Impact of changes in land use and land cover on feed resources in the

Ethiopian highlands

Kahsay Berhe1, Zerihun Woldu2, Don Peden1, Dirk Hoekstra1 and Alemayehu Mammo3

1International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), P.O. Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

3DC Office of planning, Washington DC 2009, USA

Introduction

Livestock are sources of food, draft power, cash income, fertilizer and energy among others. Ethiopia owns a large

number of livestock (45,930,163 TLU) (FAO 2010), the highest in Africa. The main sources of livestock feed in the

Ethiopian highlands are crop residues and natural pasture. The contribution of livestock is limited, because of poor

availability and quality of feed resources, among others.

The study area

The study site falls within 38051 43.63 to 39004’ 58.59 E and 8046 16.20 to 8059 16.38 N, located on the

western margin of the great East African Rift Valley in the Oromia region of Ethiopia (Fig. 1). Ten peasant associations

surrounding Yerer Mountain with a total population of 35,940 persons in 2000 and an area of 28,741 ha were selected

for the study.

Figure 1. The study area

Objective

The objectives of the study were to describe the land use and land cover (LULC) changes over three decades and

assess implications to livestock feed resources and recommend appropriate interventions.

Materials and methods

LULC analysis for the study area • District maps (1:50,000 scale) to delineate study area,

• 1971/72: Seventeen black and white aerial photos,

• 2000: Landsat ETM+ satellite image of February 2000,

• Digital image processing and visual interpretation of satellite images and aerial photos

Feed resources per ha from various LULC categories • Cultivated land: Survey from 132 households (hh)

• Other LULC types: WBISPP, 2001

Livestock and hh population • 1971/72: Topographic map to determine number of hh and CSO (1974) data to determine human and livestock

population

• 2000: Secondary data

Animal feed requirement • Livestock daily minimum feed DM requirement (Berhanu et al. 2004)

All the above resources were used to compare available feed vs needs of the various livestock types for both periods.

Results and discussion

LULC change

The 1971/72 land cover analysis (Fig. 2) showed that majority of the study area was under grasslands accounting for

18,784 (65.4%), while it was 9,396 ha (32.7%) in 2000 (Fig. 3). Cultivated land on the other hand increased from 7186

(25%) in 1971/72 to 16,204 ha (56.4%) in 2000. In 1971/72 majority of the shrublands were covered with Juniperus

procera and Acacia albida trees, while the area under these trees has dramatically decreased in 2000.

Figure 2. Land Use and Land Cover: 1971/72

Figure 3. Land Use and Land Cover: 2000

Much of the change occurred on cultivated land (Fig. 4). The increase in cultivated land was 125%, which was mainly

at the expense of the grasslands. Out of the total cultivated land in 1971/72, 80% remained under the same land cover

while 1281 ha (17.8%) was converted to grasslands in 2000. The reason for the conversion to grasslands could

indicate that the land is no more suitable for agriculture. The increase of cultivated land from 7,186 in 1971/72 to

16,204 in 2000 is population driven, i.e. number of households increased from 2,064 to 5,518 while total population

increased from 9,288 to 35,940 over the study period, respectively.

Figure 4. Land use and land cover dynamics 1971/72 and 2000

Net

shrubland

+117

369 ha

Net

grassland

- 9388

Net

cultivated

+ 9018

Net wet &

water body

+253

+10453 ha

-1435 ha

+1325 ha

-1208 ha

+331 ha

-78 ha

89 ha

266 ha

50 ha

65 ha 1236 ha

839 ha 28 ha

+2148 ha

-11536 ha

10,034 ha

1281 ha

Feed resources The household survey indicated that feed is sufficiently available during October to January, severely in short supply

during May to September, while the remaining months are intermediate. From among the cultivated crops, teff and

wheat were the major sources of crop residue, contributing to about 82% of the total residue (Table 1). Based on the

procedures for estimating crop residues from cultivated areas, a mean value of 1.52 t/ha DM was obtained (Table 2).

According to WBISPP (2001) 0.36 t/ha DM was also available as crop aftermath. Both figures were used for

multiplying the cultivated area to obtain total amount of crop residue in the study area. Based on WBSIPP (2001)

procedure, 1.45 and 0.83 t/ha was obtained from the other LULC types for 1971 and 2000, respectively (Table 2) .

Table 3. Daily and annual DM feed for MEm plus 20% production requirement for working animals in the study area

* Kahsay (2004) ** Based on Table 1, total crop residue (air dried)/total area multiplied by 90% to convert to DM yield/ha ***Air dried crop aftermaths at 0.4 t/ha/yr (WBISPP, 2001), but data multiplied by 90% to convert it to DM

****As per procedures by WBISPP (2001)

In the past decade, several research and development organizations (amongst others the Improving Productivity and

Market Success (IPMS) Project) have worked on the introduction of improved feed technologies to boost the

development of livestock commodity value chains. These technologies had important impact on feed resource

availability in the study area, like the introduction of newly released teff varieties which reportedly yield about 3 and 5 t

of grain and crop residues, respectively. Similarly, improved management of grazing areas by regulating livestock

access and introduction of cut and carry in other IPMS districts showed biomass yields of up to 10 t. Similarly, to

reduce the need for draft power, the project also introduced conservation tillage.

Livestock type Daily DM

requirement

(kg/head/d)*

Total number of livestock Total annual DM feed requirement (t)****

1971** 2000*** 1971 2000

Cattle (local) 4.33 11737 31462 18549.7 49724.1

Sheep 0.625 3349 8153 764.0 1859.9

Goats 0.625 4958 9091 1131.0 2073.9

Donkeys 3.00 2375 8164 2600.6 8939.6

Horses 4.20 138 633 211.6 970.4

Mules 4.20 192 231 294.3 354.1

Total 23551.2 63922.0

*Berhanu et al. (2004). **Computed based on CSO (1974). ***Obtained from four Offices of Agriculture and Rural Development (2003). **** Values obtained by multiplying daily DM requirement by total number of livestock and 365 days to get annual requirement.

LULC type Multiplying factor DM

yield (t/ha/yr)

Area (ha)* DM production (t)

1971 2000 1971 2000

Cultivated land 1.52** + 0.36*** 7,186 16,204 13,510 (30.4%) 30,464 (75%)

All other land cover

categories

1.45**** (1971);

0.83**** (2000)

21,365 12,224 30,979 (69.6%) 10,146 (25%)

Total 28,551 28,428 44,489 (100%) 40,610 (100%)

Conclusion As is the case in most highlands in Ethiopia, human population growth was the major driving force behind the LULC

changes, which in turn influenced livestock number, feed type and availability in the study area. Farmers’ priorities are

to grow food crops rather than forages or fodder for livestock. Cultivated area increased substantially at the expense

of grasslands. As a result, there is greater reliance on crop residues and on-farm production of fodder to feed stock.

The failure of available feed sources to meet even the maintenance needs of existing livestock indicates that

production from livestock will remain low unless strategies are developed to match existing livestock population. While

this trend is alarming, recent research and development activities in many areas, including the study area, show that

feed from existing grasslands and crop residues could easily increase using cut and carry system and newly released

high yielding varieties, respectively. Such new developments should, however, be integrated and follow multifaceted

approaches for creating a resilient ecosystem, including working on improving the quality of crop residues and

developing intensive livestock management systems, among others.

Crop type Total area (ha)* Average grain

yield (t/ha)*

Total crop

production (t)

Conversion factor

(straw:grain ratio)**

Crop residue (t DM)***

Wheat 94.00 1.42 133.29 2.06 192.49

Teff 92.60 1.00 92.32 2.47 160.11

Chickpeas 34.50 1.05 36.23 1.31 33.22

Faba bean 11.20 1.10 12.30 1.42 12.25

Rough pea 6.70 0.92 6.18 1.54 6.64

Field pea 6.60 0.79 5.23 3.30 12.04

Barley 6.20 1.09 6.75 1.86 8.80

Lentils 1.10 0.55 0.61 1.56 0.66

Maize 1.80 0.78 1.40 2.04 2.00

Total 255.70 431.21

*Based on three years’ mean data (2001-2003) from household survey. **Obtained from various sources (Kahsay 2004). ***Assuming that 70% of the crop residue will be used as livestock feed.

Table 1. Estimated yearly dry matter (t/ha) obtainable from different crop residues for the sample farmers in 2000.

Corresponding author: k.berhe@cgiar.org

Table 2. Estimated yearly feed DM obtainable from different land cover types from the study area for 1971 and 2000

Feed utilization/balance Considering minimum daily maintenance and 20% production requirements for livestock in the study area, annual feed

needs were calculated to be 23,551 (1971) and 63,922 t DM (2000) (Table 3). As can be seen from the table, there is

a substantial increase in cattle population over the study period (Table 3) because of increase in the need for more

draft power due to expansion of cultivated land. Accordingly, available feed (Table 2) exceeded requirements (Table 3)

by about 21,000 t in 1971, but fell short by about 23,000 t in 2000. Feed requirements for 2000 increased by over

170% due to increased livestock numbers (Table 3). Therefore, feed resources in the study area only met about 64%

of the minimum annual energy required (plus additional 20% for production) by livestock. In the central highlands of

Ethiopia, other similar works also reported that farms produce only 60% of the feed needed by livestock. This analysis

further indicated that about 75% of the DM to come from crop residues (including crop aftermath) in 2000 which only

contributed about 30% in 1971. In earlier works, it was also reported that 71% of the feed supply for Ada’a district (part

of the study area) to originate from crop residues.