Economic Activities of Local Communities and Their Dependence on Natural Resources in the Bale Eco-Region
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Economic Activities of Local Communities and Their Dependence on Natural Resources in the Bale Eco-Region SHARE Bale Eco-Region Research Report Series no. 3 Economic Activities and Dependence on Natural Resources in the Bale Eco-region ABOUT THE SHARE BALE ECO-REGION PROJECT Conservation of Biodiversity and Ecosystems Functions and Improved Well-being of Highland and Lowland Communities within the Bale Eco-Region (BER) is one of the European Union (EU) funded projects that stands for Supporting Horn of Africa Resilience (SHARE). In Ethiopia, the project covers 16 districts (Districts) in West Arsi and Bale Zones of Oromia Regional State, around 22,000 km2, with a population of about 3.3 million. The project life span is 42 months starting July 2014 and ending in November 2017. Five partners are implementing the project: Farm Africa, SOS Sahel, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) and Population Health and Environment (PHE). Location of the Bale Eco Region (BER) in Ethiopia Front page photo credit: Tilahun Gemechu 2016 Acknowledgements This report was prepared by Meda Welabu University in collaboration with the International Water Management Institute as part of the SHARE Bale Eco-Region - 2 - SHARE Bale Eco-Region Research Report Series no. 3 Economic Activities and Dependence on Natural Resources in the Bale Eco-region Contents 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 8 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................. 8 1.2 Problem Statement ................................................................................................................ 9 1.3 Objectives of the Study ........................................................................................................ 10 1.3.1 General Objective ......................................................................................................... 10 1.3.2 Specific Objectives ........................................................................................................ 10 1.4 Research questions ............................................................................................................... 10 1.5 Significance of the Study ...................................................................................................... 11 2 LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Definition and Concept of Livelihood ................................................................................... 12 2.2 Livelihood outcomes ............................................................................................................ 12 2.3 Rural Livelihood Strategies in the Context of Ethiopia ......................................................... 13 2.4 Livelihoods and Natural Resources dependency in BER ...................................................... 14 3 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................ 16 3.1 The Study Area ..................................................................................................................... 16 3.2 Study design ......................................................................................................................... 17 3.3 Sampling technique and sample size.................................................................................... 17 3.4 Method of Data Collection ................................................................................................... 19 3.5 Method of Data Analysis ...................................................................................................... 19 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................... 21 4.1 Demographic information .................................................................................................... 21 4.2 Livelihood strategies in BER.................................................................................................. 21 4.2.1 Major livelihood strategies ........................................................................................... 22 4.2.2 Alternative livelihood strategies ................................................................................... 25 4.3 Interdependency of Livelihood Strategies and Natural Resources ...................................... 26 4.4 Trends of natural resource status in BER ............................................................................. 28 4.5 Natural resources use constraints in BER ............................................................................. 32 4.5.1 Constraints of land resources utilization ...................................................................... 32 4.5.2 Constraints to water resource utilization ..................................................................... 37 4.5.3 Constraints to proper utilization of forest resources ................................................... 40 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................... 42 6 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................. 44 - 3 - SHARE Bale Eco-Region Research Report Series no. 3 Economic Activities and Dependence on Natural Resources in the Bale Eco-region ANNEXES Annex 1. Type of crops produced in different agro-ecologies of BER Annex 2. Trends of natural resources by agro-ecologies Annex 3. Questionnaire template of the household survey - 4 - SHARE Bale Eco-Region Research Report Series no. 3 Economic Activities and Dependence on Natural Resources in the Bale Eco-region LIST OF FIGURES MAP OF THE BER, SOUTHEASTERN ETHIOPIA ............................................................ 17 SAMPLING PROCEDURE FOR THE SELECTION OF STUDY KEBELE ................................ 18 CROP TYPES PRODUCED IN AGRO-ECOLOGIES OF BER ............................................... 23 CEREAL CROPS PRODUCED IN THE THREE AGRO-ECOLOGIES ..................................... 23 PULSE CROPS PRODUCED IN BER .............................................................................. 24 KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEW BEING CARRIED OUT IN THE BER ................................. 31 PARTICIPANTS AT A FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION. ...................................................... 40 - 5 - SHARE Bale Eco-Region Research Report Series no. 3 Economic Activities and Dependence on Natural Resources in the Bale Eco-region List of Tables TABLE 1. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONDENTS IN THE STUDY AREA (N = 384) ..... 21 TABLE 2. MAJOR LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES IN BER ...................................................................... 22 TABLE 3. PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS REPORTED LIVESTOCK IN THE BER (N=384) .................. 24 TABLE 4. ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES IN BER ............................................................. 25 TABLE 5. INTERDEPENDENCY OF MAJOR LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES ON NATURAL RESOURCES ...... 26 TABLE 6. PERCEIVED TRENDS OF NATURAL RESOURCE STATUS IN BER OVER THE LAST 30 - 40 YEARS ......................................................................................................................... 29 TABLE 7. REPORTED BIO-PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS OF LAND RESOURCE UTILIZATION BY AGRO- ECOLOGY ..................................................................................................................... 33 TABLE 8. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONSTRAINTS OF LAND RESOURCES UTILIZATION BY AGRO-ECOLOGY 34 TABLE 9. TECHNOLOGICAL AND EXTENSION SERVICES CONSTRAINTS OF LAND RESOURCES UTILIZATION ................................................................................................................ 35 TABLE 10. POLICY RELATED CONSTRAINTS OF LAND RESOURCES UTILIZATION BY AGRO-ECOLOGY 36 TABLE 11. PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS OF WATER RESOURCES UTILIZATION BY AGRO-ECOLOGY .... 37 TABLE 12. REPORTED TECHNOLOGICAL AND EXTENSION SERVICES CONSTRAINTS OF WATER RESOURCES UTILIZATION ............................................................................................. 39 TABLE 13. MAJOR CONSTRAINTS OF FOREST RESOURCES UTILIZATION BY AGRO-ECOLOGY ....... 41 - 6 - SHARE Bale Eco-Region Research Report Series no. 3 Economic Activities and Dependence on Natural Resources in the Bale Eco-region Acronyms BER Bale Eco-Region BERSMP Bale Eco-Region Sustainable Management Program BMNP Bale Mountains National Park DFID Department for International Development EEA Ethiopia Environmental Authority FAO Food and Agricultural Organizations of the United Nations FDRE Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia FGD Focus Group Discussion GDP Gross Domestic Product IWMI International Water Management Institute MoA Ministry of Agriculture MoFED Ministry of Finance and Economic Development NDMC National Drought Monitor Center NGOS Non- Governmental Organizations NTFP Non- Timber Forest Products OFWE Oromia Regional State Forest and Wildlife Enterprise OSFESA Oromia State Forest Enterprise Supervising Agency REDD+ Reduced Emission from Deforestation and Forest degradation SSI Small-Scale Irrigation WZFEDD Wolaita Zone Finance and Economic Development Department - 7 - SHARE Bale Eco-Region Research