Rangeland evaluation in relation to pastoralists perceptions in the middle Awash valley of Ethiopia
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Date
2003-01
Authors
Gedda, Abule Ebro
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Pastoralism is the most dominant land use form in the arid rangelands of Sub-
Saharan Africa in which Ethiopia is not an exception. However, in Ethiopia and
elsewhere, rangeland-based life-styles are in difficulty with the rangeland
environment under threat because of both external and internal constraints. The
spatial variability of the annual rainfall in these areas also has an affect on the
pastoralists livelihood. Accordingly, four studies were undertaken in two
neighbouring districts occupied by pastoralists of different ethnic groups living in the
middle Awash valley of Ethiopia with the objective of evaluating the condition of the
rangelands, which was related to the perception of the pastoralists in order to come
up with possible recommendations to minimize further degradation.
The pastoralists perceptions of the rangeland resource were studied through group
discussions and by using a structured questionnaire where each household was taken
as a unit of analysis (90 households from Oromo living in Kereyu-Fantale district
and 55 households from Mar living in Awash-Fantale district). The data was
analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The result showed
that the average family size per household was about 6.74, with nearly 80% of the
people without any kind of education. The main source of income for both pastoral
groups was from the sale of animals. The second source of income to the Oromo and
Afar pastoralists was from the sale of crops and milk and milk by-products,
respectively. Both pastoral groups reported that woody species like Cryptostegia
grandiflora, Capparis fascicularis, Erythrina abyssinica and Flueggea virosa) and
herbaceous species like Tribulus terrestris, Tephrosia subtriflora and Cynodo are
sources of poisons which affect their livestock production. Ninety seven and 3% of
the Oromo respondents use Cymbopogon commutatus and Chrysopogon plumulosus
for house roofing respectively, while 38.1%, 23.0%, 10.6% and 28.3% of the Afar
pastoralists use C. commutatus, C. exacavatus, Enterpogon and Sporobolus ioclados,
respectively for a similar purpose. Seventy six percent of the Oromo and 77 % of the
Afar respondents do not harvest grasses from the rangelands and the primary use of
woody plants in both pastoral groups was for livestock feeding. It was indicated that
the grazing lands were bush encroached notably with Acacia senegal, A. nubica and
Prosopis juliflora (Awash-Fantale district only) and the condition of the rangeland to
be in poor condition. None of the Afars and only 12% of the Oromo pastoralists had
private grazing lands. The majority of the respondents chose to continue with
communal type of ownership in the grazing lands and a shortage of water was a
critical constraint to the Oromo pastoralists. There is a critical shortage of livestock
feed during the dry season and the first measure taken to solve feed shortage is
migration. Unfortunately, 90% of the Oromo and 60% of the Afar respondents
replied that migration is a bad practise. The Afar pastoralists (cattle = 20; sheep = 12;
goats = 26; Camels = 15) had a higher number of livestock owned per household
than the Oromo pastoralis (cattle = 10; sheep = 8; Goats = Il; Camels = 5).
Rangeland condition in terms of grass, browse and soil parameter was studied at Il
sites in Awash- Fantale district and 10 sites iri Kereyu -Fantale district using
techniques and/or methods mostly developed in South Africa. Grazing and browsing
capacities were also calculated for each of the rangeland sites. The most dominant
grass species-in the study districts was Chrysopogon plumulosus followed by
different species of Sporobolus. The percentage bare ground as estimated by the
point method varied from 0.33 to 10.79 with a mean value of 5.27. The basal cover
in both districts was low, averaging 3.35%. The DM yield of the grass ranged
between 168.52 kg ha" to 832 kg ha-I. The grazing capacity varied from as low as
54.14 ha LSU-I to as high as 7.06 ha LSUI. The results of the evapotranspiration tree
equivalent (ETTE ha") showed that the study districts were bush encroached with A.
senegal, A. nubica and P. juliflora. In both districts, the browse production (total leaf
DM) ranged from as low as 194 kg ha" to 3 311 kg ha-I, with most of the leaf dry
mass found above the height of 1.5 m. In both districts, the highest browsing capacity
(ha BU-I) was contributed by A. senegal and A. nubica.
The condition of the communal grazing lands was also assessed m relation to
benchmark sites. Basal cover and the DM yield of grasses was higher in the
benchmark sites (basal cover= 5.3% and DM yield of grasses = 985.7 kg ha") than
the sample sites (basal cover = 3.3% and DM yield of grasses = 447.2 kg ha"), which
indicated that given proper management, there is ample room to improve the grazing
capacity of the rangelands.
With the objective of studying the effects of tree species' on grass species
composition, yield and some soil parameters under different grazing gradients (light,
medium and heavy) in two sub-habitats (under canopy and open grassland), two tree
species (Acacia tortilis and Balanites aegyptica) were identified. The data was
analysed using DECORANA and SAS (Statistical Analysis System). The results
showed that the grass species found at the heavily grazed sites were mostly annuals
and less desirable species. The major difference between the medium and lightly
grazed site in grass species composition was the presence of Panicum maximum
under the canopy of trees in lightly grazed condition. The DM yield of grass
improved substantially as the grazing intensity decreased (heavy = 31l. 9 kg ha",
medium = 1 607 kg ha-I and light = 2 737.5 kg ha"). At the medium and lightly
grazed sites, the DM yield of grass was higher (P<0.001) under tree canopies than
the corresponding open grasslands. Soil nutrient status increased as the grazing
pressure decreased from heavy to light grazing. Electrical conductance, percentage
nitrogen and organic carbon increased (P<0.01) under tree canopies compared to the
corresponding open grasslands whereas they decreased with an increase in the depth.
of soil. In conclusion, all studies with different objectives and arguments clearly indicate that
the condition of the rangelands IS poor, requiring careful and participatory
interventions. Future studies need to distinguish between climate and man-made
droughts although droughts are a normal phenomenon in these drier areas.
Rangelands in poor condition increase the intensity and frequency of climatic
droughts.
Description
Keywords
Range management -- Ethiopia -- Awash River Valley, Rangelands -- Ethiopia -- Awash River Valley, Thesis (Ph.D. (Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences))-- University of the Free State, 2003