Agricultural Systems in Ethiopia
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Agricultural systems in Ethiopia E. WestpJial Agricultural systems in Ethiopia Institute of Agricultural 8 esearch Library Addis a beba Agricultural Research Reports 826 E. Westphal Department of Tropical Crops and Laboratory of Plant Taxonomy and Plant Geography, Agricultural University, Wageningen in collaboration with J. M. C. Westphal-Stevels Agricultural systems in Ethiopia Joint publication of the College of Agriculture, Haile Sellassie I University, Ethiopia, and the Agricultural University, Wageningen, the Netherlands Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation Wageningen -1975 Abstract W e s tp h a l, E. (1975) Agricultural systems in Ethiopia. Agric. Res. Rep. (Versl. landbouwk. Onderz.) 826, ISBN 90 220 0556 9, (x) 4- 278 p.. 16 figs, 103 photographs, 10 maps in separate cover, 9 tables. ZZZ refs, 2 appendices. The book is the second in a series of publications on Ethiopian useful plants. It treats the agricultural systems in Ethiopia: the seed-farming, ensat-planting and pastoral complex, and shifting cultivation. Special chapters are devoted to the geography, climate, soils, natural segetation, ethnic groups and languages, agriculture, markets, food and nutrition, and useful plants. Tables, photographs, and indices on subject and scientific plant names are added: 10 detailed maps arc included in a separate booklet. ISBN 90^220 0556 9 Coverplate: fields in the Chercher Highlands of Hararge with sorghum, t'ef, sweet potato and ch'at (E. Westphal). © Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation, Wageningen. 1975. No parts of this book may be reproduced and or published in any form, by print, photoprint, micro film or any other means without written permission from the publishers. To Bank and Marijn Contents Preface ix 1 Geography ] 1.1 Geology 1 1.2 Topography and topographic regions 6 1.3 Hydrography ' 16 2 Climate 18 2.1 Air pressure and winds | 18 2.2 Precipitation 20 2.2.1 Average annual rainfall 20 2.2.2 Wet and dry seasons 21 2.2.3 Rainfall regimes 22 2.3 Temperature 24 2.4 Climatic regions 25 3 Soils 28 3.1 d'Hoore's classification in terms of the 7th Approximation 28 3.2 Simplified version of the FAO-UNESCO soil map 29 3.3 Description of soils 31 3.3.1 Soils of the Coastal Plains 31 3.3.2 Soils of the Lava Plateau 31 3.3.2.1 Soils of the Ethiopian Highlands 31 3.3.2.2 Soils of the Eastern Highlands 34 3.3.3 Soils of the Abbay Trough 35 3.3.4 Soils of the Riftvalley 36 3.3.5 Soils of the Somali Plateau 37 3.3.6 Soils of the Crystalline Highlands 38 3.3.7 Soils of the Sudanese Lowlands 38 4 Natural vegetation 39 4.1 Traditional zones 39 4.2 Pichi-Sermolli's classification of vegetation types 40 4.2.1 Desert 40 4.2.2 Semi-desert and steppe types 40 4.2.3 Xerophilous open woodland 41 4.2.4 Deciduous woodland 44 4.2.5 Lowland bamboo thickets 44 4.2.6 Savanna (various types) 44 4.2.7 Montane evergreen thicket and scrub 45 4.2.8 Montane savanna 46 4.2.9 Montane dry evergreen forest 47 4.2.10 Montane moist evergreen forest 50 4.2.11 High-level bamboo forest 52 4.2.12 High mountain vegetation 52 4.2.13 Afro-alpine formations 54 4.2.14 Coastal formations 55 4.2.15 Swamp formations 56 4.2.16 Riparian formations 56 5 Ethnic groups and languages 57 5.1 Grouping 57 5.2 Semitic languages 58 5.3 Cushitic languages 60 5.4 Negro languages 66 5.5 Ethiopians in classical literature 67 6 Agriculture 68 6.1 Ethiopian agriculture through the eyes of ‘forengi’ (foreigners) 68 6.2 Ethiopia as a gene centre of cultivated plants 73 6.3 Ensat-hoe complex versus grain-plough complex 79 6.4 Agro-ecological regions and the altitudinal range of some crops 81 6.5 Systems of agriculture 83 6.5.1 The seed-farming complex 83 6.5.1.1 The grain-plough complex of the central and northern Ethiopian Highlands 83 6.5.1.2 The barley-hoe complex in connection with pastoralism of the Galla 103 6.5.1.3 The grain-plough complex of Arussi and Bale 106 6.5.1.4 The sorghum-plough complex of the highland of Hararge 108 6.5.1.5 The sorghum-hoe-terrace complex of the Konso cluster 118 6.5.2 The ensat-planting complex 123 6.5.2.1 Ensat as staple food 126 6.5.2.2 Ensat as co-staple, with cereals and tuber crops 140 6.5.2.3 Ensat not as co-staple, with tuber crops dominant and cereals of secondary importance 155 6.5.2.4 Ensat not as co-staple, with cereals dominant and tuber crops of secondary importance A 6.5.3 Shifting cultivation 164 6.5.4 The pastoral complex 168 7 Markets, food and nutrition (J. ML C. Westphal-Stevels) 174 7.1 Markets ' 174 7.2 Food 178 7.2.1 Food crops and their uses 178 7.2.2 Preparation of food 183 7.2.3 Nutritional habits 186 7.3 The edible and other useful products in the markets 187 7.4 State of nutrition and health 199 8 Enumeration of Ethiopian useful plants 202 Appendix I. Some crop yields (in kg/ha) 232 Appendix II. Markets visited (arranged according to agro-ecological regions) 233 Acknowledgements 236 Bibliography 237 Index of scientific plant names 243 Subject index 258 Preface This publication deals with different agricultural systems found in Ethiopia, and is based on field work carried out in Ethiopia (1967-1968) and on literature studies. It attempts the integration of information (including maps) relevant for Ethiopian agriculture into a surveyable whole. Of course, it does not aim at completeness, and suggestions for improvement will be welcome. The present book is the result of a co-operation between the College of Agriculture at Alemaya, Haile Sellassie 1 University, and the Department of Tropical Crops and the Laboratory of Plant Taxonomy and Plant Geography, Agricultural University, Wageningen. It appears as a joint publication, the second volume of a series on Ethiopian edible plants. And because I was amazed they said ro me: 'honoured guest, do not he amazed, because in the years that we harvest little we gather enough for three years' plenty in the country; and if it were not for the multitude of locusts and the hail, which sometimes do great damage, we should not sow the half of what we .sou-, because the yield is incredibly great; so it is sowing wheat, or barley, lentils, pulse, or any other seed. And we sow so much with the hope that even if each of those said plagues should come. some would be spoiled, and some would remain and if all is spoiled the year before has been so plentiful that we have no scarcity\ From: The Prester John of the Indies. A true relation of the lands of the Prester John, being the narrative of the Portuguese Embassy to Ethiopia in 1520, written by Father Francisco Alvares. Edited by Beckingham, C. F. & G. W. B. Huntingford, vol. 1: p. 189 (1961). 1 Geography 1.1 Geology Ethiopia is part of the structural unit of the Horn of Africa, also including Arabia, the Red Sea area and the Gulf of Aden. The base of this region consists of intensively folded and faulted Precambrian rocks and is overlain by subhorizontal Mesozoic marine strata and Tertiary basalt traps. This complex has been uplifted in the Upper Eocene as part of the Arabo-Ethiopian swell, across which later on rifting gave rise to the Rift System. The following data are mainly from Mohr (1961. 1962). Precambrian Large exposures of Precambrian rocks in Ethiopia belong to a still undifferentiated group called the Crystalline Basement, the Basement Complex, or merely the Base ment. It occurs in the peripheral regions of the country, and underlies all younger rocks including those in the central and eastern parts of Ethiopia. It consists of a complex of various metamorphic rocks some of which still show the original sedi mentary or igneous character. Almost non-metamorphosed sedimentary rocks and igneous intrusions also occur, together with mineralized hydrothermal veins re presenting the last igneous manifestations of the Precambrian. Most of the Basement consists of metamorphic rocks, with schists much more abundant than gneisses. Paraschists predominate over orthoschists. Sandstones, arkoses and limestones are indicated by interbedded psammitic and calcareous schists amongst the phyllites. and the mica and chlorite schists, whereas ironstones are virtually absent. Igneous intrusions are common, especially the acid types, though diorites are not uncommon and even ultra-basic bodies are known. The Basement Complex is presumably of Precambrian age. in view of metamorphosis, the petro graphy, and the almost complete planation of these rocks before the Mesozoic transgression. The formation is still found in the northern part of the highlands as far as Eritrea, along the eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian Highlands, in Wellega (where they are associated with concentrations of auriferous quartz), in the southern lowlands, in the Chercher and Harar regions, and in the deep valleys of the Abbay and Didessa rivers (Huffnagel et al., 1961). 1 Palaeozoic During the Palaeozoicum no deposition took place in Ethiopia. During this time the Arabo-Ethiopian massi:' was a stable landmass subject to denudation, ultimately resulting in near-planation of the Precambrian mountain ranges. Where no later sediments have covered the Basement Complex, as in northern Eritrea, the Pre cambrian rocks have been denuded from the beginning to the present, and the roots of the ancient mountains are now deeply exposed.