in lands’ rehabilitation and enhancing farming livelihood income. Halophytes also constitute an imperative component to consider for nutrient-dense production systems such as integrated agri-aquaculture systems (IAAS) implemented in desert environments, and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats were explored through a SWOT analysis.

This analysis examines the dynamics of employment in agriculture and the agri-food system in Tanzania and Malawi by assessing the population age structure and movements of youth (aged 15-24) and young adults (aged 25-34) in and out of agriculture and the agri-food system. Using internationally comparable integrated household and agriculture surveys, we discover that the average age of a person who works in farming as own-farm labour is 34 years in Tanzania and 31 years in Malawi. Examination of the movements into and out of the agri-food system demonstrates a high degree of short-term stability of youth and young adult participation in farming in both countries. Specifically, 59 per cent of rural Tanzanian youth and 56 per cent of rural Malawian youth are consistently engaged in farming. Yet there is considerable mobility between different sectors of employment. More than 57 per cent of the youth cohort that was not involved in the agri-food system during the baseline entered the sector in the subsequent wave, and 12 per cent of those involved in the agri-food system during the baseline moved out of the sector in the subsequent wave. Even though the high degree of stability in farming participation is encouraging, it is likely that the poor economic prospects outside farming are what is driving strong participation in single-occupation farming. Given that increasing youth employment is a priority public policy for the Governments of Tanzania and Malawi, it is recommended that the countries attempt to diversify the rural economy by developing the many economic opportunities within the agri-food system.

This report presents findings from a study conducted to explore the synergies and trade-offs between built (i.e., engineered) and natural (i.e., ecological systems) infrastructure in the Tana River Basin, Kenya. The study considered hydrological, ecological and economic processes in order to value flow-related ecosystem services. It provides quantitative insights into the links between flow and the benefits derived from both built and natural infrastructure. The results provide initial perspectives not just on the monetary values of a number of ecosystem services (and how they change as flows vary and are altered by large dams) but also, importantly, aspects of equity and social inclusion, that also need to be considered in decision-making.

IWMI, a managing partner of FISH, conducted an assessment of youth participation in SSF, aquaculture and value chains between November 2017 and May 2018. The assessment was conducted in Africa and the Asia-Pacific, with a particular focus on the FISH focal countries of Egypt, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia in Africa and Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar and Solomon Islands in the Asia-Pacific. The objectives of this study were to (i) assess the participation of youth in fisheries and aquaculture, including opportunities and challenges for participation, (ii) understand what WorldFish and key partners (government organizations, nongovernmental organizations [NGOs] and others) are doing in the focal countries in relation to youth participation, and (iii) (based on the former two points) provide potential areas for further research that could support improved youth participation in aquaculture, SSF and value chains. In this report, definitions of SSF and aquaculture are adopted from WorldFish.

The impact of climate variability on groundwater storage has received limited attention despite widespread dependence on groundwater as a resource for drinking water, agriculture and industry. Here, we assess the climate anomalies that occurred over Southern Africa (SA) and East Africa, south of the Equator (EASE), during the major El Nio event of 2015–2016, and their associated impacts on groundwater storage, across scales, through analysis of in situ groundwater piezometry and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite data. At the continental scale, the El Nio of 2015–2016 was associated with a pronounced dipole of opposing rainfall anomalies over EASE and Southern Africa, north–south of ~12 S, a characteristic pattern of the El Nio–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Over Southern Africa the most intense drought event in the historical record occurred, based on an analysis of the cross-scale areal intensity of surface water balance anomalies (as represented by the standardised precipitation evapotranspiration index – SPEI), with an estimated return period of at least 200 years and a best estimate of 260 years. Climate risks are changing, and we estimate that anthropogenic warming only (ignoring changes to other climate variables, e.g. precipitation) has approximately doubled the risk of such an extreme SPEI drought event. These surface water balance deficits suppressed groundwater recharge, leading to a substantial groundwater storage decline indicated by both GRACE satellite and piezometric data in the Limpopo basin. Conversely, over EASE during the 2015–2016 El Nio event, anomalously wet conditions were observed with an estimated return period of ~10 years, likely moderated by the absence of a strongly positive Indian Ocean zonal mode phase. The strong but not extreme rainy season increased groundwater storage, as shown by satellite GRACE data and rising groundwater levels observed at a site in central Tanzania. We note substantial uncertainties in separating groundwater from total water storage in GRACE data and show that consistency between GRACE and piezometric estimates of groundwater storage is apparent when spatial averaging scales are comparable. These results have implications for sustainable and climate-resilient groundwater resource management, including the potential for adaptive strategies, such as managed aquifer recharge during episodic recharge events.

Water availability for agriculture will become a growing constraint in areas already under environmental and social stress due to population growth, development, and climatic variability. This limits the potential for expanding irrigated areas and for sustainable intensification, and compromises the ability of smallholder farmers to cater to the increased demand for food. This chapter assesses the key global challenges to water availability and how increasing scarcity and competition for water resources are affecting agricultural productivity, especially that of smallholder producers in Asia and Africa. It further analyzes emerging water management practices that can be sustainably adapted to the needs of smallholder farmers. We provide evidence of the economic viability and potential to improve farmers’ income from such solutions. The opportunity for scaling up high-impact solutions is also assessed against available empirical evidence.

This study applied a combined analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and goal programming (GP) model to assist decision makers in identifying and prioritizing key investment climate (IC) indicators for waste recycling and reuse enterprises in developing countries. Taking a sector based perspective, key IC criteria and indicators were identified and ranked through country stakeholder workshops in Ghana and Kenya. Three different key decision maker groups namely government agencies, private waste reuse enterprises and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were involved in identifying and ranking of IC criteria and indicators. The IC criteria identified were policy and infrastructure, finance, business support and markets. A number of indicators across each of the criteria were also identified. By incorporating qualitative and quantitative assessments, criteria and indicator rankings are determined using the AHP and GP model. Model results for Ghana revealed that both the private sector and NGO group ranked finance as the most important criterion while markets was the most important criterion for the government organization group. In contrast, none of the stakeholder groups in Kenya ranked finance as the most important criterion. This indicates that reform priorities of waste reuse sector vary across countries depending on the country’s current situation. The approach adopted in this study enables the criteria and indicators for assessing sector specific investment climate to be clearly identified and the decision making problem to be structured systematically. The exercise can be extended to other countries to elicit priority ranking of IC criteria and indicators for waste reuse enterprises.

For planning, development and management of water resources, understanding runoff mechanism and groundwater recharge is useful especially to watershed management and groundwater use for domestic and irrigation water supply. During the period of the study, stream flow, groundwater levels, infiltration tests, rainfall and soil moisture measurements were conducted. The result from these measurement showed that saturation excess runoff were dominant in Dangishta watershed while infiltration excess runoff also contributes in some parts of the upslope area. This result was also corroborated by better correlation of (R2 = 0.82) at the main outlet than upstream sub watershed outlet (R2 = 0.56) using SCS runoff equation. The result from groundwater level measurement using water table fluctuations approach showed that the total annual groundwater recharge were found to be 400 mm (i.e. 24% of the total annual rainfall) which is a significant amount likely because of the interflow processes to each well.

Rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa commonly rely on shallow hand-dug wells and springs; consequently, shallow aquifers are an extremely important water source. Increased utilisation of shallow groundwater could help towards achieving multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs) by positively impacting poverty, hunger, and health. However, these shallow aquifers are little studied and poorly understood, partly due to a paucity of existing hydrogeological information in many regions of sub-Saharan Africa. This study develops a hydrogeological conceptual model for Dangila woreda (district) in Northwest Ethiopia, based on extensive field investigations and implementation of a citizen science programme. Geological and water point surveys revealed a thin (3–18 m) weathered volcanic regolith aquifer overlying very low permeability basalt. Hydrochemistry suggested that deep groundwater within fractured and scoriaceous zones of the basalt is not (or is poorly) connected to shallow groundwater. Isotope analysis and well monitoring indicated shallow groundwater flow paths that are not necessarily coincident with surface water flow paths. Characteristics of the prevalent seasonal floodplains are akin to “dambos” that are well-described in literature for Southern Africa. Pumping tests, recharge assessments, and hydrometeorological analysis indicated the regolith aquifer shows potential for increased utilisation. This research is transferrable to the shallow volcanic regolith aquifers that overlie a substantial proportion of Ethiopia and are prevalent throughout the East African Rift and in several areas elsewhere on the continent.

This study was conducted on Eutric Nitisols of Holeta Agricultural Research Center (HARC) in the humid highlands of Ethiopia. The main objective was to assess the effect of tillage and crop residue management on runoff, soil loss and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield over three years (2009–2011). Nine treatments combining three tillage practices (zero, minimum and conventional tillage) and three rates of crop residue (0, 1 and 2 t ha-1 yr-1) were used. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The result showed that average runoff was significantly higher (332 mm) in zero tillage without crop residue (T0C0) and lower (198 mm) in conventional tillage with 2 t ha-1 yr-1 crop residue (T2C2). The average soil loss was lower (16 t ha-1 yr-1) in zero tillage with 2 t ha-1 yr-1 crop residue (T0C2) and higher (30 t ha-1 yr-1) in conventional tillage without crop residue (T2C0). Although, zero and minimum tillage treatments reduced soil loss significantly as compared with conventional tillage practices, the annual soil loss (16 t ha-1 yr-1) is still much higher than the tolerable soil loss for the Ethiopian highlands (2–10 t ha-1 yr-1). This suggests the need to complement zero and minimum tillage practices with physical soil and water conservation practices. On average, highest grain (2 t ha-1) and biomass (6 t ha-1) yields of wheat were recorded in T2C2 while the lowest grain and biomass yields were recorded in T0C0. Based on the above observation, we argue that conventional tillage combined with sufficient crop residue is the most appropriate approach to reduce runoff and increase wheat yield in the short-term. However, zero tillage practices with crop residue are effective to reduce soil loss. As this study was based on results of three years data, long-term study is needed to figure out the long-term impacts of tillage and crop residue management in Ethiopia.

Water resources in sub-Saharan Africa are more overstressed than in many other regions of the world. Experiments on commercial farms have shown that conservation agriculture (CA) can save water and improve the soil. Nevertheless, its benefits on smallholder irrigated farms have not been adequately investigated, particularly in dry monsoon phase in the Ethiopian highlands. We investigated the effect of conservation agriculture (grass mulch cover and no-tillage) on water-saving on smallholder farms in the Ethiopian highlands. Irrigated onion and garlic were grown on local farms. Two main factors were considered: the first factor was conservation agriculture versus conventional tillage, and the second factor was irrigation scheduling using reference evapotranspiration (ETo) versus irrigation scheduling managed by farmers. Results showed that for both onion and garlic, the yield and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) was over 40% greater for CA than conventional tillage (CT). The soil moisture after irrigation was higher in CA compared with CT treatment while CA used 49 mm less irrigation water. In addition, we found that ETo-based irrigation was superior to the farmers’ irrigation practices for both crops. IWUE was lower in farmers irrigation practices due to lower onion and garlic yield responses to overirrigation and greater water application variability.

The vast majority of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa depend on rainfed agriculture for food production and livelihood. Various factors including but not limited to rainfall variability, land degradation, and low soil fertility constrain agricultural productivity in the region. The objectives of this study were to 1) estimate the water resources potential to sustain small-scale irrigation (SSI) in Ethiopia during the dry season so as to expand food supply by growing vegetables, and 2) understand the gaps and constraints of vegetable production. The case studies were conducted in the Robit and Dangishta watersheds of the Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia. To document farmers’ cropping practices, field-level data were collected from 36 households who had been cultivating tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and onion (Allium cepa L.) during the dry season (November – April). Two components of the Integrated Decision Support System (IDSS) - the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and Agricultural Policy Environmental eXtender (APEX) – were respectively used to assess impacts of SSI at the watershed and field-scale levels. Results suggest that there is a substantial amount of surface runoff and shallow groundwater recharge at the watershed scale. The field-scale analysis in the Robit watershed indicated that optimal tomato yield could be obtained with 500 mm of water and 200 to 250 kg/ha of urea applied with 50 kg/ ha of diammonium phosphate (DAP). In Dangishta, optimum onion yield can be obtained with 400 mm of water and 120 to 180 kg/ha of urea applied with 50 kg/ha of DAP. The field-scale simulation indicated that the average shallow groundwater recharge (after accounting for other groundwater users such as household and livestock use) was not sufficient to meet tomato and onion water demand in the dry season (October to April). The fieldscale analysis also indicated that soil evaporation attributed a significant proportion of evapotranspiration (60% for onion and 40% for tomato). Use of mulching or other soil and water conservation interventions could optimize irrigation water for vegetable production by reducing soil evaporation and thereby increasing water availability in the crop root zone.

Intensification of rainfed agriculture in the Ethiopian highlands has resulted in soil degradation and hardpan formation, which has reduced rooting depth, decreased deep percolation, and increased direct runoff and sediment transport. The main objective of this study was to assess the potential impact of subsoiling on surface runoff, sediment loss, soil water content, infiltration rate, and maize yield. Three tillage treatments were replicated at five locations: (i) no tillage (zero tillage), (ii) conventional tillage (ox-driven Maresha plow, up to a depth of 15 cm), and (iii) manual deep ripping of the soil’s restrictive layers down to a depth of 60 cm (deep till). Results show that the posttreatment bulk density and penetration resistance of deep tillage was significantly less than in the traditional tillage and zero-tillage systems. In addition, the posttreatment infiltration rate for deep tillage was significantly greater, which resulted in significantly smaller runoff and sedimentation rates compared to conventional tillage and zero tillage. Maize yields were improved by 6% under deep tillage compared to conventional tillage and by 29% compared to no tillage. Overall, our findings show that deep tillage can be effective in overcoming some of the detrimental effects of hardpans in degraded soils.

Although most recharge estimation studies apply multiple methods to identify the possible range in recharge values, many do not distinguish clearly enough between inherent uncertainty of the methods and other factors affecting the results. We investigated the additional value that can be gained from multi-method recharge studies through insights into hydrogeological understanding, in addition to characterizing uncertainty. Nine separate groundwater recharge estimation methods, with a total of 17 variations, were applied at a shallow aquifer in northwest Ethiopia in the context of the potential for shallow groundwater resource development. These gave a wide range of recharge values from 45 to 814 mm/a. Critical assessment indicated that the results depended on what the recharge represents (actual, potential, minimum recharge or change in aquifer storage), and spatial and temporal scales, as well as uncertainties from application of each method. Important insights into the hydrogeological system were gained from this detailed analysis, which also confirmed that the range of values for actual recharge was reduced to around 280-430 mm/a. This study demonstrates that even when assumptions behind methods are violated, as they often are to some degree especially when data are limited, valuable insights into the hydrogeological system can be gained from application of multiple methods.

Globally, many populations face structural and environmental barriers to access safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. Among these populations are many of the 200 million pastoralists whose livelihood patterns and extreme environmental settings challenge conventional WASH programming approaches. In this paper, we studied the Afar pastoralists in Ethiopia to identify WASH interventions that can mostly alleviate public health risks, within the populationapos;s structural and environmental living constraints. Surveys were carried out with 148 individuals and observational assessments made in 12 households as part of a Pastoralist Community WASH Risk Assessment. The results show that low levels of access to infrastructure are further compounded by risky behaviours related to water containment, storage and transportation. Additional behavioural risk factors were identified related to sanitation, hygiene and animal husbandry. The Pastoralist Community WASH Risk Assessment visually interprets the seriousness of the risks against the difficulty of addressing the problem. The assessment recommends interventions on household behaviours, environmental cleanliness, water storage, treatment and hand hygiene via small-scale educational interventions. The framework provides an approach for assessing risks in other marginal populations that are poorly understood and served through conventional approaches.

While hydrological science has made great strides forward during the last 50 years with the advance of computing power and availability of satellite images, much is unknown about the sustainable development of water for irrigation, domestic use, and livestock consumption for millions of households in the developing world. Specifically, quantification of shallow underground water resources for irrigation in highland regions remains challenging. The objective is to better understand the hydrology of highland watersheds with sloping hillside aquifers. Therefore, we present a subsurface flow model for hillside aquifers with recharge that varied from day to day. Recharge to the aquifer was estimated by the Thornthwaite Mather procedure. A characteristic time was identified for travel time of water flowing from the upper part of the hillside to the river or well. Using the method of characteristics, we found that the height of shallow groundwater level can be predicted by determining the total recharge over the characteristic time divided by drainable porosity. We apply the model to farmer-dug wells in the Ethiopian highlands using observed rainfall, potential evaporation, and a fitted travel time. We find that the model performs well with maximum water table heights being determined by the soil surface and minimum heights by the presence or absence of volcanic dikes downhill. Our application shows that unless the water is ponded behind a natural or artificial barrier, hillslope aquifers are unable to provide a continuous source of water during the long, dry season. This clearly limits any irrigation development in the highlands from shallow sloping groundwater.

The twentieth century has seen a dramatic increase in human uses of and human impacts on water resources, increasing competition over water as well as depleting or deteriorating its availability. Given its importance to human life and livelihoods, water is becoming one of the major foci of environmental research. The coincidence of water scarcity with poverty in many parts of the world makes it a focal point of international development efforts. With engineering thinking dominating over past decades, water management research has embraced more integrative approaches triggered by an increasing awareness of failures that focused on narrow single issues or technical solutions to address the complex challenges of sustainable water management. This chapter explores whether, when, and how more inclusive framings might enable more socially relevant and impactful research, and lead to more effective action. Discussion begins by establishing what a frame is and then de ning what is meant by an “inclusive frame” for interdisciplinary research on environmental problems. Seven frames in water research are examined; emphasis is given to how framings are driven by differences in normative and theoretical positions, which yields very different views on progress and how best to achieve it. Next, the use of more inclusive frames in academic or research contexts is explored using two examples which incorporate multiple normative and theoretical positions. Barriers encountered by academics and researchers, as they attempt to use inclusive frames, are then examined. To explore how inclusive frames can be used to address real-world problems, three cases highlight the possibilities and challenges in applying inclusive frames to research with the goal of informing action and practice.

This paper provides details of soil and water conservation (SWC) investments in Ethiopia over the past 20 years. It presents SWC practices and estimates the level of SWC investments in different regions. The paper focuses on four principal agricultural regions: Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR and Tigray. Primary and secondary data were collected for the analysis, and consultations were conducted at regional levels. Primary data on diverse SWC practices, their numbers and areal extent were obtained from the archives of regional Bureaus of Agriculture (BoAs). The results of this study show that several projects involving significant financial investment have been implemented to reverse land degradation and improve land productivity in Ethiopia since the 1970s. The list of projects is not comprehensive due to a lack of documentation at all levels, but it does provide some insights into the scale of SWC investments and implementation. The projects analyzed in the four regions fall into the following categories: farmland management, hillside management and gully rehabilitation practices, including check dams and cut-off drains. The analysis shows that these practices involved both paid and unpaid labor, together representing an estimated investment of more than ETB 25 billion (or approximately USD 1.2 billion) per year over the past 10 years. It is clear that large investments have been made in SWC activities in Ethiopia. However, the outcomes in terms of impact on yield and livelihood benefits are yet to be fully understood. A comprehensive assessment is needed to measure the impact of SWC activities on farmers’ livelihoods and the environment. A key recommendation arising from the analysis is that more data and information are needed on the successes and failures of SWC practices, which will assist stakeholders to better guide and target future projects and investments. An additional recommendation is to consider the biophysical and financial impact of soil erosion, both on and off farm.

This study reviewed the status of natural resources and the driving forces for change, as well as past and ongoing approaches in natural resource management at the watershed scale in Ethiopia. First, we reviewed established environmental policy tools and the legal and policy framework, and determined whether innovative financing mechanisms are working in other areas with a similar context. We undertook stakeholder analyses and mapping to identify key stakeholders, and to assess their possible roles in the implementation of a sustainable financing mechanism for watershed rehabilitation. We also determined whether opportunities exist for financing mechanisms involving hydropower and urban water supply in payments for ecosystem services (PES), and the global community in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the context of the Bale Eco-region. The study identified major constraints to designing an appropriate financing mechanism. Finally, the study drew important conclusions and key policy implications that are relevant for Ethiopia and perhaps other areas in a similar context.

Land degradation is a major challenge limiting crop production in Ethiopia. Integrated soil and water conservation is widely applied as a means to reverse the trend and increase productivity. This study investigated the effects of such integrated approaches at two sites, Jeldu and Diga, in Western Ethiopia. A split plot design with physical soil and water conservation in the main plots and agronomic practices in the sub plots was employed. Maize (Zea mays L.) followed by groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) at Diga, and wheat (Triticum aestivum) followed by faba bean (Vicia faba L.) were the test crops. Surface soils were sampled before sowing and after the crop harvest, and analyzed for selected parameters. Soil moisture content during the growing period was also monitored. The use of soil bund increased soil moisture content, and significantly (P lt; 0.05) increased days to flowering and maturity, kernel weight and harvest index, grain yield of the test crops, with the exception of maize. The improved agronomic practices (intercropping, fertilization and row planting) significantly (P lt; 0.05) increased grain yield of all the test crops. The effect of the treatments on soil parameters may require longer time to be evident. Although the increase in crop yield due to soil bund and the improved agronomic practices is eminent, economic analysis is necessary before recommending the widespread use of the improved options.

Diverse agricultural technologies are promoted to increase yields and incomes, save time, improve food and nutritional security, and even empower women. Yet a gender gap in technology adoption remains for many agricultural technologies, even for those that are promoted for women. This paper complements the literature on gender and technology adoption, which largely focuses on reasons for low rates of female technology adoption, by shifting attention to what happens within a household after it adopts a technology. Understanding the expected benefits and costs of adoption, from the perspective of women users in households with adult males, can help explain observed technology adoption rates and why technology adoption is often not sustained in the longer term. Drawing on qualitative data from Ethiopia, Ghana, and Tanzania, this paper develops a framework for examining the intrahousehold distribution of benefits from technology adoption, focusing on small-scale irrigation technologies. The framework contributes to the conceptual and empirical exploration of joint control over technology by men and women in the same household. Efforts to promote technology adoption for agricultural development and women’s empowerment would benefit from an understanding of intrahousehold control over technology to avoid interpreting technology adoption as an end in and of itself.

In the Tana River Basin in Kenya, six Regional Circulation Models (RCMs) simulating two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) (i.e., 4.5 and 8.5) were used as input to the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model to determine the possible implications for the hydrology and water resources of the basin. Four hydrological characteristics – water yield, groundwater recharge, base flow and flow regulation – were determined and mapped throughout the basin for three 30-year time periods: 2020–2049, 2040–2069 and 2070–2099. Results were compared with a baseline period, 1983–2011. All four hydrological characteristics show steady increases under both RCPs for the entire basin but with considerable spatial heterogeneity and greater increases under RCP 8.5 than RCP 4.5. The results have important implications for the way water resources in the basin are managed. It is imperative that water managers and policy makers take into account the additional challenges imposed by climate change in operating built infrastructure.

As solar panels become more a ordable, solar photovoltaic (PV) pumps have been identi ed as a high potential water lifting technology to meet the growing irrigation demand in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, little is known aboutthegeo-spatial potentialofsolarbasedPVpumpingforirrigationtakinginto accountnotonlysolar radiation but also the availability of water resources and linkage to markets. This study developed a suitability framework using multi-criteria analysis in an open source GIS environment and tested it in the case of Ethiopia. Theaccessibilityofwaterresourceswasthedrivingfactorfordi erentscenarios.Suitabilityresultsfollowingthe groundwater scenarios showed good agreement with the available referenced well depth data. Comparing the suitability maps with available land use data showed that on average 9% (96103ha) of Ethiopian irrigated and 18% (3739103ha) of rainfed land would be suitable for solar PV pump irrigation. Furthermore, small solar PV pumps could be an alternative water lifting technology for 11% of the current and future small motorized fuel hydro-carbon pumps on smallholder farms (2166103ha). Depending on the technical pump capacity, between 155103ha and 204103ha of land would be suitable for solar PV pumps and provide smallholder farmers with the option to either pump from small reservoirs or shallow groundwater. With the ongoing interest in development for smallholder irrigation, the application of this model will help to upscale solar PV pumps for smallholder farmers in SSA as a climate smart technology in an integrated manner.

This article presents a pilot and baseline African Green Growth Index (AGGI). The work is premised on the importance of Africa implementing green growth strategies. Baseline indicators allow countries to monitor progress towards green growth transition. The AGGI incorporates 48 indicators applied to 22 countries that had the requisite data. What emerges is that 18 out of the 22 African countries sampled scored 50 percentage points and above. The countries scoring below this threshold were: Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa. The top five countries on the AGGI (as ranked from 1-5) were: Namibia, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Togo. The authors recommend that for wider acceptance across the continent, the AGGI should work towards incorporating all 54 nations.

This report outlines a business model approach to assessing the feasibility and for encouraging investment in smallholder solar pump irrigation. It also proposes a new methodology for mapping the suitability of solar energy-based irrigation pumps. The proposed business model framework and the methodology for suitability mapping are applied to Ethiopia as a case study, based on data from existing case studies and reports. A brief analysis outlines the regulatory and institutional context for investment in solar pump irrigation, and the ways in which it both constrains and attempts to support investment. The report identifies and outlines three business model scenarios that present opportunities for investing in smallholder solar pump-based irrigation, which would contribute towards sustainable intensification for food and nutrition security. The business model scenarios are based on the value proposition of supplying water to smallholder farmers for irrigated agricultural production. Analysis of potential gains and benefits suggests that direct purchase of solar pumps by farmers is feasible, and that out-grower schemes and pump supplier options with bundled financing offer promising solutions. The potential constraints that different investors may face in up-scaling the business models are also discussed, particularly within institutional, regulatory and financial contexts. The report provides development actors and investors with evidence-based information on the suitability and sustainability of solar pump irrigation in Ethiopia, as well as suggestions for helping to enable smallholders to invest in individually-owned, smallholder photovoltaic (PV) solar pumps.

Recent developments in Environmental Flow (E-flow) frameworks advocate holistic, regional scale, probabilistic E-flow assessments that consider flow and non-flow drivers of change in socio-ecological context as best practice. Regional Scale ecological risk assessments of multiple sources, stressors and diverse ecosystems that address multiple social and ecological endpoints, have been undertaken internationally at different spatial scales using the relative-risk model since the mid 1990apos;s. With the recent incorporation of Bayesian belief networks into the relative-risk model, a robust regional scale ecological risk assessment approach is available that can contribute to achieving the best practice recommendations of E-flow frameworks. PROBFLO is a regional scale, holistic E-flow assessment method that incorporates the relative-risk model and Bayesian belief networks (BN-RRM) into a transparent probabilistic modelling tool that addresses uncertainty explicitly. PROBFLO has been developed to holistically evaluate the socio-ecological consequences of historical, current and future altered flows in the context of non-flow drivers and generate E-flow requirements on regional scales spatial scales. The approach has been implemented in two regional scale case studies in Africa where its flexibility and functionality has been demonstrated. In both case studies the evidence based outcomes facilitated informed environmental management decision making, in the context of social and ecological aspirations. This paper presents the PROBFLO approach as applied to the Senqu River catchment in Lesotho and further developments and application in the Mara River catchment in Kenya and Tanzania. The ten BN-RRM procedural steps incorporated in PROBFLO are demonstrated with examples from both case studies. Outcomes allowed stakeholders to consider sustainable social and ecological E-flow trade-offs between social and ecological endpoints. PROBFLO can be incorporated into adaptive management processes and contribute to the sustainable management of the use and protection of water resources.

Land degradation is a major environmental problem in Ethiopia posing serious threats to agricultural productivity and livelihoods. The interactions of numerous socio-economic, demographic, natural, and institutional factors constitute the underlying causes of soil degradation in Ethiopia. However, there exist evidence gaps on the contextual factors that hinder investments on soil conservation among smallholders. Using primary data generated through a stated preference survey among 359 sample smallholder farm households in Southern Ethiopia, this study investigates investment constraints on soil management technologies among smallholders. A random parameter logit model was implemented to estimate the model. Results indicate that smallholders are willing to invest in soil management technologies if appropriate incentive mechanisms, primarily, secured land tenure rights and access to nance are in place. Unfortunately, the prevailing land tenure regime in the country does not allow private property rights on land and smallholders have very limited access to credit. Thus, instituting secure land rights and improving credit access to smallholders should be considered as key interventions to enhance adoption of soil management technologies. The study highlights that policy interventions that incentivize adoption of soil management measures provide not only on-site private bene ts but wider societal o -site bene ts through the provision of multiple ecosystem services.

This paper reviews the evidence available on the provision of financing for African smallholder farmers to purchase irrigation equipment such as pumps, pipes and drip irrigation systems. It sets the scene by first reviewing the literature on experiences with providing microcredit and other microfinance services as a poverty reduction strategy. Based on both case studies and several systematic reviews of the literature, it finds that the outcomes and impacts on poverty, gender equity and broader economic development are mixed at best. Microcredit is not a silver bullet solution to poverty, but it can often help poor households improve their lives. The paper then reviews the demand for and supply of financing for smallholders to purchase irrigation equipment. In surveys, farmers express a strong demand for equipment such as pumps, but often point to the lack of affordable and appropriately designed credit as a critical impediment to gaining access to such equipment. Even where microfinance institutions offer agricultural credit, it is usually short-term seasonal credit to purchase seeds and fertilizer. Credit on these terms is not useful to purchase equipment costing several hundred dollars. Focusing on programs specifically aimed at enabling farmers to purchase irrigation equipment, no credible detailed studies were found documenting the impacts and lessons learned. However, there are currently (as of 2018) numerous promising pilot studies and small projects offering a variety of approaches to enable smallholders to make such purchases. The paper reviews what information is available on these. A major recommendation of this paper is that a research project should be designed to carry out studies of these various experiments to identify what works under what conditions, as a basis for scaling out programs to offer financial services aimed at assisting smallholders to gain access to small-scale irrigation equipment.

The use of wastewater to produce food crops particularly vegetables is very prevalent in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This practice may pose health risks to farm workers and consumers. Hence, the study was designed to evaluate farmers’ perceptions on irrigation water quality, health risks and health risk mitigation measures in four wastewater-irrigated urban vegetable farming sites in Addis Ababa. Data were collected on farm through 263 individual interviews and 12 focus group discussions. The findings showed that despite differences in levels of knowledge and awareness on health risks, farmers appear informed about the contamination of their irrigation water. The difference in perception to quality consideration of Akaki River/irrigation water is highlighted by the result of Kruskal–Wallis H test analysis which shows significant mean value (1.33) of positive perception toward the water quality by male than female farmers. Interestingly, significant difference (p lt; 0.05) in mean values of awareness toward problems of eating unwashed vegetables is also found between male and female farmers where females seemed to be more aware. Conversely, no significant difference was found in mean value of perception and awareness toward vegetables quality. Among the perceived health risks, skin problems were top-rated health risk while eye burn, sore feet and abdominal pains were rated low across the four farming sites. Although statistically not significant, perception toward consumption-related health risk differed with gender: females assigned relatively high mean score. Irrespective of the farming site and gender differences, the most accepted health risk reduction measures were health promotion programs and cessation of irrigation before harvesting. In view of crop restriction measures, females assigned significantly (p = 0.044) low mean score to planting non-food produce. Akaki-Addis farmers suitability perceptions of planting non-food produce and non-raw eaten crops were significantly (p lt; 0.001) higher than the other farming sites. Therefore, effective site and gender-specific educational programs have the potential for clarifying farmers and consumers’ risks and risk management perceptions and improving practical knowledge, which in turn may help identify adoption barriers, opportunities and incentives.

There is a strong link between gender and energy in view of food preparation and the acquisition of fuel, especially in rural areas. This is demonstrated in a range of case studies from East and West Africa, where biochar, human waste and other waste resources have been used to produce briquettes or biogas as additional high-quality fuel sources. The synthesis of the cases concludes that resource recovery and reuse for energy offers an alternative to conventional centralized grid projects which, while attractive to investors and large-scale enterprises, do not necessarily provide job opportunities for marginalized communities. Reusing locally available waste materials for energy production and as soil ameliorant (in the case of biochar) in small enterprises allows women and youth who lack business capital to begin modest, locally viable businesses. The case studies offer concrete examples of small-scale solutions to energy poverty that can make a significant difference to the lives of women and their communities.

Ethiopia is one of the top five avocado producers in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite increasing recognition for its nutritional value and economic importance, information on smallholder avocado production systems across agro-climatic zones and determinants for tree productivity are literally lacking. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to examine the determinants for avocado tree holdings by smallholder farmers and investigate the effect of avocado production systems and management conditions on fruit yield by individual avocado trees in Southern Ethiopia. Data required for the study was collected through a combination of focus group discussions, household survey and field tree inventories. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, analyses of variance and linear regression methods using statistical software for social sciences (SPSS version 20). In the study region, avocado is mainly grown as an integral component of the coffee- and enset-based agroforestry systems. The number of avocado trees owned by smallholder producers was related to district, sex of household head, age of household head, educational status, land holding size, pest and disease damage and access to extension services. Productivity of avocado was significantly (p lt; 0.05) different between production systems. The highest avocado fruit yield was observed from trees grown in the coffee and enset-based agroforestry systems. However, the smallholder producers complain that the yields of coffee and enset grown under avocado trees could be very low. The total height of avocado trees was significantly (p lt; 0.05) different across the different production systems. The mean heights of matured (21–25 years old) avocado trees were 17.57 0.86 m (SE; N = 20) under coffee-based agroforestry system and 14.93 1.24 m when grown as individual trees around homes. Proper extension support is needed to disseminate improved production techniques: encompassing proper tree spacing, tree training, pruning, soil amendments, growing optimum number of trees for successful pollination and improved harvesting.

Smallholder irrigation expansion would signi cantly increase agricultural production, and reduce food insecurity and poverty levels in East Africa. This paper reviews literature on trends, constraints and opportunities of smallholder irrigation in four East African countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Irrigation development has been slow in these countries, and has been mainly through traditional schemes. Recently, individual irrigation technologies such as small motorized pumps, drip kits, treadle pumps, rope and washer pumpsarebeing promoted.Adoption ofthesetechnologiesandexpansion ofsmallholder irrigationhoweverface a number of challenges including land tenure issues; lack of access to appropriate irrigation technologies, improved agricultural inputs, reliable markets, nance and credit services, and research support; poor transport and communication infrastructures; poor irrigation water management; poor extension systems; and the over dependence on national governments, NGOs and donors for support. Despite these challenges, opportunities exist for smallholder irrigation expansion in East Africa. Such opportunities include: high untapped irrigation potential; rainwater harvesting to improve water availability; high commitment of national governments, NGOs and donors to smallholder irrigation expansion; low cost irrigation technologies adaptable to local conditions; traditional schemes rehabilitation;growing urbanization; and increaseduse ofmobilephones thatcanbeused to disseminate information.

Rehabilitation of large valley bottom gullies in developing countries is hampered by high cost. Stopping head cuts at the time of initiation will prevent large gullies from forming and is affordable. However, research on practices to control shallow gully heads with local materials is limited. The objective of this research was therefore to identify cost-effective shallow gully head stabilization practices. The four-year study was conducted on 14 shallow gullies (lt;3 m deep) in the central Ethiopian highlands. Six gullies were used as a control. Heads in the remaining eight gullies were regraded to a 1:1 slope. Additional practices implemented were adding either riprap or vegetation or both on the regraded heads and stabilizing the gully bed downstream. Gully heads were enclosed by fencing to prohibit cattle access to the planted vegetation. The median yearly head retreat of the control gullies was 3.6 m a-1 with a maximum of 23 m a-1. Vegetative treatments without riprap prevented gully incision by trapping sediments but did not stop the upslope retreat. The gully heads protected by riprap did not erode. Regrading the slope and adding riprap was most effective in controlling gully head retreat, and with hay grown on the fenced-in areas around the practice, it was profitable for farmers.

In recent decades, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have pursued national water permit systems, derived from the colonial era and reinforced by “global best practice.” These systems have proved logistically impossible to manage and have worsened inequality in water access. A new study conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Pegasys Institute, with support from the UK government, traces the origins of these systems, and describes their implementation and consequences for rural smallholders in five countries – Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The authors of this report propose a hybrid water use rights system to decolonize Africa’s water law, lighten the administrative burden on the state and make legal access to water more equitable. This would strengthen smallholder irrigation, which is vital for boosting Africa’s food production and making it more resilient in the face of worsening drought.

Purpose - Agricultural intensification to meet the food needs of the rapidly growing population in developing countries affects water quality. In regions such as the Lake Tana basin, knowledge is lacking on measures to reduce non-point source pollutants in humid tropical monsoon climates. The aim of this paper was, therefore, to develop a non-point model that can predict the placement of practices to reduce the transport of sediment and phosphorus (P) in a (sub) humid watershed.; Materials and methods - In order to achieve the objective, hydrometeorological, sediment, and P data were collected in the watershed since 2014. The parameter efficient semi-distributed watershed model (PED-WM) was calibrated and validated in the Ethiopian highlands to simulate runoff and associated sediments generated through saturation excess. The P module added to PED-WM was used to predict dissolved (DP) and particulate P (PP) loads aside from discharge and sediment loads of the 700 ha of the Awramba watershed of Lake Tana basin. The PED-WM modules were evaluated using the statistical model performance measuring techniques. The model parameter based prediction of source areas for the non-point source sediment and P was also evaluated spatially and compared with the Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) of the watershed.; Results and discussion - The water balance component of the non-point source model performed well in predicting discharge, sediment, DP, and PP with NSE of 0.7, 0.65, 0.65, and 0.63, respectively. In addition, the predicted discharge followed the hydrograph with insignificant deviation from its pattern due to seasonality. The model predicted a sediment yield of 28.2 t ha-1 year-1 and P yield of 9.2 kg ha-1 year-1 from Awrmaba. Furthermore, non-point source areas contributed to 2.7 kg ha-1 year-1 (29%) of DP at the outlet. The main runoff and sediment source areas identified using PED-WM were the periodically saturated runoff areas. These saturated areas were also the main source for DP and PP transport in the catchment.; Conclusions - Using the PED-WM with the P module enables the identification of the source areas as well as the prediction of P and sediment loading which yields valuable information for watershed management and placement of best management practices.

Understanding the gender dimensions of community-based groundwater governance is important because men and women differ in their need for and having access to groundwater, and their participation in the development, management and monitoring of the resource. The leading role played by women in obtaining and safeguarding water is not usually reflected in the institutional arrangements for water management. Addressing this gender inequality could lead to the equal participation of men and women in monitoring and sustainable management of groundwater, and women’s empowerment. This paper explores gender aspects of community-based groundwater governance in Dangeshta and Farawocha kebeles in Dangila and Boloso Bombe woredas, respectively, in Ethiopia. The findings suggest that women place a high value on groundwater and could be motivated to play a greater role in governance of the resource. However, the constraints they face in participating in groundwater development and management, particularly exclusion from decision-making, suggest that their effective participation and leadership could be significantly curtailed without specific interventions. Indeed, this is reflected in women’s willingness to participate in groundwater monitoring, as well as men’s reluctance to allow their wives to participate. This is in contrast to a high number of men willing to participate. Citizen science as an entry point for community-based groundwater governance relies on (i) the active involvement of myriad actors (including men and women citizens) whose actions interact with the hydrological processes; and (ii) volunteer interest (i.e., willingness to participate). A gender-sensitive approach to programs, gender awareness training, and partnerships with organizations working for women’s empowerment, natural resource management and adult literacy are recommended to support a citizen science approach to groundwater monitoring.

To understand the full value of Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR), a systematic assessment approach that balances complexity with practicality is required. This report highlights the methods available for quantifying and valuing social, environmental and economic costs and benefits of RRR, focusing on Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) as the primary framework. Rather than prescribing a standardized technique for conducting CBA for RRR, this report presents broad frameworks and several examples that can be catered to individual contexts. This results in a suggested eight-step process accompanied with suggested assessment techniques which have to be tailored to the type of question the assessment is meant to answer and related system boundaries.

In sub-Saharan Africa small scale irrigation is developing rapidly. Whilst emphasis for development is mainly placed on water resource availability and access for irrigation, less attention is paid to adoption of water lifting and management technologies, its relation to irrigation labour, profits and long term soil fertility. The dynamics of both the nutrient and the production cycle can be significantly affected when new water lifting and management practices are introduced. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of different water lifting (solar, manual and fuel pumps) as well as water management methods on irrigation labour, nutrient balances and profits under supplementary and full irrigation practices of vegetables in two regions of Ethiopia. Farmers were grouped into four water management treatments: irrigation based on soil moisture monitoring, using a mechanical scheduling device (i.e. FullStop), standard crop water requirements (CWR) and traditional farmers practice (FARM). Results show that manual water lifting devices are profitable under supplementary irrigation but require best management packages, such as optimal irrigation scheduling, to boost production per ha. This in combination with viable market prices could ensure that small scale irrigation remains profitable when full irrigation is supplied. One of the main explanatory variables is the irrigation labour which is often forgotten to be a significant costing factor. Solar PV pump technologies show a high potential for Ethiopia as the labour reduced by 38% compared to manual water lifting devices. When farmers had access to irrigation information, vegetable production using manual water lifting technologies turned into a profitable business as long as its effect on irrigation labour translated into proportional yield increases. For example, farmers increased irrigation for onion by 42% resulting in yield increases by 85%. However, the effect of irrigation scheduling on crop – water productivity and profits were highly variable depending on the fertiliser farmers used. Results show the importance of a recommended water management and fertiliser package to ensure sustainable intensification through irrigation development achieving crop productivity and profits gains whilst reducing potential environmental effects.

With current rates of land degradation reaching ten to twelve million ha per year, there is an urgent need to scale up and out successful, profitable and resource-efficient sustainable land management practices to maintain the health and resilience of the land that humans depend on. As much as 500 million out of two billion ha of degraded land, mainly in developing countries, have restoration potential, offering an immediate target for restoration and rehabilitation initiatives.1 In the past, piecemeal approaches to achieving sustainable land management have had limited impact. To achieve the ambitious goals of alleviating poverty, securing food and water supplies, and protecting the natural resource base, we need to recognize the inter-connectedness of the factors driving land degradation, so that solutions can be taken to scale, transforming management practices for millions of land users. An analysis of the critical barriers and incentives to achieve scaling up suggests that the most appropriate options should be selected through the involvement of stakeholders at all levels, from local to national and international. New incentives for land managers as well as the public and private sectors are required to achieve a land degradation-neutral world.

limatic and hydrological changes will likely be intensified in the Upper Blue Nile (UBN) basin by the effects of global warming. The extent of such effects for representative concentration pathways (RCP) climate scenarios is unknown. We evaluated projected changes in rainfall and evapotranspiration and related impacts on water availability in the UBN under the RCP4.5 scenario. We used dynamically downscaled outputs from six global circulation models (GCMs) with unprecedented spatial resolution for the UBN. Systematic errors of these outputs were corrected and followed by runoff modelling by the HBV (Hydrologiska ByrnsVattenbalansavdelning) model, which was successfully validated for 17 catchments. Results show that the UBN annual rainfall amount will change by -2.8 to 2.7% with a likely increase in annual potential evapotranspiration (in 2041–2070) for the RCP4.5 scenario. These changes are season dependent and will result in a likely decline in streamflow and an increase in soil moisture deficit in the basin.

In the northern highlands of Ethiopia, gully erosion is severe. Despite many efforts to implement gully prevention measures, controlling gully erosion remains a challenge. The objective is to better understand the regional gully erosion processes and to prevent gully head retreat. The study was conducted in the Ene-Chilala catchment in the sub-humid headwaters of the Birr River located southwest of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Twelve gully heads were monitored during the 2014 and 2015 rainy monsoon phase. We measured gully head morphology and retreat length, soil shear strength, ground water table levels, and catchment physical characteristics. Two active gully head cuts were treated in 2014 and an additional three head cuts in 2015 by regrading their slope to 45 and covering them with stone riprap. These treatments halted the gully head advance. The untreated gullies were actively eroding due to groundwater at shallow depths. The largest head retreat was 22.5 m, of which about half occurred in August of the first year when the surrounding soil was fully saturated. Lowering both the water table and protecting the gully heads can play a key role in reducing gully expansion and soil loss due to gully erosion in the Ethiopian highlands.

Although Ethiopia has abundant land for irrigation, only a fraction of its potential land is being utilized. This study evaluates suitability of lands for irrigation using groundwater in Ethiopia using GIS-based Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques in order to enhance the countryapos;s agricultural industry. Key factors that significantly affect irrigation suitability evaluated in this study include physical land features (land use, soil, and slope), climate (rainfall and evapotranspiration), and market access (proximity to roads and access to market). These factors were weighted using a pair-wise comparison matrix, then reclassified and overlaid to identify suitable areas for groundwater irrigation using a 1-km grid. Groundwater data from the British Geological Survey were used to estimate the groundwater potential, which indicates the corresponding irrigation potential for major crops. Results indicated that more than 6 million ha of land are suitable for irrigation in Ethiopia. A large portion of the irrigable land is located in the Abbay, Rift Valley, Omo Ghibe, and Awash River basins. These basins have access to shallow groundwater (i.e., depth of groundwater less than 20 m from the surface) making it easier to extract. The comparison between available groundwater and total crop water requirements indicate that groundwater alone may not be sufficient to supply all suitable land. The study estimates that only 8% of the suitable land can be irrigated with the available shallow groundwater. However, groundwater is a viable option for supplementing surface water resources for irrigation in several basins in the country.

Ecological restoration through exclosure establishment has become an increasingly important approach to reversing degraded ecosystems in rangelands worldwide. The present study was conducted in northwestern Ethiopia where policy programs are aiming to restore degraded lands. Changes in soil properties following establishing exclosures on communal grazing lands were investigated. A space-for-time substitution approach was used to monitor changes in soil properties after conversion of communal grazing lands to exclosures with ages of establishment ranging from 1 to 7-years. Significant differences in soil pH, exchangeable cations, cation exchange capacity, soil moisture content, and bulk density were observed within exclosures and between exclosures and communal grazing land. Communal grazing land displayed significantly higher soil total nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compared to exclosures. Exclosures did not display significantly higher soil organic matter content when compared to the communal grazing land. The results confirm that more than 7 years after the establishment of exclosures is required to detect significant improvements in most of the investigated soil properties. Prohibition of the practice of grass harvesting during the first 3 to 5 years following the establishment of exclosure, and decreasing the amount of grass harvest with exclosure age could support to increase easily decomposable organic inputs to the soil and improve soil properties in relatively short period of time.

Field experiment has been conducted in Yilmana Densa District during the 2014/2015 irrigation season with the objective of identifying the economical and agronomically optimum rate of the newly introduced NPS fertilizer for garlic production under irrigated smallholder farming system in the Highlands of Northwestern Ethiopia. Twelve NPS fertilizer rates, laid down on Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications were tested on local garlic variety. Accordingly, most of the growth and yield parameters were significantly affected by NPS fertilizer rates where non-fertilized plants were inferior in all parameters. Significantly highest plant height (69.23 cm) and above ground biomass (25.33 g) were recorded on garlic plants supplied with N:P2O5:S at the rate of 105:122.6:22.6 kg ha-1. Similarly, the biggest bulb diameter (4.27 cm) and the highest leaf number (13.4) as well as marketable (17.42 t ha-1) and total bulb yields (17.8 t ha-1) were recorded on plants which were supplied with 140:122.6:22.6 kg ha-1 N:P2O5:S that were similar with the effects of N:P2O5:S at the rate of 140:92:17 kg ha-1. N:P2O5:S at the rate of 140:92:17 kg ha-1 recorded the highest marginal rate of return that can be recommended to increase the yield of garlic and thus to improve the livelihoods of farmers in the study area.

Soil erosion is a very critical form of land degradation resulting in the loss of soil nutrients and downstream sedimentation of water storages in the highlands of Ethiopia. As it is technically and financially impossible to conserve all landscapes affected by erosion, identification of priority areas of intervention is necessary. Spatially distributed erosion models can help map landscape susceptibility to erosion and identify high erosion risk areas. Integration of erosion models with geographic information systems (GIS) enables assessing evaluate the spatial variability of soil erosion and plan implementing conservation measures at landscape levels. In this study, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation adjusted for sediment delivery ratio was used in a GIS system to assess landscape sensitivity to erosion and identify hotspots. The approach was applied in three catchments with size being 10–20 km2 and results were compared against quantitative and semi-quantitative data. The model estimated mean soil loss rates of about 45 t ha-1 y-1 with an average variability of 30% between catchments. The estimated soil loss rate is above the tolerable limit of 10 t ha-1 y-1. The model predicted high soil loss rates at steep slopes and shoulder positions as well as along gullies. The results of the study demonstrate that knowledge of spatial patterns of high soil loss risk areas can help deploy site-specific conservation measures.

An enormous effort is underway in Ethiopia to address soil erosion and restore overall land productivity. Modelling and participatory approaches can be used to delineate erosion hotspots, plan site- and context-specific interventions and assess their impacts. In this study, we employed a modelling interface developed based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation adjusted by the sediment delivery ratio to map the spatial distribution of net soil loss and identify priority areas of intervention. Using the modelling interface, we also simulated the potential impacts of different soil and water conservation measures in reducing net soil loss. Model predictions showed that net soil loss in the study area ranges between 0.4 and 88 t ha- 1 yr- 1 with an average of 12 t ha- 1 yr- 1. The dominant soil erosion hotspots were associated with steep slopes, gullies, communal grazing and cultivated areas. The average soil loss observed in this study is higher than the tolerable soil loss rate estimated for the highland of Ethiopia. The scenario analysis results showed that targeting hotspot areas where soil loss exceeds 10 t ha- 1 yr- 1 could reduce net soil loss to the tolerable limit (lt; 2 t ha- 1 yr- 1). The spatial distribution of soil loss and the sediment yield reduction potential of different options provided essential information to guide prioritization and targeting. In addition, the results can help promoting awareness within the local community of the severity of the soil erosion problem and the potential of management interventions. Future work should include cost-benefit and tradeoff analyses of the various management options for achieving a given level of erosion reduction.

Background: Wastewater irrigation for vegetable production is a highly prevalent practice in Addis Ababa and a number of articles have been published on wastewater-irrigated soils and vegetables contaminated with heavy metals. However, to the best of our knowledge, an insight into assessment of human health risks associated with the consumption of vegetable crops grown on wastewater-irrigated soils is non-existent in the city. Long-term effect of wastewater irrigation on the build-up of heavy metals in soils and selected vegetable crops in Addis Ababa urban vegetable farming sites (10) was evaluated. By calculating estimated daily intakes (EDIs) and target hazard quotients (THQs) of metals, health risk associated with the consumption of the analyzed vegetables was also evaluated.; Results: The heavy metal concentrations in irrigation water and soils did not exceed the recommended maximum limits (RMLs). Moreover, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn concentrations in all analyzed vegetables were lower than the RML standards. In contrast, Pb concentrations were 1.4–3.9 times higher. Results of two way ANOVA test showed that variation in metals concentrations were significant (p lt; 0.001) across farming site, vegetable type and site x vegetable interaction. The EDI and THQ values showed that there would be no potential health risk to local inhabitants due to intake of individual metal if one or more of the analyzed vegetables are consumed. Furthermore, total target hazard quotients (TTHQs) for the combined metals due to all analyzed vegetables were lower than 1, suggesting no potential health risk even to highly exposed local inhabitants.; Conclusions: There is a great respite that toxic metals like Pb and Cd have not posed potential health risk even after long term (more than 50 years) use of this water for irrigation. However, intermittent monitoring of the metals from irrigation water, in soil and crops may be required to follow/prevent their build-up in the food chain.

Development partners and public investors assume that spate irrigation reduces household poverty and malnutrition. This article examines whether the poverty profiles of smallholder farmers and the nutritional outcomes of their children have improved as a result of using spate irrigation. The study areas were in two regional states in Ethiopia. Twenty-five users each, both from traditional and modern spate irrigation schemes, and an equal number of non-users responded to a structured questionnaire. Anthropometric measures of 122 children under five were measured using a hanging scale and stadiometer. The results indicated that all poverty indices were significantly lower for the spate irrigation users compared to non-users, and were even lower for modern spate compared to traditional spate systems. Our results did not show gender differences, using sex of the household head as a crude measure of gender, in poverty profiles. Stochastic dominance tests showed that the poverty comparisons between users, traditional and modern, and non-users are statistically robust. It can be concluded that the use of spate irrigation can significantly reduce poverty, and modernizing spate systems further increases its poverty-reduction impact. However, anthropometric measures indicated that use of spate irrigation did not have significant nutritional effects, suggesting the need for nutrition-sensitive interventions, such as nutrition education and awareness and multisectoral collaboration.

Agriculture is the mainstay of Ethiopia’s economy, contributing more than 40% to GDP and providing a livelihood to about 80% of the population. Agriculture is dominated by smallholders growing predominantly rainfed cereals, making economic performance dependent on rainfall availability. This study used the stochastic frontier production function to analyse the productivity and technical efficiency of 4 different agricultural production systems in Ethiopia; namely, irrigated seasonal farms on traditional irrigation systems, irrigated seasonal farms on modern communal irrigation systems, rainfed seasonal farms for farmers who have access to irrigation and rainfed seasonal farms for farmers who do not have access to irrigation. Simple random samples of farmers were selected from lists of farmers. The sample of farmers constituted 122 from the traditional irrigated sites, 281 from the modern communal irrigated sites and 350 from the control rainfed sites of farmers without access to irrigation. For those farmers, from both traditional and modern communal irrigation, who also had access to rainfed farms, their rainfed farms were included in the sample of rainfed with access to irrigation. This sample constituted 434 farmers. The marginal productivity of land on modern communal irrigation systems shows that this is the smallholder irrigation option that should be developed by the Government of Ethiopia. However, the marginal productivity of land in the ‘rainfed without access to irrigation’ category is higher than that of the traditional irrigated system. Thus additional developed land should be put under ‘rainfed without access to irrigation’ before it is put under traditional irrigation; otherwise it should be developed into modern communal irrigation. The average technical efficiency for the modern irrigated system was estimated to be about 71%, whereas this was estimated to be 78% for the ‘rainfed without access to irrigation’ system. There are potential gains to be realised in improving efficiency in these two systems.

The Tana River is one of Kenya’s most important rivers. It is the principal water source for Nairobi, the capital city, providing water for hydroelectric power generation and irrigation. Several of the flagship projects laid out in Vision 2030 - the blueprint that guides Kenya’s national development – are located in the basin. This report presents the findings of a study to determine the possible impacts of climate change on the hydrology of the basin. Data from seven Regional Circulation Models (RCMs), simulating two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), were used as input to the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model. For both RCPs, rainfall is projected to increase across the basin over the remainder of the twenty-first century. Associated increases in water yield, groundwater recharge and baseflow point to an improved water resource situation in the future. However, declining natural flow regulation, increased variability, and considerable increases in the frequency and magnitude of floods pose a risk that threatens to undermine development opportunities. Water resource management will be much more difficult than under historic climatic conditions.

Controlling soil erosion is important for maintaining land productivity and reducing sedimentation of reservoirs in the Ethiopian highlands. To gain insights on sediment loss patterns, magnitude of peak sediment events, and their contribution to annual loads, hydrometric and sediment concentration data were collected for five years (2010 – 2014) from the 95 ha Debre Mawi and four nested catchments (located 30 km south of Lake Tana). Soil and water conservation practices (SWCPs) consisting of soil bunds with 50 cm deep furrows were implemented in the third year, which made it possible to examine the effects of SWCPs on peak sediment loads. The results show that a 10-minute event causes soil loss of up to 11.4 Mg ha-1, which is 22% of the annual sediment yield. Thirty to seventy-five percent (up to 30 Mg ha-1day-1) of the sediment yield was contributed by the greatest daily flow in each year. The contribution increases to 86% for the two largest daily flows. SWCP interventions reduced sediment loss by half but did not affect the relative contribution of peak events to annual loads. Due to gully erosion, peak sediment loads at the outlet of the entire catchment were greater (up to 30 Mg ha-1day-1) as compared to the nested catchments without gullies (0.5 to 8 Mg ha-1day-1). Consequently, to reduce sediment loss, conservation measures should be designed to decrease runoff during large storms. This can be attained by deepening furrows on unsaturated hillsides and reducing the entrainment of unconsolidated sediment from failed gully banks.

Long term use of Maresha plow, a conventional plow pulled by oxen, has resulted in the formation of a restrictive layer thereby limiting water movement and aeration as well as root zone penetration in the soil profile. Several studies have shown that improved tillage practices can positively affect infiltration and aeration resulting in increased rainwater use efficiency and agricultural production. However, rather limited information is available about the use of the Berken plough as a potential alternative for tillage practices. We studied the impact of improved tillage practices on infiltration, erosion, runoff and crop productivity during the rainy period of 2016 in Robit-Bata watershed located in upper Blue Nile, Ethiopia. The experiments were carried out in Maize fields where four tillage treatments were compared: (i) no-till (NT), no ploughing; (ii) conventional (CT), plots tilled three times using oxen driven Maresha, (iii) deep (DT), manual digging up to 60 cm using a mattock and (iv) Berken tillage (BT), plots tilled three times using an oxen driven Berken plough. Soil physical parameters (e.g. penetration resistance, bulk density) where measured before tillage treatment and after the cropping season. Additionally, crop performance (plant height, yield, residual biomass and root depth) and measurements on infiltration, sediment yield and runoff were collected. Tillage depth was significantly higher in DT (60 cm) followed by BT (27.58 cm) and CT (18.13cm). At the end of the season, the measured penetration resistance was significantly (plt;0.01) lower at 20 cm depth in the DT and BT plots compared to the NT and the CT treatments. Infiltration rates increased from 115.2 mm hr-1(NT), 120 mm hr-1(CT) to 242.4 mm hr-1(DT), 261.6 mm hr-1(BT) (plt;0.01) . The total runoff depth significantly decreased in the DT (29.46 mm) and BT treatments (33.53 mm) as compared to the CT (71.45 mm) and NT (98.77 mm) (p lt; 0.05). Similarly higher sediment yields were recorded for the CT (5.5 t ha-1) and NT (6.6 t ha-1) compared to the DT (2.6 tha-1) and BT (2.6 t ha-1) plots. Deeper tillage in DT and BT treatments as well as the presence of invisible barriers along the contour in Berken system could be the reason for the observed increase in filtration and the reduction of runoff and soil loss. On the other hand, the root length under DT was (gt; 50cm) followed by BT (gt;40cm) and NT and CT (both lt; 30 cm). Grain yield of maize was significantly lower in the NT (2.6 t ha-1) compared to yields measured in the CT (3.8 t ha-1), DT (3.8t ha-1) and BT (4.0 t ha-1) treatments (p lt;0.05). Results show that improved tillage practices such as deep tillage or Berken plough could increase permeability and herefore root penetration and agricultural productivity whilst decreasing erosion and runoff in the Ethiopian Highlands. The adoption of these techniques in the Ethiopian highlands could improve the sustainability of rainfed agriculture and reduce the environmental i

Whilst irrigation schemes and technologies are extensively promoted in Africa, proper water management guidance for farmers is often lacking. Improper on-farm irrigation management practices lead to poor water distribution, non-uniform crop growth, and disputes in irrigation schemes due to unequal water allocation. Hence, the objective of the study was evaluating crop yield and water productivity of onion and potato through the use of wetting front detectors by water user association. In Koga irrigation scheme, there are 11 night storage, which irrigate 12 blocks (7000 ha). From those three blocks (Tagel, Adibera and Chihona blocks) were selected. From each block two water users association (WUA) have been selected and training on how to use the Wetting front detector (WFD) was given: one WUA grew onion while another one cultivated potato. For onion 2.04 ha of land were managed by 9 WFD and 0.82ha were managed by farmer’s own irrigation system. For potato 1.68 ha of land were managed by 10 WFD and 0. 42 ha of land were managed by farmers own irrigation system. In this study a total of 43 farmers irrigated using WFD while 13 farmers were irrigating based on their traditional knowledge. During installation the furrow length for onion was 5m and for potato 20m. The WFD was placed at ¾ of the furrow length from the entrance of the furrow. The shallow detector installed at 1/3 of the root zone (20 cm in this case) and the deep detector installed at 2/3 of the root zone (40 cm). Potato fields that were irrigated based on WFD response received on average 43% less water compared to control fields (i.e. 431mm instead of 753mm) (plt;0.05). This resulted in a significant yield increase of 6 % (plt;0.05) in the WFD plots. Similarly, for onion a reduction in irrigation depth of 25% was obtained when farmers were guided by WFD (i.e. 504 mm instead of 676mm (plt;0.05). While yield increased in the WFD fields by 4%, this was not significant. At scheme level, if all fields were onion guided by WFD, 1509 ha additional could be irrigated. Similarly if all fields were potato guided by WFD, additional land to be irrigated could be 2966 ha. This study has shown that available water in dams can irrigate more land by using on farm water management technologies.

Planning effective landscape interventions is an important tool to fight against land degradation and requires knowledge on spatial distribution of runoff. The objective of this paper was to test models that predict temporal and spatial distribution of runoff. The selected models were PED-WM, HBV-IHMS and SWAT. We choose 7 km2 Awramba watershed in the Lake Tana basin with detailed hydrological information for testing these models. Discharge at the outlet, rainfall and distributed information on infiltration rates, water table and extent of the saturated area were collected from 2013 to 2015. The maximum saturated area was 6.5% of the watershed. Infiltration rates exceeded rainfall intensities 91% of the time. Hence saturation excess runoff was the main runoff mechanism. Models were calibrated for the rainy seasons 2013, 2014 and validated for 2015. For daily flow validation, the PED-WM model (Nash Sutcliff efficiency, NSE = 0.61) outperformed HBV-IHMS (NSE = 0.51) and SWAT (NSE = 0.48). Performance on monthly time step was similar. Difference in model behavior depended on runoff mechanism. In PED-WM saturation excess is the main direct runoff process and could predict the maximum extent of the saturated area closely at 6.9%. HBV-IHMS model runoff simulation depended on soil moisture status and evapotranspiration, and hence was able to simulate saturation excess flow but not the extent of the saturated area. In SWAT where infiltration excess is the main runoff mechanism could only predict the monthly discharges well. This study shows that prevailing runoff mechanisms and distribution of runoff source areas should be used for proper model selection.

Recently there are signs of water quality impairment in Lake Tana, the largest fresh water in Ethiopia. The lake is the growth corridor of the government and supports millions of livelihood around. In order to sustain the benefit and maintain the ecosystem of the lake, the lake health has to be kept safe. Therefore monitoring and evaluation of the water quality of lake is very vital. This study focuses on current and previous trends water quality of the lake through measurements and Landsat Images near entry of Gumera River. Statistical analysis of the physical (Turbidity and STD and biological (Cha-a,) and chemical (DPC) water quality parameters were done. Linear and non-linear regression models between water quality parameter and reflectance of Landsat 7 ETM+ images were fitted based on band combinations. Pervious trend in turbidity was analyzed based on the regression models. The results showed that reflectance and turbidity satisfactorily result with an R2 ranging from 0.61 - 0.68. Form 1999-2014 the turbidity of the lake has indicated an increasing trend. Delta development near the entry of Gumera River has been enlarged by 48% because of an increase sediment inflow. The sign in the decreasing water quality of the lake was attributed to the non-point source sediment and nutrient inflow to the lake with high erosion rate from the watersheds. Measures to reduce the non-point source sediment and nutrient inflow by targeting the source areas (hot spots) in the agricultural watersheds need to be priority for stakeholders working on the soil and water conservation. Moreover, reducing the recession agriculture around the lake and wetland management could be crucial for improving lake water quality.

Conservation projects have often been criticised for creating global benefits while causing negative impacts on local livelihoods. Ecosystem services approaches have been seen as one way to change this by focussing explicitly on maintaining ecosystems for human well-being of stakeholders at various scales. However, ecosystem services approaches have often ignored trade-offs between groups of people and issues of power and do not automatically lead to better outcomes in terms of human well-being. Here we report on a study on the impacts of reforestation projects with an explicit focus on human well-being in three communities in southern Ethiopia. We investigated the distribution of services and disservices from reforestation using qualitative methods. Results showed that the services and disservices from reforestation were distributed unequally across space and wealth groups resulting in widespread dissatisfaction with existing reforestation projects despite the explicit focus on human benefits. To improve outcomes of reforestation it is necessary to acknowledge and manage disservices adaptively, include issues of power and make trade-offs transparent.

Research results published regarding the impact of soil and water conservation practices in the highland areas of Ethiopia have been inconsistent and scattered. In this paper, a detailed review and synthesis is reported that was conducted to identify the impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, surface run-off, soil loss, nutrient loss, and the economic viability, as well as to discuss the implications for an integrated approach and ecosystem services. The review and synthesis showed that most physical soil and water conservation practices such as soil bunds and stone bunds were very effective in reducing run-off, soil erosion and nutrient depletion. Despite these positive impacts on these services, the impact of physical soil and water conservation practices on crop yield was negative mainly due to the reduction of effective cultivable area by soil/stone bunds. In contrast, most agronomic soil and water conservation practices increase crop yield and reduce run-off and soil losses. This implies that integrating physical soil and water conservation practices with agronomic soil and water conservation practices are essential to increase both provisioning and regulating ecosystem services. Additionally, effective use of unutilized land (the area occupied by bunds) by planting multipurpose grasses and trees on the bunds may offset the yield lost due to a reduction in planting area. If high value grasses and trees can be grown on this land, farmers can harvest fodder for animals or fuel wood, both in scarce supply in Ethiopia. Growing of these grasses and trees can also help the stability of the bunds and reduce maintenance cost. Economic feasibility analysis also showed that, soil and water conservation practices became economically more viable if physical and agronomic soil and water conservation practices are integrated.

Whilst irrigation schemes and technologies are extensively promoted in Africa, proper water management guidance for farmers is often lacking. Improper on-farm irrigation management practices lead to poor water distribution, non-uniform crop growth, and disputes in irrigation schemes due to unequal water allocation. Hence, the objective of the study was evaluating crop yield and water productivity of onion and potato through the use of wetting front detectors by water user association. In Koga irrigation scheme, there are 11 night storage, which irrigate 12 blocks (7000 ha). From those three blocks (Tagel, Adibera and Chihona blocks) were selected. From each block two water users association (WUA) have been selected and training on how to use the Wetting front detector (WFD) was given: one WUA grew onion while another one cultivated potato. For onion 2.04 ha of land were managed by 9 WFD and 0.82ha were managed by farmer’s own irrigation system. For potato 1.68 ha of land were managed by 10 WFD and 0. 42 ha of land were managed by farmers own irrigation system. In this study a total of 43 farmers irrigated using WFD while 13 farmers were irrigating based on their traditional knowledge. During installation the furrow length for onion was 5m and for potato 20m. The WFD was placed at ¾ of the furrow length from the entrance of the furrow. The shallow detector installed at 1/3 of the root zone (20 cm in this case) and the deep detector installed at 2/3 of the root zone (40 cm). Potato fields that were irrigated based on WFD response received on average 43% less water compared to control fields (i.e. 431mm instead of 753mm) (plt;0.05). This resulted in a significant yield increase of 6 % (plt;0.05) in the WFD plots. Similarly, for onion a reduction in irrigation depth of 25% was obtained when farmers were guided by WFD (i.e. 504 mm instead of 676mm (plt;0.05). While yield increased in the WFD fields by 4%, this was not significant. At scheme level, if all fields were onion guided by WFD, 1509 ha additional could be irrigated. Similarly if all fields were potato guided by WFD, additional land to be irrigated could be 2966 ha. This study has shown that available water in dams can irrigate more land by using on farm water management technologies.

This paper serves international water con ict resolution efforts by examining the ways that states contest hegemonic transboundary water arrangements. The conceptual framework of dynamic transboundary water interaction that it presents integrates theories about change and counter-hegemony to ascertain coercive, leverage, and liberating mechanisms through which contest and transformation of an arrangement occur. While the mechanisms can be active through sociopolitical processes either of compliance or of contest of the arrangement, most transboundary water interaction is found to contain elements of both. The role of power asymmetry is interpreted through classi cation of intervention strategies that seek to either in uence or challenge the arrangements. Coexisting contest and compliance serve to explain in part the stasis on the Jordan and Ganges rivers (where the non-hegemons have in effect consented to the arrangement), as well as the changes on the Tigris and Mekong rivers, and even more rapid changes on the Amu Darya and Nile rivers (where the non-hegemons have confronted power asymmetry through in uence and challenge). The framework also stresses how transboundary water events that may appear isolated are more accurately read within the many sociopolitical processes and arrangements they are shaped by. By clarifying the typically murky dynamics of interstate relations over transboundary waters, furthermore, the framework exposes a new suite of entry points for hydro-diplomatic initiatives.

Background: In Addis Ababa, where irrigation water for vegetable production is commonly derived from the highly polluted Akaki river, information on microbial contamination of water and irrigated vegetable is scanty. An assessment was done to determine the microbiological quality of irrigation water and lettuce harvested from 10 urban farming sites of Addis Ababa. The efficacy of 5 lettuce washing methods were also assessed. A total of 210 lettuce and 90 irrigation water samples were analyzed for faecal coliform and helminth eggs population levels.; Results: The mean faecal coliform levels of irrigation water ranged from 4.29-5.61 log10 MPN 100 ml-1, while on lettuce, the concentrations ranged from 3.46-5.03 log10 MPN 100 g-1. Helminth eggs and larvae were detected in 80% of irrigation water and 61% of lettuce samples. Numbers ranged from 0.9-3.1 eggs 1000 ml-1 and 0.8-3.7 eggs 100 g-1 wet weight for irrigation water and lettuce, respectively. The helminth eggs identified included those of Ascaris lumbricoides, Hookworm, Enterobius vermicularis, Trichuris trichiura, Taenia and Strongloyides larvae. Ascaris lumbricoides and Hookworm were most prevalent in both irrigation water and lettuce samples. Compared with the WHO recommendations and international standards, the faecal coliform and helminth eggs levels in irrigation water and lettuce samples exceeded the recommended levels. Irrespective of the tested washing methods, faecal coliform and helminth eggs levels were somehow reduced. Among the washing methods, potable tap water washing - rinsing (2 min) followed by dipping in 15 000 ppm vinegar solution for a minute supported the highest faecal coliorm reduction of 1.7 log10 units, whereas lowest reduction of 0.8 log10 units was achieved for the same procedure without vinegar.; Conclusion: Compared with international standards, both faecal coliform and helminth eggs levels exceeded recommended thresholds in water and lettuce, but still in a potential risk range which can be easily mitigated if farmers and households are aware of the potential risk. Aside preventing occupational exposure, potential risk reduction programs should target households which have so far no guidance on how best to wash vegetables. The result of the present study suggest that the vinegar based washing methods are able to reduce faecal coliform towards low level while the physical washing with running water may help to substantially decrease potential risk of helminth parasitic infections.

Controlled grazing management is considered as an effective strategy to enhance soil carbon sequestration, but empirical evidences are scarce. Particularly, the role of livestock exclusion related to soil carbon sequestration is not well understood in arid and semiarid savannas of Africa. We investigated the effectiveness of long-term (14–36 years old) exclosures in enhancing soil carbon in the semiarid savanna, southern Ethiopia. We tested for differences in soil carbon content between exclosures and adjacent open-grazed rangelands, while accounting for effects of age of exclosures and soil depths. We collected soil samples at two soil depths (0–20 cm and 20–50 cm depths) from 96 plots from 12 exclosure and adjacent open grazing sites. We found no significant differences (P gt; 0.05) between exclosures and adjacent open-grazed rangelands in soil carbon content in both soil depths. The age chronosequence further suggested a weak non-linear trend in increasing soil carbon content with increasing duration of exclosures. These results thus challenge the opinion that controlled grazing enhances soil carbon sequestration in semiarid savannas. However, we remain cautious in regard to the conclusiveness of these findings given the paucity of information regarding other confounding factors which may disentangle the effects of the exclosure, and most importantly in the absence of soil data prior to exclosures.

Agricultural productivity and farm household welfare in areas of severe land degradation can be improved through ecosystem-based interventions. Decisions on the possible types of practices and investments can be informed using evidence of potential benefits. Using farm household data together with a farm level stochastic simulation model provides an initial quantification of farm income and nutrition outcomes that can be generated over a five year period from manure and compost based organic amendment of crop lands. Simulated results show positive income and nutrition impacts. Mean farm income increases by 13% over the planning period, from US$32,833 under the business as usual situation (application of 50 kg DAP and 25 kg urea ha- 1 yr- 1) to US$37,172 under application of 10 t ha- 1 yr- 1 farm yard manure during the first three years and 5 t ha- 1 yr- 1 during the last two years. As a result of organic soil amendment, there is an associated increase in the available calorie, protein, fat, calcium, and iron per adult equivalent, giving the improvement in farm household nutrition. The evidence is substantive enough to suggest the promotion and adoption at scale, in degraded ecosystems, of low cost organic soil amendment practices to improve agricultural productivity and subsequent changes in farm household welfare.

Land use and management affects runoff and soil loss from a catchment. The present study investigated the effects of land use on runoff and suspended sediment concentration and yield in the northwestern Ethiopia. We selected two small catchments: cultivated land and grassland dominated catchments within the 95 ha Debre Mawi catchment. Hydrometric and sediment concentration data were collected for five years (i.e., 2010–2014). Significant (p lt; 0.05) differences in daily, monthly and annual runoff, as well as suspended sediment concentrations were observed between cultivated land and grassland dominated catchments. The greater runoff, suspended sediment concentration and yield in the cultivated catchment could be attributed to repeated tillage and low soil organic matter. Repeated tillage in the cultivated land lead to soil disturbance and the low organic matter lead to aggregate instability, both of which consequently increase the detachment of soil particles and transport by generated runoff. Our results support that land management practices that involve lower soil disturbance and increase ground cover on degraded highland areas such as the Ethiopian highlands could help reduce runoff and soil loss.

The dependence of smallholder farmers on forest resources for their sustenance and livelihoods is a major driver of deforestation and degradation of forest resources in tropical countries. Understanding the socio-economic drivers that aggravate the extraction and overexploitation of forest products is vital for designing effective forest conservation and restoration measures. This particularly holds with regard to the importance of two fundamentally opposing motivations of smallholder forest exploitation, which we label “wood extraction for need” vs. “wood extraction for greed”. This study was conducted at Zege peninsula in Northern Ethiopia to investigate the factors affecting the extraction and marketing of wood from the peninsulaapos;s primary dry Afromontane forest by smallholders. Data was collected using household survey, focus groups discussions and key informant interviews. Data analysis employed the Heckman two-steps econometric model. The predominant involvement of vulnerable households in forest exploitation suggests that wood extraction was driven by need and mainly served sustenance and safety net functions. In addition, we also found evidence of greed-driven forest exploitation. As a consequence of selective rule enforcement and nepotism, the forest enforcement committee was not effective in safeguarding the forest, there by contributing to increased wood extraction and marketing by community members for income generation. This suggests that, in order to protect the forest, interventions are needed that aim at creating alternative income opportunities for smallholders through improved production of non-timber forest products, enhanced market access and the provision of locally adapted technologies; as well as at increasing the integrity of law enforcement.

The Ethiopian government has been implementing a land restoration program that aimed to restore degraded ecosystems and double agricultural productivity throughout the country since 2010. However, the success of the restoration program has been limited due to the lack of integrating gully erosion control measures. Consequently, many reservoirs in Ethiopia and downstream riparian countries have lost their storage capacity due to sedimentation, and studies demonstrated that gully erosion is one of the degradation hotspots within watersheds and contribute considerable proportion of the total sediment loads from a particular watershed. This study was conducted in one of large gullies in the Debre-Mawi watershed, northwestern Ethiopia to quantify the effect of gully head treatment in reducing the amount of sediment load generated from uplands and from the gully itself. We measured discharge, and sediment load and concentration in 2013 and 2014 at the upstream (inlet) and downstream ends (outlet) of the studied gully. Before the 2014 rainy phase, a gully headcut was stabilized with gabions at the bed and the gully bank was regarded to 45o. The gully head retreated 12 m in 2013 but gully head retreat was stopped following the implementation of the treatment in 2014. The total sediment load and sediment concentration at the outlet was reduced by 42% and 30% respectively, in 2014 (i.e., after treatment) when compared to 2013 (i.e., before treatment). The result of this study support that controlling the upward retreat of gully head is effective in reducing sediment load and concentration as well as upward movement and expansion of gullies. However, maintenance of gully head control measures is the key to sustain the benefits.

Agricultural intensification to meet the food needs of the rapidly growing population in developing countries is negatively affecting the water quality. In most of these countries such as Ethiopia, information on surface and especially groundwater quality is lacking. This limits the measure that can be taken to stop pollution. We, therefore, investigated the spatial and temporal variation of groundwater quality in the upland watershed. Tikur-Wuha watershed was selected because it is located in the Lake Tana watershed, which is seeing the first signs of eutrophication. Groundwater samples were collected from July 2014 to June 2015 from 19 shallow wells located throughout the watershed. Collected water samples were analyzed both in situ and in the laboratory to determine pH, electric conductivity (EC) and total dissolved solid (TDS), concentration of chemicals (nitrate, dissolved phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, aluminum and iron) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). We found that shallow groundwater had greater chemical concentrations and E. coli level in the monsoon rain phase than in the dry phase. Wells located down slope exhibited greater concentrations than mid- and upper-slope positions, with the exception of the nitrate concentration that was less down slope, due to denitrification in the shallow groundwater. Only E. coli level was above the WHO drinking water quality standards. Further studies on groundwater quality should be carried out to understand the extent of groundwater contamination.

Restoration of degraded landscapes through the implementation of soil and water conservation practices is considered a viable option to increase agricultural production by enhancing ecosystems. However, in the humid Ethiopian highlands, little information is available on the impact of conservation practices despite wide scale implementation. The objective of this research was to document the effect of conservation practices on discharge and sediment concentration and load in watersheds that have different soil depths and topography. Precipitation, discharge, and sediment concentration were measured from 2010 to 2012 in two watersheds in close proximity and located in the Lake Tana basin, Ethiopia: Tikur-Wuha and Guale watersheds. The Tikur-Wuha watershed has deep soils and a gentle slope stream channel. The Guale watershed has shallow soils and a steep slope stream channel. In early 2011, the local community installed upland conservation measures consisting of stone and soil bunds, waterways, cutoff drains, infiltration furrows, gully rehabilitation, and enclosures. The results show that conservation practices marginally decreased direct runoff in both watersheds and increased base flow in the Tikur-Wuha watershed. Average sediment concentration decreased by 81% in Tikur-Wuha and 45% in Guale. The practices intended to increase infiltration were most effective in the Tikur-Wuha watershed because the deep soil could store the infiltrated water and release it over a longer period of time after the rainy season than the steeper Guale watershed with shallow soils.

The performance of smallholder irrigation schemes are challenged by several factors: among which water insecurity and low land and water productivity are the main ones. This paper evaluates the on-farm management of nine smallholder irrigation schemes from four regional states in Ethiopia. The schemes are diverse in several aspects and we clustered them into three typologies: Modern, semi-modern and traditional. Indicators such as land productivity (LP), crop water productivity (CWP) were used in evaluating performances. Data input to the target indicators was collected through household survey, field observation, measurements (canal water flow monitoring), literature review and focus group discussion (FGD). The result illustrates apparent variability of LP among schemes; scheme typology and reaches. The lowest value of LP was estimated for the traditional schemes and inter-scheme variation was also notable. For example for onion, the value for LP ranged between 7.13 and 14.55 tonnes/ha. For tomato the range was even wider: 0.9–10.29 tonnes/ha. Meki scheme showed the highest land productivity for onion and tomato with the magnitude of 14.55 and 10.29 tonnes/ha respectively. For irrigated cereals (maize and wheat) LP values showed a similar trend as for vegetables. For example the LP value for maize range between 0.65 and 3.92 tonnes/ha and for wheat the range was narrower (0.6 and 1.56 tonnes/ha). Generally these values are less than the values reported as sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regional average suggesting the need to address yield limiting factors in smallholder schemes in Ethiopia. Water productivity by water supplied at field levels (WPf) for cereals was generally on the lower side; it is somewhat on the higher side for vegetables compared to observations from SSA. Schemes and reaches with higher land productivity do not necessarily shows higher WPf. Modern schemes and head irrigators have usually higher land productivity but low water productivity. The opposite holds true for the traditional irrigation and tail irrigators. The traditional schemes and tail irrigator normally suffer from water shortage and most often practicing forced deficit irrigation and also select crops with low water requirement. Hence they save water while trying to minimize impact on the yield through crop selection. Implicitly future direction of improving smallholder irrigation need to acknowledge this reality and put efforts to save water on head irrigators and increase land productivity under traditional and tail irrigators and promote sustainability and equitable share of water in smallholder irrigation. Probably alternatives such as valuation of water and a consumption-based water charge need to be taken into account in efforts to discourage over irrigation and enhance equitable water management by smallholders. It is also important to note that smallholder water management decisions are complex and so are the values for their performance indicators. Therefore,

Irrigated fodder production can be vitalised as a useful strategy to sustainably intensify subsistence livestock production owned and managed by smallholders and to diversify farm income through linkages to commercial livestock systems. However, uncertainty about the production and market environment of such a non-traditional commodity can be a major hindrance against commercialisation and scaling out of irrigated fodder production. This makes ex-ante analysis of profit portfolio and its determinants necessary in order to improve farmers’ investment and risk management decisions. Using a stochastic approach to farm profit analysis to account for business uncertainty, this paper simulated and compared the level and distribution of profit that smallholders in Koga irrigation scheme (Ethiopia) can generate from irrigated Rhodes grass seed and from traditional irrigated crops. The finding shows the absolute and comparative profitability of irrigated Rhodes grass seed. Though 0.19 times less profitable than irrigated onion, irrigated Rhodes grass seed is 4 times, 1.27 times, and 1.25 times more profitable than irrigated barley, irrigated wheat, and irrigated tomato, respectively. Profit from the commodity is robust to adverse business conditions such as yield reduction, cost increase, and price reduction, assuring optimism about positive financial returns from investments to expand production. Long-term business viability can be improved and farm income further stabilised through interventions targeted at fodder agronomy to enhance crop yield and at value chain development to improve market linkages and output price.

Land-use and land-cover changes are driving unprecedented changes in ecosystems and environmental processes at different scales. This study was aimed at identifying the potential land-use drivers in the Jedeb catchment of the Abbay basin by combining statistical analysis, field investigation and remote sensing. To do so, a land-use change model was calibrated and evaluated using the SITE (SImulation of Terrestrial Environment) modelling framework. SITE is cellular automata based multi-criteria decision analysis framework for simulating land-use conversion based on socio-economic and environmental factors. Past land-use trajectories (1986–2009) were evaluated using a reference Landsat-derived map (agreement of 84%). Results show that major land-use change drivers in the study area were population, slope, livestock and distances from various infrastructures (roads, markets and water). It was also found that farmers seem to increasingly prefer plantations of trees such as Eucalyptus by replacing croplands perhaps mainly due to declining crop yield, soil fertility and climate variability. Potential future trajectory of land-use change was also predicted under a business-as-usual scenario (2009–2025). Results show that agricultural land will continue to expand from 69.5% in 2009 to 77.5% in 2025 in the catchment albeit at a declining rate when compared with the period from 1986 to 2009. Plantation forest will also increase at a much higher rate, mainly at the expense of natural vegetation, agricultural land and grasslands. This study provides critical information to land-use planners and policy makers for a more effective and proactive management in this highland catchment.

Irrigation systems cannot ensure the equitable distribution of water among users and sustainable operation and maintenance of the schemes without capable irrigation institutions. In Ethiopia, traditional institutions have emerged with the expansion of traditional irrigation schemes and most of them were established and operated on the initiative of the farmers. These often have very limited financial and technical capacities. Current trends show that developing infrastructure is the major concern in irrigation development efforts. However, managing the schemes is largely overlooked, particularly for externally initiated irrigation schemes. Operation and maintenance of the irrigation schemes, particularly those at tertiary levels, are commonly not well set and often neglected or left to farmers without building their capacities. The overarching objectives of the study were to: i) assess the nature and diversity of irrigation institutions in the study schemes; ii) evaluate existing institutions service delivery with respect to selected attributes and draw useful lessons; and iii) identify appropriate interventions. This study focused on 10 irrigation schemes located in four regional states of Ethiopia (Tigray, Amhara, Oromia and SNNP). Various approaches were used to generate data required for this study, such as household interview, transect walk and systematic observation, focus group discussion, key informant interviews and the review of existing literature. We clustered the study schemes as modern, semi-modern and traditional, using selected criteria (operation and maintenance service delivery, managing financial service delivery, level of inequity) to generate empirical evidence for evaluation of their performances. The results found two forms of irrigation institutions: irrigation water users associations (IWUA) and irrigation cooperatives or water committee. More than 30% of the irrigation schemes considered in the study, regardless of their typology, had no institution. Membership in the irrigation institution for traditional schemes was 100%, while the average membership both in modern and semi-modern schemes was about 70% of the respondents. This contrasts with the new proclamation in Ethiopia on IWUA which suggest mandatory membership for any water user in a scheme. Without exception bylaws were either not detailed enough to address scheme specific problems or not recorded at all. Ambiguity associated with these, and probably presence of non-member water users, deterred the decision-making processes and the enforcement of rules and regulations for water use, thus create opportunities for free riders. This also explains the reason for occasional conflict between irrigators and the inequity of water distribution within scheme. In many cases, irrigation institutions service delivery limited to operational management and other services, such as financial management, were not common even at those schemes where irrigation fee exists. Problems

Although there has been several efforts made to reduce land degradation and improve land productivity in Ethiopia, farmers’ investments in sustainable land management (SLM) remain limited. Nevertheless, the results regarding determinants of farmers’ investments in SLM have been inconsistent and scattered. Moreover, these factors have not been reviewed and synthesized. Hence this paper reviews and synthesizes past research in order to identify determinants that affect farmers’ investments in SLM practices and thereby facilitate policy prescriptions to enhance adoption in Ethiopia, East Africa and potentially wider afield. The review identifies several determinants that affect farmers’ investments in SLM practices. These determinants are generally categorized into three groups. The first group is those factors that are related to farmers’ capacity to invest in SLM practices. The results show that farmers’ investments in SLM practices are limited by their limited capacity to invest in SLM. The second groups of factors are related to farmers’ incentives for investments in SLM practices. Farmers’ investments in SLM are limited due to restricted incentives from their investments related to land improvement. The third groups of factors are external factors beyond the control of farmers. The review also shows that farmers’ capacities to invest in SLM and their incentives from investments have been influenced by external factors such as institutional support and policies. This suggests that creating enabling conditions for enhancing farmers’ investment capacities in SLM and increasing the range of incentives from their investment is crucial to encourage wide-scale adoption of SLM practices.

This study used nationwide dataset of 5000 households from four regions in Ethiopia to identify important determinants of market orientation, market participation and market outlet choices. The study used ordinary least square and instrumental regression and multivariate probit (MVP) techniques to do just that. Market-orientation was affected by productive capacity, oxen, total land area, irrigated land area, access to irrigation, and access to market information. Market participation is, in turn, affected by market oriented production, productive capacity and the availability of market information. With respect to outlet choices, the important role of market access conditions (mainly roads and storage facilities) and services (extension services and access to micro credit) were found to be important. Expanding the necessary infrastructure for irrigation development or creating the conditions for household adoption of different irrigation technologies is important for market production and participation and outlet choice decisions of households. Provision of adequate and timely marketing information is also another entry point to transform agriculture.

To meet growing population demands for food and other agricultural commodities, agricultural land-use intensification and extensification seems to be increasing in the Abbay (Upper Blue Nile) basin in Ethiopia. However, the amount, location and degree of suitability of the basin for agriculture seem not well studied and/or documented. From global data sources, literature review and field investigation, a number of agricultural land suitability evaluation criteria were identified. These criteria were preprocessed as raster layers on a GIS platform and weights of criteria raster layers in determining suitability were computed using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). A weighted overlay analysis method was used to compute categories of highly suitable, moderately suitable, marginally suitable and unsuitable lands for agriculture in the basin. It was found out that 53.8 % of the basin’s land coverage was highly suitable for agriculture and 23.2 % was moderately suitable. The marginally suitable and the unsuitable lands were at 11 and 12 % respectively. From the analysis, regions of the basin with high suitability as well as those with higher susceptibility for land degradation and soil erosion were identified.

Gully erosion in the highlands of Ethiopia has reduced agricultural productivity and degraded ecosystem services. To better understand the processes controlling gully erosion and design effective control measures, a study was conducted in the headwaters of the Birr watershed for three consecutive years (2013-2015). Fourteen gullies with similar morphology were studied in three adjacent sub-watersheds. Stabilization measures were applied to 5 of the 14 gully heads. Three gully control measures were compared: a) reshaping gully banks and head to a 45 degree slope with stone rip rap on the gully heads, b) controlling gully bed grade, and c) planting grasses and trees on shallow gullies (i.e., lt; 3 m deep). Results demonstrated that gully control measures were effective in controlling the expansion of gullies as no further retreat was observed for the 5 treated gully heads, whereas the average retreat was 3 meters with a maximum of 22.5 m for the 9 untreated gullies. The migration of untreated gully heads produced an average soil loss of 38 tons per gully. Compared with simple reshaping of gully heads, the additional integration with stone rip rap was an effective and low cost measure. Vegetative treatment by itself could not stop the upslope migration of gully heads, though it had the potential to trap sediments. Re-vegetation at gully heads stabilized with stone rip rap occurred faster than at unprotected, reshaped heads and banks. From the fourteen rehabilitation treatments, gully head protection integrated with plantation showed the largest potential in decreasing gully development in terms of labor, time and material it requires.

In the Ethiopian highlands, church forests have a substantial contribution to landscape restoration, and conservation of endangered indigenous tree species and biodiversity. However, the environmental and economic benefits of church forests are declining due to a combination of economic, environmental, and cultural factors. This study was conducted in Dera district, Ethiopia, to assess the perception of local communities on church forests and investigate the willingness of local communities to pay to manage and protect church forests. We used household survey and focus group discussion to gather data. Contingent valuation method and the Heckman two-step economic model were used to analyze data. Considerable proportion of the respondents (35%) mentioned several types of benefits that can be derived from church forests including fodder, fuelwood, tree seeds and seedlings, conservation of biodiversity, and improvement of the amount and distribution of rainfall. Respondents are also aware that sustainable management of church forests is essential to maintain or enhance the ecosystem services that can be obtained from existing church forests. Protection, fencing, plantation, and expansion of church forests were among the different management options suggested by the respondents. The majority (70%) of the communities are willing to contribute cash. On average, the farmers are willing to contribute ETB 32 (i.e., US$ 1.66 [Based on the exchange rate on 12 February 2014.]). Age, education, access to extension services, and amount of benefits derived from church forests were positively and significantly (p lt; 0.05) correlated with the willingness to pay. Providing training on forest management, putting a strong informal institution such as bylaws, and designing ways of moving from conservation to economic benefit are essential to restore and sustain church forests.

Promising environmental mechanisms to control malaria are presently underutilized. Water level fluctuations to interrupt larval development have recently been studied and proposed as a low-impact malaria intervention in Ethiopia. One impediment to implementing such new environmental policies is the uncertain impact of climate change on water resources, which could upend reservoir operation policies. Here we quantified the potential impact of the malaria management under future climate states. Simulated timeseries were constructed by resampling historical precipitation, temperature, and evaporation data (1994–2002), imposing a 2 C temperature increase and precipitation changes with a range of 20 %. Runoff was generated for each climate scenario using the model GR4J. The runoff was used as input into a calibrated HEC ResSim model of reservoir operations. The malaria operation management increased the baseline scenario median energy generation by 18.2 GWh y-1 and decreased the energy generation at the 0.5 percentile (during dry conditions) by 7.3 GWh y-1. In scenarios with -20 % precipitation, malaria control increased average annual energy generation by 1.3 GWh y-1 but only decreased the lowest 0.5 percentile of energy by 0.2 GWh y-1; the irrigation demand was not met on 8.5 more days, on average, per year. Applying the malaria control rule to scenarios with +20 % precipitation decreased the likelihood of flooding by an average of 1.0 day per year. While the malaria control would divert some water away from other reservoir operational goals, the intervention requires 3.3–3.7 % of the annual precipitation budget, which is much less than reduction from potential droughts.

Background: Farmers apply several and often different farmer-specific strategies to cope with and adapt to the perceived trend of declining rainfall and crop productivity. A better understanding of the factors affecting farmers’ coping and adaptation strategies to counteract both trends is crucial for policies and programs that aim at promoting successful rainfed agriculture in Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to identify the major factors that affect farmers’ coping and adaption strategies to rainfall variability and reduction in crop yield in the central Rift valley (CRV) of Ethiopia. A survey was conducted among 240 randomly selected farmers within six kebeles in the CRV using structured and pretested questionnaires. Multivariate probit (MVP) regression model was used to identify these key factors that affect farmers’ coping and adaptation strategies to the declining trends of rainfall and crop productivity. Results: Generally, this study identified several factors that affect farmers’ choices of certain strategies, which can be grouped in four major factors: (1) livestock and landholdings, (2) availability of labour and knowledge, (3) access to information, and (4) social and cultural factors. Farmers with better resources, labour, knowledge, access to information and social capital had better coping and adaptation strategies to the declining rainfall and crop productivity. Conclusions: To conclude, improving farmers’ asset accumulation, access to information and knowledge are needed. Moreover, strengthening social capital and labour sharing institutions in the CRV is crucial to increase farmers’ capacities to cope with and adapt to environmental changes such as rainfall and crop yield variability.