Abstract
Watershed management techniques in view of the water–soil–waste nexus approach and its link to food security have been widely studied in Ethiopia. However, there has been limited uptake and implementation of the recommended technologies in many watersheds. This paper aims to illustrate the experiences and lessons about watershed management interventions in the Tigray region, northern Ethiopia and identifies opportunities and challenges to the adoption of these practices. Information was collected based on discussions with farmers and development agents, field observations, personal experiences, and literature review. Positive impacts of the nexus-oriented watershed management interventions included 50% increase in income, 56% increase in food security, 62% increase in vegetation coverage, 63% increase in surface and groundwater resources, 62% restoration of soil fertility, sediment accumulation behind bunds (up to 65 t ha−1 year−1), and 80% reduction in soil loss. In Ethiopia, opportunities for the widespread adoption of watershed management interventions include improvement in socioeconomic conditions, experiences on natural resources restoration, farm diversification and intensification, and understanding the complementarity of crop and livestock systems. On the other hand, adoption of these interventions was challenged by a lack of improved agronomic practices, poor crop and livestock management, unpredictable climate, the large area of land under severe degradation, and high competition between crop and livestock systems. In order to improve the adoption of nexus-oriented watershed management interventions, a conceptual research strategy including local and scientific knowledge and approaches (from participatory problem identification to monitoring, and evaluation strategy) is suggested.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to UNU-FLORES for the financial support for the first author to present this paper in the Dresden Nexus Conference (17–19 May 2017) in Germany. The support from UNU-INRA and Aksum University (Ethiopia) during fieldwork, development, and organization of this paper is also highly appreciated.
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Tesfahunegn, G.B., Ayuk, E.T. (2021). Opportunities and Challenges to Adopting Sustainable Watershed Management Interventions: An Overview of Experiences from Ethiopia. In: Hülsmann, S., Jampani, M. (eds) A Nexus Approach for Sustainable Development . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57530-4_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57530-4_11
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