Sustainable Food Security through land regeneration in a changing climate

1. Landscape Restoration: Insights from Ethiopia
Beating Famine Southern Africa Conference:
Sustainable Food Security through Land
Regeneration in a Changing Climate
Niguse Hagazi
nigusehagazi@gmail.com or n.hagazi@cgiar.org
World Agroforestry Centre, Ethiopia
14 - 17 April 2015, Bingu International
Conference Center, Lilongwe, Malawi

2. General Overview
A country with high variation in
climate, vegetation and topography

3. 1. Landscape Problems & their consequencesLand degradation: Threatens sustainable
livelihood

4. Drivers of landscape resources degradation …
4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1900 1960 1988 2012
EstimatedNumberof
Populationin
Million
Year
Population
Growth
• Competition for communal resources, free
grazing, shifting cultivation, demand for
energy & construction
• Crop & livestock based farming system

5. Rehabilitation & Restoration Efforts in Ethiopia as major
public works
 Years of experience of participatory watershed mgmt. &
SWC activities have been implemented and practiced
 As a result, many encouraging outcomes have been
achieved SWC - Catchments Treatment,
 Gully reclamation
 Water Harvesting (flood diversion,
check dam, percolation ponds, wells,
springs)
Farm land mgmt. practices
Area covered (ha) by watershed based SWC
activities in three different phases of Tigray
region
2. Landscape restoration efforts in Ethiopia
Major driving forces for years of
efforts
-Food and water insecurity
-Shortage of biomass (energy, feed,

6. led efforts against NR degradation, (e.g.. in Tigray;
landscape restoration)

7. led efforts against NR degradation, (e.g.. in Tigray;
landscape restoration)

8. Gully reclamation through community mobilization
 Gully reshaping & reclamation activities aim at: construction of
loose rock, gabion supported rock check dams & biological
conservation measures using fodder grass & trees – supported with
reshaping of big and active gullies
Before/after
2004/2006

9. Water harvesting at farm level and range/grazing land
management

10.  Tree & shrub management
across landscapes (natural
regeneration and enrichment
planting)
 Agroforestry
 Area exclosures
 Small holder plantation
 Dry forest & wood land
mgmt.
 Patches of high forest
areas

11. 11

12. 3. Impacts and Lessons Learned
 Food and water security are improved
 Soil and water loss decreased while vegetation
cover & biodiversity increased
 Awareness raised on landscape restoration for its
multiple benefits and services
 Restoration is a key pillar of national policies –
based on success stories in Tigray
Irrigation in Abreha We Atsbeha
<50 ha in 2004 to >300 ha in 2013

13.  Participation of communities at all levels of land
management
 NRs conservation & rehabilitation based extension system
 Extension structure of the country
 Social & organizational community based institutions &
groups
 Profound culture in social mobilization for public works
(free labour
 Exposure visits and experiences sharing
 Quick adoption of FMNR aiming socio-economic and
ecological benefits and services

14. Landscape Restoration Lead
to Sustainable Development
Economic
Sustainability
Social
Sustainability
Ecological
Sustainability

15. Let’s Join Hands to
Build Capacity,
Knowledge and
Transforming Lives
and Landscapes
www.worldagroforestry.org