10. Extracts from Case Study

ENVIRONMENTAL REHABILITATION:
SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION IN ETHIOPIA

Gebereyes Haile

Ethiopian economic history has been characterized by recurrent drought and famines. In particular during the last two decades, the country has suffered from a succession of drought which have led to shortages in food production, and a large number internally displaced persons. Although drought has been the major factor contributing to food shortages, various constraints in traditional agricultural systems, fragmented land holdings, high population pressure, massive land degradation in most parts of the country, shortage of capital and inadequate rural infrastructure have also been major obstacles to agricultural development, thus tying the country down to dependency on external food assistance. This situation was further compounded by the 17 years civil war which ended in 1991, and by effects of policies of the previous government. This combination of factors has contributed to the persistent shortfalls in food production and availability. However, Ethiopia has various resources with which it could break out of the vicious circle. Water is one, a very major one.

Besides channeling the required food to food shortage areas, food-for-work (FFW) programmes in Ethiopia have been highly successful in their contribution towards:

- development of physical assets, mainly in the form of soil and water conservation (SWC) and afforestation

- creating seasonal employment opportunities

- assisting raising the level of awareness of communities regarding environmentally related issues

Despite the achievements registered through FFW, there has been debate on its overall performance. The major issues of concern are related to the probable nature of its disincentive on agricultural production, the creation of dependency and changing food habits of communities. However, to date in Ethiopia there is no definite evidence to describe or back up such concerns. Rather in spite of these issues and concerns, food aid has been highly successful in the rehabilitation of degraded lands and creation of assets in various parts of the country. The case of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) for example could be an illustration of the strategy used by the few NGOs which were successful in linking emergency food aid to development in Ethiopia. Like some NGOs, making use of food aid for rehabilitation purposes, LWF’s FFW projects were born out of the transition from free hand outs in dealing with short term emergencies in the context of the 1984/85 famine to addressing longer term rehabilitation of degraded lands and creation of production oriented assets in various parts of the country. The FFW programme activities that have been implemented under LWF’s projects can be broadly classified into the following three categories:

Water supply

Construction of earth dams, small masonry darns, river diversions, spring development or rehabilitation of already existing structures to provide reliable water sources for domestic use, livestock and further extension of irrigation by the users.

Irrigation

Development of small scale irrigation schemes, downstream of the dams, river diversions and training farmers in proper land and water management techniques.

Soil conservation

Undertake soil conservation activities, to stabilize the soil upstream of the dam sites, and rehabilitate the degraded lands of the catchment area, which includes:

- construction of terraces and bunds
- construction of check dams, usually using gabions
- structures
- planting trees
- establishment of self sustaining tree nurseries
- creation of greater awareness of the proper utilization and conservation of natural
- resources, through training and demonstration

For the physical achievements that have been made to date see the table below. The achievements with use of FFW in terms of number of dams hectares irrigated, trees planted and terraces constructed, provide testimony of success in addressing some of the most serious problems of the assisted areas. Many of the communities have actually become economically self sufficient, and therefore, strongly motivated to maintain their new productive assets and the environmental protection measures on which these assets depend. Past relief and rehabilitation efforts and all those huge relief resources brought into the country have helped to save lives and create some tangible assets.

Activities accomplished by LWF with the help of food-for-work