Study on Local Livelihoods in the Nile Basin –Diga woreda
CPWF Nile Basin Development Challenge
Draft Report
Prepared by: Dejene Negassa Debsu (Ph.D.),
Consultancy work for International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
April, 2012
Addis Ababa
1. Background and Local Settlement History
According to unofficial data from the Diga Woreda Agriculture Office, the land area of the woreda is 59,545.413 hectares. This land area includes 37,983.94 hectares which is licensed to farm households, 10,287.33 communal land (including patch forests and grazing areas), 1161.17 investment land (mainly used for growing crops such as maize, sorghum, and sesame), 5700.8 forestland, and 3826.11 built area (churches, schools, etc.).
The woreda has ragged topography, with the majority of the land area (58%) in the lowlands (gamojji) and the remaining (42%) in the midland (badda daree) area. Its elevation ranges from 2350m.a.s.l in the midlands to 1140 in the lowlands. This ecological diversity made it home to various plant and animal species until very recently. Local people reported that the area has plant species such as badessa (syzigium guineense) makkaniisa (croton macrostachys), akuku (dregea abyssinica), arbu (ficus sp.), qararo (amionguria altussima), wadessa (cordia abyssinica), and birbirsa (millettia ferruginea). The latter three tree species no longer exist in the area since early 1990s and acacia tree began to grow more recently.
There are several rivers and streams in the woreda, such as Dapho, Maqa, Sororo, Adaggo, Dedessa, and Chorgoggo. These rivers and streams are currently used to irrigate 280 hectares of land by small farmers. Farmers grow vegetables such as tomato, potato, and green pepper as well as fruits such as banana and papaya using irrigation. There are also cash crops like khat and coffee, and root crops like ancotee (coccinia abyssinica), mixaaxinee (sweet potato), goderree (taro), and qoccoo (yam).
Crops grown in the woreda include maize, millet, teff, wheat, barley, finger millet, pea, bean, haricot bean, nigerseed, sesame, and ground nut. While farmers in the mid-altitude, including Bikila PA, grow all of these crops, those in the lowland areas, including Arjo PA, do not or just grow small amount of some of these crops such as teff, wheat, barley, pea, bean, and nigerseed. In general, large area of farmland in the woreda is allocated to maize (6383 hectares), followed by sorghum (5621 hectares), sesame (4888 hectares), finger millet (2767 hectares), and teff (2394 hectares).
Agricultural season extends from February when the land is prepared for field crops to late January when sorghum is harvested. The area receives high amount of rainfall even though large part of the woreda is considered lowland. However, recently there has been a shift in the rainy season, especially the starting and ending season of the rainfall. Earlier it rained from mid-March to November (even though the main rainy season is June-September), but now it rains only from mid-April to October. This means, it starts late and sops early before some crops like finger millet and sorghum mature.
Table 1: Agricultural Calendar for Bikila and Arjo PAs
Types of Crops / Preparing the Land / Planting / Weeding / Plowing through Crops (Babbaqa) / Weed cutting / Harvesting / ThreshingMaize / Feb-Mar / Mid Apr-May / May / June / July / Oct-Nov / Jan
Sorghum / Feb-Mar / April / June / July / July / Dec-Jan / Dec-Feb
Finger millet / May / June / July-Aug / - / - / Dec / Dec-Feb
Sesame / may / Jun-July / Aug / - / - / Nov / Nov-Dec
Nigerseed / July / July / - / - / - / Nov-Dec / Nov-Dec
Haricot bean / June / Jun-July / July / - / - / Nov / Dec
Teff (New) / July / Aug / Aug-Sep / - / - / Nov / Dec-Jan
Source: Field Interview, March 2012
In addition to growing crops, fruits, and vegetables, farmers also raise various species of livestock. In the woreda there are 70611cattle, 10700 sheep, 5584 goats, 2851 donkeys, 42 mules, and 123 horses. Livestock and crop diseases, soil erosion, shortage of grazing areas, baboons, termites, and household labor scarcity are the main constraints to growing crops and raising animals. There are several diseases that affect different species of animals, such as gandi (caused by tsetse fly), bishoftu, abba sanga, etc. Similarly, there are various diseases that affect crops, fruits, and vegetables.
People moved to the lowland areas of Diga woreda relatively more recently. The locals say the area was covered by thick forest until late 1970s and early 1980s when various population movements took place either through the establishment of state farms, resettlement programs that brought settlers from the northern part of the country, local expansion by the indigenous population, or government villagization programs.
The indigenous people moved to the lowland areas, such as Arjo PA, by clearing forestlands in search of better farmland areas. With population increase in the highland areas of the woreda, the locals expanded to the lowland areas often by organizing themselves under the abba laga institution. Most part of Arjo PA was covered by a forest until 1982 when a contingent of local residents developed farmlands there. A few years later the derg government moved 69 households to the locality known as Maqa Soyyama in the PA through its villagization program. Bikila PA relatively has a long history of settlement in the midland area, and currently people regularly move between their crop farms in the lowland areas and settlement areas where coffee plantation dominates.
In addition to internal population movements, the establishment of large state farms in the woreda by the derg government attracted settlers from various parts of the country. For example, Dhedhessa, Balo, and Jirma Agricultural Development Projects in the woreda were state farms during the derg government. When these large farms were privatized after the change of government in 1991, former laborers on the farm started clearing forests to develop their own small farms.
Moreover, through its resettlement program, the derg government brought in settlers from Wollo. Earlier about 70 households from Wollo settled in Addis Alem area during the derg period. After the collapse of the derg government the settlers brought their relatives and significantly increased in number, currently exceeding 700 household heads. They cleared forests and opened up farming areas.
2. The Fieldwork and the Study Sites
The data for this study was drawn from individuals and communities through various qualitative research methods to understand resource management strategies in the area, major constraints, and how they traditionally dealt with those problems. In order to gain their insights, men and women, elders, local officials, as well as representatives of saving and credit groups and knowledgeable individuals were interviewed.
This study was conducted in two sites, Arjo and Bikila peasant associations in Diga woreda, from March 14-26, 2012. A Peasant Association is the lowest administrative unit of the government and ideally encompasses 500-800 households. However, practically the number of households could be higher or lower depending on the situation, especially population distribution. Accordingly, Arjo has 894 male and 138 female household heads, and a total population of 6317. On the other hand, Bikila has 347 male and 49 female household heads and a total population of 2161.
Figure 1: PA Structure
Administratively, a PA is divided into zones (usually 3), several garee, and multiple shanee. All administrative units have leaders, who often channel government orders down to residents. While the number of households at all unit levels varies, as its name indicates, the number of households in shanee is five.
3. Agricultural Practices and Constraints
Farmland is ranked by the community according to its fertility as lafa furda (fertile), giddu galessa (medium), and dimille (poor). Today, communities complain that the land has become unproductive and doesn’t give good crops. Soil erosion and termites affect both pasturelands and crop fields. Soil erosion has made several farmlands and pasturelands unproductive. The land lost its fertility because of flooding which has been caused by deforestation (loss of trees and grasses).
According to local informants, this problem became acute after 1994 when settlers from Wollo spontaneously settled in the area. After this time human and animal population dramatically increased. Especially sesame crop, which requires complete clearing of fields, was introduced to the area by the settlers. Local people also started growing this crop clearing forests, and, after repeated cultivation, the land lost its fertility.
Moreover, many farmers cannot afford purchasing chemical fertilizers. Earlier they received chemical fertilizers from the government on credit, but with increasing default rate, the government stopped fertilizer supply on credit. Now they are expected to buy it on cash, and they are concerned that it is becoming mandatory. They believe that if they can get enough fertilizer, they can improve the productivity of their land.
Termites worsened the problem by destroying both crops and pastures. Shortage of grazing areas, especially in Arjo, is a critical problem, mainly because there are no communal grazing areas. Therefore, many households set aside plots of land for pastures. Albeit declining, farm households frequently shift their land between farm and grazing land through the system of fallowing, diddiirraa, and their current estimate in the woreda respectively is 20338 and 4999 hectares. Therefore, the ratio of household farmland to grazing land is 4:1. This is not too far from a report by a key informant from Arjo who said “If a household has about 3 hectares of land, then 1 hectare is set aside for grazing purpose” (Abdanna Temesgen, Key Informant, March 15, 2012 ). This makes it difficult for households to maintain more than a minimum number of livestock.
Table 2: Major Resources, Constraints, and Solutions
Types of resources / Approximate percentage of growers (owners) / Constraints / SolutionsBikila / Arjo / Bikila / Arjo / Bikila / Arjo
Coffee / 100% / 60% / Cholera* / Cholera / None / Improved varieties
Bee keeping / 10% / 10% / Baboons / Deforestation / None / None
Mango / 10% / 100% / Mango disease / Mango disease / None / None
Banana / 5% / 100% / Cholera / Cholera / None / None
Green pepper, onion, beetroot, cabbage, and carrot / 20% / 20% / Cholera / Cholera / None / None
Sesame, maize, sorghum, and finger millet / 100% / 100% / Soil erosion, baboons, termites / Soil erosion, termites / Crop rotation (diddiirraa), fallowing (boojjeffachuu), and kraaling / Crop rotation (diddiirraa), fallowing (boojjeffachuu), kraaling, compost, and early plowing (kolaasuu)
Livestock and livestock products / 90-100% / 90-100% / Baboons / Pastureland / None / None
Source: Key Informant and Focus Group Interviews, March 2012
*The name cholera is used for many crop diseases and doesn’t seem to have connection to the actual cholera.
People traditionally use different mechanisms to maintain the fertility of their farmlands. Earlier burning the soil was believed to restore soil fertility. However, DAs are teaching farmers about the negative impact of soil burning that it destroys some soil nutrients. Today, farmers use burning mainly to destroy stables and weeds on the field that might attract termites, even though they still believe that it can improve soil fertility and facilitate farming. More recently, the woreda agricultural office mobilized farmers to build terraces on their farmlands, and it remains to be seen how farmers receive the new conservation mechanism. Even though some farmers said it may reduce soil erosion, they are concerned about its impact on their grazing system. Earlier animals fed on stables after crops are harvested, and now they are not allowed to enter because of the terraces. The people are not used to storing hay. But they may store teff and finger millet straw.
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Photo 2: Soil burning practice in Arjo PA
Photo 3: Recently built terraces in the farmlands, Arjo PA
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In addition, farmers use methods like crop rotation (diddiirraa), fallowing (boojjeffachuu), kraaling, and early plowing (kolaasuu). While most of these methods are practiced in both research sites, the latter method was only reported in Arjo. A discussion with men’s focus group in Bikila showed that early plowing (kolaasuu) is not possible in a relatively higher altitude of the area before the rainy season.
Table 3: Crop Rotation Method
First Year / Second Year / Third YearMaize* / Sorghum / Sesame
Sorghum / Sesame / Maize
Finger Millet / Sorghum / Sesame/Maize
*Maize often is repeatedly cultivated on the same land for consecutive three years
While crop rotation is commonly practiced by all households, fallowing is declining due to land shortage. Informants estimated the number of households still practicing fallowing at around 10%. These households leave the land to rest for 3-5 years and use it for grazing. Many other households use kraaling or manures for fertilizing the land. Kraals are built in farmlands around homesteads, and cattle are kept in each kraal for five nights, until the intended farmland is properly fertilized.
Photo 3: Kraaling method in Bikila area
Even though households use manures, given the small number of livestock ownership, it is not enough for more than half a hectare of land. In addition, they have to store the manure and distribute it over the field during the planting season, which puts too much stress on the already scarce labor.
Labor scarcity cross-cuts all productive activities, including farming, herding, protecting crops from baboons, and so on. Traditionally households depended on their children to accomplish all or most of these tasks. Now, they say, all of their children go to school and, even during their off days, they are less competent for agricultural activities. Therefore, better off households who relatively have large farmlands depend on hired labor for most agricultural activities or may sharecrop out some of their lands.