Currently, natural resource depletion, land degradation, and frequent droughts are challenging Ethiopia’s food production capacity. While the solution is to modernize the sector via research, doing so requires the application of proper technology-based mechanisms.
That is why the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JiCA) is implementing a two-phase project in Ethiopia known as ‘Land management to mitigate soil erosion in the Blue Nile Basin.’
JiCA is also partnering with stakeholders regarding the development of next-generation Sustainable Land Management (SLM) framework to combat desertification in Ethiopia.
Japan’s Tottori University is working in collaboration with Bahir Dar University in various areas including the fulfillment of this project. The University of Tottori has also granted scholarships to some 18 Ethiopians in this regard.
The 35 million Birr project was launched in April 2017 and will last for a total of five years. The project locations are Guder, Aba Gerima, and Debatie communities in the Upper Blue Nile Basin.
The major activities of the first phase project include reducing soil erosion, improving land productivity, and ensuring the economic and social empowerment of farmers.
Recently, JiCA held the mid-term performance review of the project. Nigussie Haregewoyn is a scholar at Bahir Dar University and a visiting Professor at the University of Tottori in Japan. Currently, he facilitates JiCA Ethiopia’s two-phase Project.
Nigussie underscored the importance of replacing the activities of traditional terracing works on farmers’ land with better technologies and as the terraces are there on to stay, they should be built using modern methods and technologies to ensure longevity. “In addition, besides promoting the terracing activities, developing the SLM system throughout the country in every household is important.”
The Project is developing land degradation remedy technologies in three agro-climatic zones of the country; dega, woinadega and kola areas. “We are now witnessing change before and after the application of our technology-assisted land degradation remedies in the areas. These remedies could reduce land degradation by 50-60 percent.”
SLM has been genuinely practiced in different parts of the world and is contributing greatly for the green economy legacy to gain momentum across the world, according to him.
Beyond this, the project has also facilitated the importation of a new technologically proven and specialized animal feed to farmers and managed to increase productivity and soil conservation capacity by 50 percent.
“At the initial stage, the project faced difficulties in easily reaching out to farmers and convincing them to use new technologies. But now, after witnessing the positive outcomes, the farmers are participating in the project voluntarily and expanding the technologies in their localities themselves.
The level of crop rotation, SLM, soil amendment experiment, alternative land management scenarios, and rainfall simulator are fundamentals in the efforts to alleviate soil erosion problems, he recommended.
More importantly, increasing farmers’ awareness about the growing soil erosion the problem should be the priority of the government and stakeholders to promote production and productivity through practicing an SLM system.
Accordingly, installing check dams across gullies complimented with the planting of multipurpose trees could quickly heal the gully bed and river bank in different parts of the country.
Currently, the farmers in the project areas are witnessing the value of the new initiatives and uphold it without much external support to adopt and implement the SLM measures.
The Ethiopian Herald, November 28/2019
BY TEWODROS KASSA
