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From self-subsistence farm production to khat: driving forces of change in Ethiopian agroforestry homegardens

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2016

MERSHA GEBREHIWOT ,
MARINE ELBAKIDZE ,
GUN LIDESTAV ,
MATS SANDEWALL ,
PER ANGELSTAM  and
HABTEMARIAM KASSA
MERSHA GEBREHIWOT*
Affiliation:
School for Forest Management, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 43, SE-73921 Skinnskatteberg, Sweden
MARINE ELBAKIDZE
Affiliation:
School for Forest Management, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 43, SE-73921 Skinnskatteberg, Sweden
GUN LIDESTAV
Affiliation:
Department of Forest Resource Management, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83 Umeå, Sweden
MATS SANDEWALL
Affiliation:
Department of Forest Resource Management, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83 Umeå, Sweden
PER ANGELSTAM
Affiliation:
School for Forest Management, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 43, SE-73921 Skinnskatteberg, Sweden
HABTEMARIAM KASSA
Affiliation:
Centre for International Forestry Research, PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
*
*Correspondence: Mersha Gebrehiwot mersha.gebrehiwot@slu.se
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Summary

Traditional agroforestry homegardens deliver multiple products and benefits, including food security and livelihoods for rural households in Ethiopia. However, this land use has been changing towards monoculture production of khat (Catha edulis). This study analyses the development trajectories and causes of change in agroforestry homegardens. In total, 84 interviews, including key informant and semi-structured household interviews, and eight focus group discussions were conducted in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Regional State. It was found that khat production was increasing regardless of household wealth status. The proximate causes included better financial income for households, smaller sizes of farms due to farm land redistribution, favourable market conditions for khat, access to irrigation, decrease in governmental subsidies to buy fertilizer and quality seeds for food crop production, a positive experience of other farmers in khat production, and minimizing risks of theft and wildlife damage. Khat production challenges the implementation of national policies towards eradication of poverty and hunger.

Keywords

cash cropsfood securityproximate causetraditional land use
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , September 2016 , pp. 263 - 272
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2016 

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