ARBAMINCH UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

REVIEW ON EFFECT OF LAND DEGRADATION ON AGRICULTURAL LAND

PRODUCTIVITY IN ETHIOPIA

SENIOR SEMINAR PAPER SUBMMITED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT
FOR THE COURSE SENIOR SEMINAR (NARM 461)

BY

HABTAMU LAKE

ID NO: RAS/105/06

ADVISOR: TSEGAYENESH P. (MSC)

JANUARY 2016

ARBA MINCH,

ETHIOPIA
 Table of content

Content page
Table of content .............................................................................................................................. 1
1.INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 3
1.1.Background ........................................................................................................................... 3
1.2.Objectives of the review .............................................................................................................
1.2.1.General objective of the review ...........................................................................................
1.2.2.Specific objectives ...................................................................................................................
2. LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................................
2.1 The concepts of land degradation ...........................................................................................
2.2 Major Causes of land degradation ..............................................................................................
2.2.1 Deforestation: ...........................................................................................................................
2.2.2 Extensive agricultural practice or over cultivations of crop land: ...........................................
2.2.3 Over grazing: ...........................................................................................................................
2.3 Types of land degradation...........................................................................................................
2.3.1 Soil Erosion:.............................................................................................................................
2.3.2 Biological land degradation .....................................................................................................
2.3.3 Chemical Land Degradation ....................................................................................................
2.3.4 Physical degradations of soil ...................................................................................................
2.4. Effects of land degradation on agricultural productivity ...........................................................
3. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................
4. REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................
1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background
Agriculture is the dominant sector of the Ethiopian economy, with 85% of the population living
in the rural areas. Agriculture provides about 52% of the country=s GDP, 80% of its
employment, and 90% of its export earnings (World Bank, 2000). Ethiopia=s economy is largely
dominated by subsistence agriculture. Crop and livestock farming are the principal practices.
Mixed farming dominates the Highlands, with crop and livestock farming practiced in the same
management unit. The production system is mainly rainfed, subsistence based, and smallholder
oriented.

Land degradation in Ethiopia can be seen as a direct result of past agricultural practices on the
highlands. The dissected terrain, the extensive areas with slopes above 16%, and the high
intensity of rainfall lead to accelerated soil erosion once deforestation occurs. Additionally, some
of the farming practices within the highlands encourage erosion. These include cultivation of
cereal crops such as teff (Ergrotis tef) and wheat (Triticum sativum), which require the
preparation of a fine-tilt seedbed, the single cropping of fields, and the down slope final plowing
to facilitate drainage. Furthermore, socio-political influences, especially insecurity of land- and
tree tenure has discouraged farmers from investing in soil conservation practices (CIA, 2001).

Land degradation is thus the most immediate environmental problem facing Ethiopia. The loss of
soil, and the deterioration in fertility, moisture storage capacity, and structure of the remaining
soils, all reduce the country's agricultural productivity. Soil erosion is greatest on cultivated land,
where the average annual loss is 42 tons/ha, compared with 5 tons/ha from pastures. As a result,
almost half of the loss of soil comes from land under cultivation, even though these lands cover
only 13% of the country. Not surprisingly the highest average rates of soil loss are from formerly
cultivated lands, which are currently unproductive because of degradation and have very little
vegetative cover to protect them ( Huron, 1990).
There is a growing global awareness that land degradation is as much a threat to environmental
well–being as more obvious forms of damage, such as air and water pollution (Greenland &
Szalbocs, 1994; Conacher, 2001).
Land degradation is defined as a temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of
land, or its potential for environmental management, has significantly contributed to the low
yield of crops and livestock of the area of Amaro (Zemach, 2013). Land degradation is either
natural or human induced and it is a continuous process. However; it has become an important
concern affecting food security and the wealth of nations and it has an impact on the livelihood
of every person on our planet(Thomas, 2001).
Land degradation as a decline in the productive ability of the soil in the world productive crop
lands are in decline due to the pressure of human activities. Productive lands of the world have
been on a decline at the alarming rate (Thomas). Physical and economic evidence shows that loss
of land resource productivity is an important problem in Ethiopia and that with continued
population growth the problem is likely to be even more important in the future. There are
several studies that deal with land degradation at the national level in Ethiopia. These include the
Highlands Reclamation Study: Ethiopia (EHRS- FAO 1986); studies by the National
Conservation Strategy Secretariat (Sutcliffe 1993), the Ethiopian Forestry Action Plan (1993),
and Keyser and Sonneveld (2001); Effect of Soil Degradation on Agricultural Productivity in
Ethiopia.
Therefore, overall aim of these review paper is to outline (to have overview ) regarding the
impact, cause, and consequence of land degradation in developing country particularly Ethiopia.

2. Objectives

2.1. General objective

The overall objective of this paper is to overview the effect of land degradation on agricultural
land productivity

2.2. Specific objectives

i. To review the concept of land degradation in Ethiopia
 ii. To review derivers (direct and indirect) and types of land degradation
iii. To overview how land degradation affects agricultural productivity

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 The concepts of land degradation in Ethiopia

Land degradation is a major global issue for the 20th century and will remain high on the
international agenda even for the 21st century (Working Group on Land Degradation and
Desertification of the International Union of Soil Sciences, 1999). Land degradation which
is also seen as a decline in land quality caused human activities has been a major global
issue since the 20thcentury and it has remained on the international agenda in 21st century.
Land degradation can be viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be
deleterious or undesirable (Eswaran, 2001). Various sources suggest that 5-10 million
hectares worldwide are being lost annually to sever degradation. If this tends continuous
1.4-2.8% of total agricultural; pastoral and forest land will have been lost by 2020 (Scherr
and Yaddav , 1996). Land degradation includes all processes that diminish the capacity of
land resources to perform essential functions and services in ecosystems. A principal
process of land degradation includes erosion by water and wind, chemical degradation,
physical degradation and biological degradation (WMO, 2005). It is continuous process
and has become however an important concerns affecting food security and the wealth of
nations and has an impact on the livelihood of almost every person on this Earth
(Bezuayehu, et al. 2002).

Land degradation is the consequence of multiple processes that both directly and indirectly
reduce the utility of land. The consequence of a complex, wide-ranging suite of processes
which exert pressure on land and resources, land degradation is defined by the FAO as a
“process which lowers the current and/or potential capability of soil to produce goods and
services”. Land degradation is a composite term, it has no single readily identifiable
feature, but instead describes how one or more of the land resources (soil, water,
vegetation, rocks, air, climate, relief) has changed for the worse (Stocking, 2000).
Ethiopia is one of the most well-endowed countries in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of natural
resources. However natural resource degradation in Ethiopia has been going onfor centuries
(Hurni et al. 2010). Similarly Berry(2003) also stated that loss of land resource productivity is an
important problem in Ethiopia and that with continued population growth the problem is likely to
be even more important in the future. Commented [u1]: if it is possible pleas add more about these
part because it is one of your objective

2.2 Land degradation drivers

The major causes of land degradation in Ethiopia are rapid palpation growth, sever soil loss,
deforestation, improper agricultural practice and overgrazing (Grirma, 2001).The most
frequently recognized causes of land degradation include;

2.2.1. Direct drivers (pressures)

The main direct drivers (pressures) contributing to land degradation in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA)
are non‐sustainable agriculture, overgrazing by livestock, and overexploitation of forests and
woodlands. The need to produce more food for the rapidly increasing human population has led
to the rapid expansion of agricultural land and the shortening of the fallow periods in traditional,
extensive land‐use systems, which have reduced the regeneration of soil fertility through natural
processes (Finegan and Nasi 2004). Today, close to 33% of the earth’s land surface is devoted to
pastures or cropland (de Sherbinin 2002). Much of the recent increase in area under agricultural
land continues to occur mostly in developing countries, mainly Africa and Latin America
(Houghton 1994).

The increased use of fire as a clearing tool especially in the savanna and forest margins has
further led to loss of nutrients in many systems (Pivello and Coutinho 1992). Nutrient losses
through fire are proportionally much larger for nitrogen than for phosphorus and other nutrients
(Van de Vijver et al. 1999). Fire is also considered as a non‐selective herbivore that ‘feeds’
uniformly on vegetation (Bond and Keeley 2005) and hence contributes significantly to
vegetation loss.
Rangelands are experiencing high grazing pressure, which affects overall rangeland productivity.
Vegetation studies show that high grazing pressure leads to changes in species composition,
which may reduce the resilience of rangelands for droughts (Hein and Weikard 2008). Recent
years have seen droughts with severe impacts on livestock and local livelihoods in arid and
semi‐arid lands of East Africa. The rangelands are also experiencing a rapid decline in tree
cover. The demand for timber and wood products for construction and energy (fuel wood and
charcoal), especially in neighboring urban centres is increasing. Most forests and woodlands of
SSA continue to suffer from rapid deforestation. This is driven by a number of processes, such as
continued demand for agricultural land, local use of wood for fuel wood, charcoal production
and construction purposes, large‐scale timber logging, often without effective institutional
control of harvest rates and logging methods, and population movement and resettlement
schemes in forested areas (Boucher et al. 2011). The rapid expansion of agricultural land as
discussed above has come mainly at the expense of forests and rangelands.

2.2.2. Indirect drivers

Beside the direct drivers of land degradation, there are indirect causes such as population growth,
poverty and climate change. Currently, the SSA population is growing at 2.1% per year, and, in
the next 15 years, the region will have to accommodate at least 250 million (33%) more people
(UNEP et al. 2005). Most areas experiencing rapid population growth and density have shown
evidence of land degradation. Only isolated cases have been documented regarding the positive
contribution of high population on sustainable land management (SLM) (Tiffen et al. 1994). In
most other cases, high population has been associated with increased pressure on natural
resources leading to land degradation in various forms. Poverty has been identified as another
indirect cause of land degradation. Between 1981 and 2001, the number of people in SSA living
on less than US$ 1 a day increased by 93%, from 164 million to 316 million (UNEP et al. 2005)
accounting for about 46% of the population of the region (Chen and Ravallion 2004).
The majority of the poor are smallholder farmers located in the rural areas. These farmers depend
on the already degraded lands to meet their food requirements. Often, the farmers will expand
their farming system to other new and sometimes fragile ecosystems, and without incentives will
engage in unsustainable farming practices that contribute to degradation of these areas. As such,
the poor farmers are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and land degradation (Bationo et al.
2007a).

Recent studies have shown that climate change also contributes to land degradation. For
example, the recent (2011) drought in East Africa, which directly affected an estimated 10
million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, served to remind us that Africa is the continent
most vulnerable to climate change. The continent has a long history of rainfall fluctuations of
varying lengths and intensities (Singh, 2006). Droughts and floods are two important climatic
events responsible for land degradation. The continent has experienced droughts since the 1910s
(Gommes and Petrassi 1994). The most prolonged and widespread droughts occurred in 1973
and 1984, when almost all African countries were affected, and in 1992, when all southern
African countries experienced extreme food shortages. With the advent of droughts, net primary
productivity is reduced and with intense grazing, most of the land is left exposed to agents of
erosion, i.e., wind and water. The recurrent droughts have in some instances made it impossible
for the natural vegetation to regenerate to its original state. In 1998, many parts of East Africa
experienced record rainfall (up to ten times the usual amount) as a result of the El Nino
phenomena, and this caused disastrous flooding. When such floods occur immediately after a
drought, large volumes of soil are washed away from the exposed land leading to degradation.
The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that the frequency and intensity of
droughts and floods in SSA is likely to increase in the coming years due to climate change.
Studies have shown that future warming will intensify the inter‐annual variability of East
Africa’s rainfall thereby impacting on how land is used (Wolff et al. 2011).
 2.2.1 Deforestation:
It occurs due to the removal of trees by men for different purposes. Humans use trees for many
purposes such as for; home consumption like fire wood, timber, construction, and others, for
industrial raw materials and so on. This causes deforestation (Amare, 1997). Commented [u2]: write more about these
eg.

2.2.2 Extensive agricultural practice or over cultivations of crop land: Commented [u3]: write Expansion of Agricultural Land

This is the other cause of land degradation which Most people in our country exercise extensive
agricultural practice. This practice is a harmful in removing trees; prevent removal of soil by
water erosion (Kappel, 1996). Farmers cut down trees to expand their farm land without
recognition by agricultural professionals and other concerned bodies. This causes deforestation
and results bare land. The bare land exposed to water erosion and leads to decline the productive
potential of crop lands (Biesemans, 2002).
Expansion of cultivation to marginal lands increases degradation of upland field areas. These are
then abandoned for new lands (Reenberg, 2001). Agricultural expansion, particularly groundnut
cultivation, has resulted in the decline of fallow lands and savannah vegetation in the Sahelian
part of Senegal (Van Vliet et al., 2013).

2.2.3 Over grazing:

It is the other cause which leads land degradation to decline the productive potential of
agricultural land. It is grazing large number of animals on the same land frequently. This leads to
bare soil which is exposed to water erosion or land degradation. The soil which is exposed to the
above mentioned factors is easily eroded by water and wind. This affects the soil fertility or
productivity (ILRI, 2000).

2.2.4. Population Growth

Gebreyesus and Kirubel (2009) reported that the heavy reliance of some 85 percent of Ethiopia’s
growing population on an exploitative kind of subsistence agriculture is a major reason behind
the current state of land degradation. Similarly, studies conducted by Temesgen et al. (2014a, b)
in Dera District, Ethiopia exemplified the increased of land degradation which mainly caused by
the growing population of the area. Additional study by Fitsum et al. (1999) illustrated that there
are multiple interacting forces which have caused and are causing land degradation in Ethiopia.

2.3 Types of land degradation

Land degradation can be triggered by various processes that lower the potential productivity of
land leading to long term (sometimes irreversible) deterioration. These processes are numerous,
but for the purpose of this study the primer focus is on processes of soil erosion and biological,
chemical or nutrient depletion and physical degradation as a form of land degradation. These
processes are interrelated and could occur due to natural cause but they are in variably
accelerated by human intervention in natural environment. Human intervention increases with
population growth and pressure (Barber, 2004).

2.3.1 Soil Erosion:

The major physical agent in environmental degradation in the area of Amaro is soil erosion.
Topography, Rain Fall, Wind, Lack of vegetation cover, Soil properties, land use and
management practices are the immediate causes of soil erosion. There are also under lining or
distant causes; such as population pressure, poverty, high conservation costs and less
accessibility of inputs, insecure land tenure, lack of appropriate production and conservation
technologies etc. (Barber, 2004).

2.3.2 Biological land degradation

Biological degradation refers to the process that leads to a decline in the humus content of soil
through mineralization. Decomposition of organic matter is a function of microbial activity. The
majority of organic matter is concentrated near the soil surface in the form of decaying leaves
and stems. So, erosion of top soil results a rapid decrease in soil organic matter levels. Therefore,
it causes a loss of food for soil microorganisms. Once the organic matter layer is depleted, the
soil productivity and crop yields decline because of the degraded soil structure and depletions of
nutrients (Solomon, 1994)
 2.3.3 Chemical Land Degradation

This degradation is also termed as Nutrient depletion of soil. General nutrients are lost through
erosion in runoff and in the eroded sediment. Finer soil fractions are the most vulnerable to the
erosion. Nutrients, being abundant in these finer soil fractions, are also lost to erosion. Further
nutrient losses occur through chemical degradation, that means deterioration of properties of the
soil which occurs as a result of acidification and salinity (Thomas D. , 1997).

2.3.4 Physical degradations of soil

This type of degradation is may occurred as the result of, sealing, compaction, reduction in
aeration and reduced permeability etc. lack of organic matter and high percentage of very fine
sands and silt in soils are some of the factors contributes to the surface sealing. Overstocking and
over grazing including grazing of left over residues on crop lands after harvesting cases soil
compaction due to heave and continuous tramping by livestock. Watering points and cattle routes
are particularly vulnerable to the soil compaction, which leads to excessive runoff and reduced
water infiltration. Re-vegetation in this areas is therefore, impeded. Unimpeded water flowing
down slops causes rills and gullies (Solomon, 1994).

2.4. Effects of land degradation on agricultural productivity

Bio-physical impacts of land degradation is the immediate impact of degradation on soil nutrient
loss and other processes results in undesirable physiochemical soil properties and there by
considerably depresses crop yield. The most important factors reducing soil productivity by the
soil degradations are reduced the soil depth or the root depth and the soil water holding capacity,
loss of nutrients. The reduction in the soil depth can depress crop yields by reducing the amount
of water that the soil can hold. Thin soils are unable to retain as much water as thick soils, and
therefore, exhibit lower crop yields (Hurni, 2003). The effect of erosion on crop productivity is
transportation of sown seed by runoff and wind and transportation of top soil by runoff and wind,
increasing evapo-transpiration on crops by wind erosion, wilting of crops, and death of crops and
total loss of crop. Even, crops adopt or survive erosion, final yield of crops in both productivity
and production decrease more in cereals than legumes and grassy species (Gretton, P.and Salma
1996,. Land degradation not only impacts of crops and livestock productivity but also water
resources on which welfare of human life depends (wright, 1984). In other cases, degradation
induces farmers to convert land to lower value uses; for example, less-demanding cassava may
be substituted for maize, fallow period may be lengthened, crop land converted to grazing land
or grazing lands converted to shrubs or forests(Ousmane B. and Christoper L. Delgado,2005).

Sub Saharan African National estimates of the crop productivity effects of land degradation are
available for more than a dozen in 7 developing African countries comparable data show the
rates of 0.04% to 11% annual losses in crop production. The evidence of the past study shows for
South East Asian and Middle east countries indicates a decline in productivity greater than 20%,
with declines of more than 50% in upland crop yields in the same regions(Sara J. Scherr and
Satya Yadav, 1996). Losses in crop yields due to past erosion were estimated by Sara and Satya,
1996 for Africa, based on existing quantitative data on erosion rates and productivity
relationships is ranges from 2% to 40%, with a mean of 8.2% for the continent Africa and 6.2%
for Sub Saharan African (SSA).The annual reduction in total production for SSA due to erosion
in 1989 was estimated at 3.6 million tons for cereals, 6.5 million for root and tuber crops and
0.36 million tons for pulses(Sara J. Scher and Satya Yadav, 1996).

3. summery
The reviewer concluded that the impacts of land degradation on agricultural productivity take
place in different ways in different literature. This includes soil erosion, biological degradation
of the soil, physical degradation of the soil and the like. These different land degradation causes
total loss of crop yield by affecting agricultural land.
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