Mekuria Wolde, Tadesse Mulugeta, Admassu Wondye, Asmame Birhan, Tessema Assefa, Abebe Shawl, Shibiru Eticha, Yirga Mekonnen, Jorgi Yemiamrew, Abdu Fatuma, Belay Befikadu, Seid Jemal, Gobezie Tsegaye, Ayene Hailu, Bekele Gashaw, Abdella Mohamed, Seid Abdulkarim, Haileslassie Amare
International Water Management Institute (IWMI), East Africa and Nile Basin Office, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia.
Curr Res Environ Sustain. 2023;6:None. doi: 10.1016/j.crsust.2023.100237.
Landscape management practices (LMP) support addressing the vulnerability of small-scale producers (SSPs) through providing a means of sustaining and strengthening community livelihoods and building their resilience and the environment. However, addressing the vulnerability of SSPs through the implementation of LMP requires meaningful community engagement and assessing the benefits and costs from the perspective of local communities. This study was conducted in two watersheds, Maybar-Felana and Gelana, in the Awash River basin, Ethiopia. The study assessed the links between natural resource degradation and the vulnerability of SSPs, local communities' opinion on the benefits and costs of LMP and the implications of implementing LMP for addressing vulnerability. It gathered and analyzed data through key informant interviews (KII), focus group discussions (FGDs) and GIS and remote sensing techniques. Diverse LMP such as afforestation/reforestation, exclosures, terrace and bunds and crop- and soil-based soil amendments were adopted in the studied watersheds. These practices contributed to the improvement of natural resources such as forests and the services they provide. Over the last 21 years (2000-2021), forest cover increased by 11.5 and 42.5% in Maybar-Felana and Gelana watersheds, respectively, while shrublands increased by 41.1% in Maybar-Felana. In line with this, the SSPs identified multiple benefits of LMP including the restoration of degraded vegetation, reducing runoff and soil loss, improving access to water for multiple uses and increasing agricultural productivity. The adopted LMP contributed to reducing livelihood vulnerability through reducing incidents of weather extremes such as flood and drought, improving food and water security, enhancing resource availability, and building livelihood assets. The SSPs also identified multiple economic and social costs of LMP, suggesting that addressing the economic and social costs through balancing short-term economic losses with long-term environmental benefits of interventions is crucial to sustaining the LMP and the benefits they provide.
景观管理实践（LMP）通过提供维持和加强社区生计以及增强其恢复力和保护环境的手段，来支持应对小规模生产者（SSP）的脆弱性。然而，通过实施LMP来应对SSP的脆弱性需要社区有意义的参与，并从当地社区的角度评估收益和成本。本研究在埃塞俄比亚阿瓦什河流域的两个流域——马伊巴尔-费拉纳和盖拉纳进行。该研究评估了自然资源退化与SSP脆弱性之间的联系、当地社区对LMP收益和成本的看法以及实施LMP对应对脆弱性的影响。它通过关键信息人访谈（KII）、焦点小组讨论（FGD）以及地理信息系统（GIS）和遥感技术收集和分析数据。在所研究的流域采用了多种LMP，如造林/再造林、围封禁牧、梯田和堤坝以及基于作物和土壤的土壤改良措施。这些实践有助于改善森林等自然资源及其提供的服务。在过去21年（2000 - 2021年）中，马伊巴尔-费拉纳和盖拉纳流域的森林覆盖率分别增加了11.5%和42.5%，而马伊巴尔-费拉纳的灌木林增加了41.1%。与此一致的是，SSP确定了LMP的多种益处，包括恢复退化植被、减少径流和土壤流失、改善多种用途的用水获取以及提高农业生产力。所采用的LMP通过减少洪水和干旱等极端天气事件的发生、改善粮食和水安全、增加资源可用性以及建设生计资产，有助于降低生计脆弱性。SSP还确定了LMP的多种经济和社会成本，这表明通过平衡干预措施的短期经济损失与长期环境效益来应对经济和社会成本，对于维持LMP及其提供的效益至关重要。
