DEBREMARKOSUNIVERSITYBURIECAMPUS

DEPARTEMENTS OF NATURALRESOURCEMANAGEMENT

SENIOR SEMINOR:

ON

REVIEW ON TRENDS AND FACTORS OF LAND DEGRADATION

BY: HAYMANOT SHELEMO

ID: - AGR/1006/10

ADVISOR: - TESFAYE Bayu (MSC)

NOVEMBER 2019

BURIE, ETHOPIA

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, we would like to thank almighty god for his being with us in all aspects of our life. Second I
would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my advisor Tesfaye B(MSc)for his valuable advice and
comment .Finally, my thanks go to my families for their moral and financial support during my stay in this
University.

Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.................................................................................................................................ii
ABBREVIATION............................................................................................................................................iv
ABSRACT........................................................................................................................................................iv

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1. INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................1
1.1Back ground............................................................................................................................1

1.2Objectives................................................................................................................................2

1.2.1General objective................................................................................................................................2
1.2.2Specific objectives..............................................................................................................................2
2. Literature Review..........................................................................................................................................3
2.1The trends of land degradation................................................................................................3

2.2 Causes of Land Degradation..................................................................................................4

2.3 Consequence of Land Degradation........................................................................................4

3. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION............................................................................................6

3.1 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................6

3.2 RECOMMENDATION.........................................................................................................7

4. REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................9

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List of tables
Table 1.1 Figure 1trend of land degradation...................................................................................................................4

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ABBREVIATION

DA Development Agent
GDP Growth development productive
SSA Sub- Saharan Africa
SWC Soil and Water Conservation

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 ABSRACT

Land degradation is the common environmental problem in Ethiopia. It is one of the major causes of low
and declining agricultural productivity and continuing food insecurity and rural poverty. In addition, land
degradation directly affected the type of plant grown on the area, reduced availability of potable water,
lessened volumes of surface water, depletion of aquifers and biodiversity loss. Land degradation in the form
of soil erosion and nutrient depletion is the most serious environmental problems which leads the area to
receive low agricultural productivity, food insecurity, poverty, and hung, as evidenced by recurrent
problems of famine, and incomes of less than one dollar per person per day. It is the most obvious disasters
by removing soil from the surface which causes reduction in soil fertility and productivity, loss of organic
matter; reduce farm plot size, changes in the type of crop grown and other problems. There are six form of
land degradation through which the productivity of the land becomes declined. These are soil erosion,
nutrient depletion, deforestation, siltation, salinization and water logging. While natural forces such as
climate change, drought, floods and geological process contributed to land degradation, the most important
factor in Ethiopia is human activities. Land degradation is a result of complex interaction between physical,
biological, socio economic and political issues of local and national or global context. Rainfall erosivity,
erodiblity of the soil determined by soil type, texture, and organic matter content, slope gradient and length,
determined by topography, the type and intensity of vegetable cover and farmer’s management practices
such as ploughing and the present of conservation structure such as terrace, grass strips, soil bunds are the
main factors that determines land degradation. It has major ecological and economic consequences. In the
both environmental and socio-economic factors have distributed to the poor performance of Ethiopian
agriculture

Key words-land degradation, soil erosion, free grazing

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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1Back ground
Land degradation is defined by FAO (2002) as the loss of production capacity of
land in terms of loss of soil fertility, soil bio-diversity and degradation of natural
resources.

Ethiopia is one of the countries on the African continent with highest agricultural potential. Its natural
resources base in the foundation of any economic development, food security and other basic necessities of
its people. Predominantly small holder agriculture is the dominant sector of the national economy.
Agriculture provides over 87% of the total employment and 90% of the foreign exchanges earnings and
approximately55% of the GDP. The country populations estimated at around 77.4million (in ss) of this
85%live in rural areas (Pendeer, et al., 2001).Land degradation, in the form of sever soil. Soil erosion and
nutrient depletion, in the most serious environmental problem particularly in the Ethiopian high lands
(Fitsum, 2003).

The average net soil loss in the Ethiopian highlands has been estimated be 42tones per hector per year on
cultivated land, while soil loss on single field may reach up to 300 tons per hector per year. This makes the
country to be one of the countries with highest rate of soil nutrient depletion in sub-Sahara Africa (Hurni,
1988).Other authors emphasized the significant role livestock (over grazing in fueling the soil degradation
process as livestock production is integrated in to a mall holder farming system,(Hrni,19880.Land
degradation in the Ethiopia high lands has contributed to low agricultural productivity, food insecurity,
extremes poverty and hung, as evidenced by recurrent problems of famine and income of less than one
dollar per person per day(Pender et ., 2001).Many studies attributed water erosion, particularly on crop
lands a major cause for such a high level of soil erosion in Ethiopia.

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 1.2Objectives

1.2.1General objective
The general objective of the seminar was to review trends and factors of land degradation in Ethiopia.

1.2.2Specific objectives
 To review on the trend of land degradation in Ethiopia
 To review on factor that affect land degradation in Ethiopia

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2. Literature Review
2.1The trends of land degradation
Land degradation is the temporal or permanent lowering of the productive capacity of the land. Head worth
and steines92003) defined land degradation at the loss of utility or potential of the land through the
reduction or damage of physical, socio-cultural, economic feature and reduction of ecosystem diversity.
There are six form of land degradation: soil erosion, nutrient depletion, deforestation, siltation, Stalinization
and water logging. Soil erosion is a process that describes human induced phenomena, which lowers the
current and /or future capacity of the soil to support human life. In a general sense, soil degradation could be
described as the deterioration of soil quality or the partial or entire loss of one or more function of the soil
(Oldman et al., 1991).

Nutrient depletion refers to the deterioration in soil physical, chemical and biological. It is occurred when
the inflow of nutrients to the soil through manure, chemical fertilization, biological nitrogen fixation,
addition of plant materials from outside. The system , atmospheric deposition and sedimentation are less
than out flow due to the crop harvesting removal of crop residue, erosion, leaching and gaseous
losses(Stooryogel and Smalling ,1990).

Table 1.1 Figure 1trend of land degradation

Statistics of degrading areas for Ethiopia (1981–2003)
Degraded area Population affected Total NPP loss

Km2 % territory (of the % of global degraded Number % of total (ton

country) area population C/23 years)

296,812 26.3 % 0.84 % 20,650,316 29.1 % 14,276,065

show that land degradation occurred in about 228,160 km2 (or 23 % of total land area) between 1982 and
2006. A look at land use land cover types shows that the areas that experienced much degradation include
sparse vegetation (32 %), mosaic forest-shrub/grass (27 %), shrub-land (20 %) and mosaic vegetation-crop
(19 %). These degradation and improvement hotspots are depicted.
Land degradation can occur in two ways—either through productivity decline as a result of such factors as
soil erosion, nutrient depletion and mining or changes in land use/land cover (from more economically and
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environmentally productive land uses/covers to a less economically and environmentally one).

2.2Causes of Land Degradation

Land degradation is advancing at an alarming rate in sub Sahara Africa (SSA), particularly in the form of
desertification in dry land areas, soil erosion and deforestation in hill sides, and loss of soil fertility in many
cropped areas .The degradation of fragile dry lands and hill side areas in particularly wonyind because it is
often irreversible, or can be only reversed at high cost. While natural forces such as climate change,
drought, floods and geological process contributed to land degradation, the most important factor in SSA is
human activities. The key driving force is thought to be a nexus of poverty, rapid population growth, and in
adequate progressing crop yields (Knox et al, 1998).

Land degradation is a result of complex interaction between physical, biological, socio economic and
political issues of local and national or global context (Taffa, 2000).
According to FAO (1994), the cause of land degradation can be divided into natural hazard, direct causes
and underlying causes. Natural hazards the condition of the physical environment which lead to the
existence of higher degradation hazards. It is exogenous to the land managers, removal of the soil. Direct
causes are unsuitable land use and in appropriate type of land use and management practices. Farmers
perception and attitudes can have a major or bearing on land degradation. Although farmers are over more
actively aware of the conditions of their land than is something assumed by experts, they may not be fully
aware of land degradation it is causes or consequences (Ervin 1982). Land use and land cover change plays
an important role in global environmental change. It is one of the major factor in affecting sustainable
development and response to global change.

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2.2.1 Deforestation:
Forests play an important role in maintaining fertility of soil by shedding their leaves which contain many
nutrients. Forests are also helpful in binding up of soil particles with the help of roots of vegetation.
Therefore, cutting о forests will affect the soil adversely.
2.2.2 Excessive Use of Fertilizers and Pesticides:
Fertilizers are indispensable for increasing food production but their excessive use has occasioned much
concern as a possible environmental threat. Excessive use of fertilizers is causing an imbalance in the
quantity of certain nutrients in the soil. This imbalance adversely affects the vegetation.
2.2.3 Overgrazing:
Increase in livestock population results in overexploitation of pastures. Due to this, grass and other types of
vegetation are unable to survive and grow in the area, and lack of vegetation cover leads to soil erosion.
Millions of people in Africa and Asia raise animals on pastures and rangelands that have low carrying
capacity because of poor quality or unreliable rainfall Pastoralists and their rangelands are threatened by
overgrazing.
2.2.4 Water-logging:
Excessive irrigation and improper drainage facility in the fields cause rise in the ground water level. This
ground water mixes with surface water used for irrigation and creates a situation called water-logging.
Ground water brings the salts of soil in dissolved state up to the surface where they form a layer or sheet of
salt after evaporation. The term salinity is used for such a situation.
2.2.5 Desertification:
Desertification is a widespread process of land degradation in arid, semi- arid, and dry sub-humid areas
resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities. The UNO Conference on
Desertification (1977) has defined desertification as the “diminution or destruction of the biological
potential of land, and can lead ultimately to desert like conditions.”
2.2.6 Soil erosion:
Accelerated soil erosion by water and wind is the major land degradation process and this is a consequence
of changed relationship between environmental factors which occur as a result of human interventions.
Adverse changes in physical, chemical or biological characteristics of the soil result in reduced fertility and
soil erosion. Other kinds of land degradation are as water-logging, chemical contamination, acidification,
salinity and alkalinity etc.

In general rain fall erosivity ,erodiblity of the soil determined by soil type ,texture ,and organic matter
content , slope gradient and length, determined by topography, the type and intensity of vegetable cover and
farmers management practices such as ploughing and the present of conservation structure such as
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terrace ,grass strips, soil bunds are the main factors farm, land degradation etc (Wischmejer and
smith,1978).

2.3Consequence of Land Degradation

The damnations of land degradation are large and growing. Land degradation has major ecological and
economic consequences. Land degradation is now through to affect 2/3 of the total crop land of Africa and
1/3 of the pasture lands. About ¾ of these degraded lands lie in dry regions. Moreover, about 3.7million ha
of closed forest are lost each year and this rate is accelerating. There is accompanying loss of biodiversity
(plant and animal species extinction) , increase siltation, and flooding of rivers that treats down streams uses
such as dams and irrigation agricultural and changes in regional and global climate (Whitmore et
al.,1994).Majority in Ethiopia either produce just enough for subsistence just during good rain fall year or
face chronic food deficit. Among the major cause of structural food deficits ever environmental degradation,
low soil fertility, poor organic and soil management practices coupled with the lack of improved farm
implements and high moisture stress played a leading role towards this end (Berhanu et al., 2000). Has
clearly notes severity resources degradation of the region in reference to soil erosion, soil nutrient depletion,
moisture stress, deforestation, and over grazing as the major environmental problems. In general Tigray
contains many of the areas of greatest land degradation concern in Ethiopia’s high lands

These problems are particularly severing the high lands of resulting is cereal yields averages less than one
tone per ha, fragmentation of land holding size, which is only one ha and to subsist on income of less than
one dollar per dayactivity, agro forestry , animal and crop production , animal and crop production
respectively. So most of the people in this kebele were mainly depend on crop production and animal
production practices. Therefore, they are easily can affected by land degradation.

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3. CONCLUSION

From the study it was concluded that: -

 Land degradation is caused by soil erosion, due to over cultivation, poor farming practices on slope
lands.
 Over grazing is greatly seen on most the mountain, this area is widely exposed to erosion.
 Land degradation is generally started by deforestation practice for expanding farm land due to
increasing number of population.
 Land degradation is as a result of complex interaction of; physical, biological, socio-economic and
political issues of local, national or global context.
 The cause of land degradation might be natural hazard or manmade (human activity).
 land degradation at the loss of utility or potential of the land through the reduction of socio-cultural
or economic feature and reduction of ecosystem diversity, this leads to deterioration of soil quality or
the partial or entire loss of one or more function of the soil.
 Some remedial measures are take place in the study area to rehabilitate the degraded land; these
measures are reforestation elimination of over grazing, encouraging conservation practice
biologically and physically.
 High rain fall intensity and run-off rate also causes land degradation in the study area especially at
bare land.

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 REFERENCES

Berhnu Gebremedihine, J. Pender and Girmay Tefay, 2000. IFPRI 2033 K Street, N.WWashington, D.C.,
20006 U.S.A.

BoANRD (Bureau of Agriculture and Natural Resources Development of TigrayRegion), 1999. A Survey of
performance of the five year (1995-1999) agricultural development plan of Tigray Region (Translated
from Tigrigna).vol.I. 15p.

Erivin, C. A., and, D.C. Ervin,1982. Factors affecting the use of conservation practices: Hypothesis,
Evidences and Policy Implications. Land Economics, 58(3): 97-107.

FAO, 1994. Land degradation in South Asia: Its severity causes and effects up on the people. World Soil
Resource Reports, 78.

Fitsum Hagos, 2003. Poverty, institution, Peasant behavior and conservation investments in Northern
Ethiopia. Department of Economics and Social Sciences Agricultural University of Norway. PhD.
Dissertation no.2003: 2 .174p

Hurni, H., 1988 Degradation and Conservation of Resources in the Ethiopian Highlands. Mountain
Research and Development 8(2/3): 123-130p.

Knox, A.M., S. Babu, T. Ngaido, 1998. EPTD (Environmental and Production Technology Division)
workshop summary paper no. 7. International Conference on Strategies for poverty and Sustainable
Resource Management in the Fragile lands of Sub-Saharan Africa. Conference held may 25-29, Entebbe
Uganda 78 p.

Oldeman, L.R., R.T.A. Hakkeling and W.G.Sromrok, 1991. World map of the status of human induced soil
degradation. An explanatory note, second revised edition, ISRLC/ UNEP, Wageningen.

Pender, J., Berihanu Gebremedhin S., Benin and S. Ehui, 2001. Strategies for sustainable agricultural
development in the Ethiopian Highlands. American J. Agr. Econ. 83(5): 1231-1240.

Stoorvogel, J.J., and E.M. Smaling, 1990. Assessment of soil nutrient depletion in Sub-Saharan Africa.
1983-2000. vol 1: Main Report 28, the wind and starting center for integrated soil and water resource.
Wageningen University, Netherlands.

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Taffa Tulu, 2000. Soil and water conservation for sustainable agriculture. Mega publishing Enterprise,
Addis Ababa ,Ethiopia.

Wischmeier, W.H. and D.D.Smith, 1978. Agricultural hand book 537. WashingtonD.CU.S.Department of
agriculture.

Whitmore, T., I., M. Brenner, D.R. Engstorm, and S. Xueliang, 1994. Accelarated Soil Erosion in watershed
of Yunnan province. Chaina Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Vol.49.

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