Synergy between Traditional and Introduced Sustainable Land Management Practices in Ethiopia
The current development effort of Ethiopian government emphasizes on market-oriented commodity production through specialization and diversification of enterprises that are complementary to specialized commodities. This household based package formulation is natural resources conservation based approach. Farmers of Hararge have rich and ecologically sound traditional land husbandry practices/knowledge base. “Traditional tie-ridging” is practiced for in-situ moisture conservation and intensification of cropping systems at plot level. RW is contained in the farm plot. There are some similar experiences in Tigray but should be further exploited to expand and introduce cash crop/ agroforestry in the rugged and undulating areas of Tigray. There was also good integration of biological and physical SWC techniques. Enterprises should be diversified, integrated and market-oriented to improve the livelihood of farmers. Important knowledge gained from Hararge to fill gaps in Tigray & other drylands of Ethiopia comprises water harvesting (in-situ moisture/ water harvesting through tie-ridges), irrigation (crop diversification and intensification), zero grazing and integrated & intensive watershed management approach. further integration of current joint SLM development efforts, network of professionals working on different aspects of water management and utilization, and strong policy, research advisory support should gain top priority to empower and complement current grass-root community efforts and synergize and integrate with new adapted technologies for sustainable use and development of the natural resource base and accelerate agricultural development and transformation.
