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Managing land
A practical guidebook for development agents in Ethiopia
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Depleted soils, erosion, water shortages, lack of animal feed… these
are familiar problems for Ethiopia’s farmers. This richly illustrated
practical guide shows how to overcome them. It shows how to improve soil
fertility, prevent erosion and store precious water, manage fodder and
livestock, and plant and care for trees and shrubs.
Ethiopia is a diverse country, so the most appropriate technology
depends on the local circumstances. The book shows what technologies can
be used in each of the country’s 14 major agroclimatic zones. It also
suggests how to organize farmers and help them make their own, informed
decisions to improve their farm incomes.
A useful list of forages, trees and shrubs, field and horticultural
crops shows what species can be grown in which zone. The index enables
readers to locate technologies or plant species easily and quickly.
This book is intended for development agents, but will also be
invaluable for government officials, development agencies, NGO staff,
students, and all those promoting sustainable land management in
Ethiopia.
Contents
1 Introduction
- Integrated land management
- Agroclimatic zones of Ethiopia
- Using this book
2 Working with communities
- Participatory extension approaches
- Farm planning
- Working with groups
- Gender
- HIV/AIDS
- Drought management
3 Managing land in each agroclimatic zone
- Moist Alpine Wurch
- Wet Wurch
- Moist Wurch
- Wet Dega
- Moist Dega
- Dry Dega
- Wet Weyna-Dega
- Moist Weyna-Dega
- Dry Weyna-Dega
- Wet Kolla
- Moist Kolla
- Dry Kolla
- Moist Bereha
- Dry Bereha
4 Managing soil fertility
- Multiple cropping
- Crop rotation
- Fallows
- Cover crops and green manures
- Compost
- Mulch
- Manure
- Inorganic fertilizer
5 Conserving soil and water
- Conservation tillage
- Tied ridges
- Grass strips
- Trash lines
- Level bunds
- Graded bunds
- Bench terraces
- Trenches
- Microbasins
- Cutoff drains
- Waterways
- Rehabilitating gullies
- Checkdams
- Marking contour lines
- Marking graded lines
- Measuring vertical intervals and slope gradients
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6 Managing water
- Macrocatchments
- Water tanks
- Irrigation
7 Managing livestock and fodder
- Over-sowing
- Under-sowing
- Fertilizing pasture
- Stock exclusion areas
- Fodder banks
- Controlled burning
- Permanent grass–legume pasture
- Controlled grazing
- Rotational grazing
- Cut-and-carry
- Livestock housing
- Livestock feed
- Calculating how many animals to keep
- Water
- Crop residues
- Hay
- Silage
- Forage species
8 Managing trees and shrubs
- Collecting and storing tree seeds
- Tree nurseries
- Bare-rooted seedlings
- Growing seedlings in pots
- Trees and shrubs on and around farms
- Trees and shrubs to rehabilitate degraded land
- Woodlots
- Managing trees and shrubs
9 Agroclimatic suitability of forage, trees, shrubs and crops
- Forages
- Trees and shrubs
- Field crops
- Horticultural crops
10 Appendices
- Writeshop participants
- References for further reading
11 Index
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Published 2005by RELMA in ICRAF, Nairobi, Kenya
Role of Paul Mundy: Writeshop manager, editing, final
desktop publishing |