'Land Degradation and Rehabilitation (Narm342) : Contact - Info. Email

LAND DEGRADATION AND REHABILITATION (NaRM342) ARSI UNIVERSITY
`LAND DEGRADATION AND REHABILITATION

(NaRM342)
TEACHING MATERIAL
PREPARED BY: MOHAMMED KASIM JUFAR (MSc)

Contact.info. Email: mkasim122@gmail.com / mohammedkj@arsiun.edu.et
SEPTEMBER 2024
ARSI UNIVERSITY ASELLA, ETHIOPIA
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................. ii
COURSE OBJECTIVE ................................................................................................................................... iv
COURSE DESCRIPTION................................................................................................................................ v
1. CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS .......................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Land .................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2. What is land degradation.................................................................................................................... 1
1.3. Trends in land degradation................................................................................................................. 2
1.4. Processes of land degradation ............................................................................................................ 2
1.5. Hazards and disasters of land degradation ........................................................................................ 3
1.6. Vulnerability....................................................................................................................................... 3
1.7. Rehabilitation ..................................................................................................................................... 4
2. MAJOR FORMS OF LAND DEGRADATION..................................................................................... 4
2.1. Biodiversity loss ..................................................................................................................................... 4
2.1.1. Definitions and concepts of biodiversity ................................................................................... 4
2.1.2. Biodiversity in Agriculture......................................................................................................... 5
2.1.3. Importance of biodiversity ......................................................................................................... 6
2.1.4. Biodiversity loss ......................................................................................................................... 6
2.1.5. Conserving biodiversity ............................................................................................................. 8
2.2. Soil loss............................................................................................................................................... 8
2.3. Soil degradation (physical, chemical and biological) ....................................................................... 9
2.3.1. Soil physical degradation ........................................................................................................... 9
2.3.2. Soil chemical degradation .......................................................................................................... 9
2.3.3. Soil biological degradation ......................................................................................................... 9
2.4. Water scarcity and loss of water ...................................................................................................... 10
2.5. Climate change ................................................................................................................................. 12
2.5.1. Defining weather and climate .................................................................................................. 12
2.5.2. Climate variability and climate change.................................................................................... 12
2.5.3. The climate system and the carbon cycle ................................................................................ 12
2.5.4. Causes for global climate change............................................................................................. 13
2.5.5. Adapting and mitigating climate change ................................................................................. 14
3. MAJOR CAUSES AND IMPACTS OF LAND DEGRADATION .................................................... 14
3.1. Deforestation .................................................................................................................................... 15
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3.2. Soil erosion ....................................................................................................................................... 15

3.2.1. Water erosion ............................................................................................................................ 16
3.3. Overgrazing ...................................................................................................................................... 17
3.4. Land use mismanagement ................................................................................................................ 17
3.5. Population pressure and urbanization .............................................................................................. 17
3.6. Land tenure ....................................................................................................................................... 18
3.6.1. Land tenure is often categorized as .......................................................................................... 19
3.6.2. Land tenure security ................................................................................................................. 19
3.6.3. Access to land ........................................................................................................................... 19
3.6.4. Land rights ................................................................................................................................ 19
3.6.5. Land tenure in Ethiopia ............................................................................................................ 20
3.7. Pollution ........................................................................................................................................... 20
3.8. Desertification .................................................................................................................................. 21
4. LAND DEGRADATION ASSESSMENT............................................................................................ 22
4.1. Indicators of land degradation ......................................................................................................... 22
4.2. Methods of land degradation assessment ........................................................................................ 24
4.3. Available models for different levels/scales.................................................................................... 24
5. REHABILITATIONS OF DEGRADED LAND .................................................................................. 25
5.1. Sustainable Agricultural Practices ................................................................................................... 26
5.2. Soil and Water Conservation Measures .......................................................................................... 27
5.2.1. Cultural Practices ...................................................................................................................... 28
5.2.2. Biological Measures ................................................................................................................. 29
5.2.3. Physical Measures .................................................................................................................... 30
5.3. Reforestation .................................................................................................................................... 34
5.4. Reclamation of Saline, Sodic, Acidic and Alkaline Soils .............................................................. 35
5.5. Bioremediation ................................................................................................................................. 37
6. SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT .......................................................................................... 40
6.1. Sustainable Land Management (Slm) Concept and Progress......................................................... 40
6.2. Sustainable Land Use and Food Security ........................................................................................ 41
6.3. Barriers to Sustainable Land Management...................................................................................... 42
6.4. Strategic Options .............................................................................................................................. 42
6.4.1. Land tenure ............................................................................................................................... 42
6.4.2. Land administration .................................................................................................................. 43
6.4.3. Socioeconomic.......................................................................................................................... 43
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6.4.4. Policy mechanism..................................................................................................................... 43

6.4.5. Agro-ecological components ................................................................................................... 44
6.5. Other Enabling Environment ........................................................................................................... 45
6.5.1. Intervening climate change (CC) ............................................................................................. 45
REFERENCES ............................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
COURSE OBJECTIVE
This course provides students with knowledge and skill to:
✓ Understand concept, type, Couse and impact of various type of land resource degradation and
rehabilitation
✓ Learn about the concerns, issue, types, tools, methodologies and indicators to assess and
monitor degradation extent and severity and also basic concept of good practices for conserving
the important natural resource
✓ Poses comprehensive understanding of soil erosion, land degradation and the means to stop
erosion and restore degraded land
✓ Assess land use /cover change
✓ Understand of land resource degradation for formulating integrative and suitable conservation
strategies to respond to the challenge of sustainable food production and reversing
environmental problems
✓ Initiate projection land rehabilitation and conservation
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COURSE DESCRIPTION
Introduction to soil resources and land degradation; soil erosion; Soil and water
conservation; land degradation components: Loss of biodiversity, salinization, water erosion,
range land degradation; degradation processes, ecosystem function and losses; Basic concept of
hazards, risk, vulnerability and degradation; Type of degradation, their causes and impacts; Tools,
model and methodologies for land degradation assessment and monitoring, Conservation concept
and measures, Reconciling degradation and land resources management issues
Page | v MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

1. CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS

1.1. Land
Land is an essential natural resource both for survival and prosperity of humanity, and for the
maintenance of all terrestrial ecosystems. Land is not regarded simply in terms of soil and surface
topography, but encompasses such features as underlying superficial deposits, climate and water
resources, and also the plant and animal communities which have developed as the result of the
interaction of these physical conditions. The results of human activities, reflected by changes in
vegetation cover or by structures, are also regarded as features of the land. Changing one of the factors,
such as land use, has potential impacts on other factors such as flora and fauna, soils, surface water
distribution and climate. Changes in these factors can be explained by ecosystem dynamics and the
importance of their relationships in planning and management of land resources has become
increasingly evident.
Definition: Land and land resources refer to a delineable area of the earth‘s terrestrial surface,
encompassing all attributes of the biosphere immediately above or below the surface including
those of the near-surface climate, the soil and terrain forms, the surface hydrology (including
shallow lakes, rivers, marshes and swamps), the near-surface sedimentary layers and associated
ground water and geo-hydrological reserve, the plant and animal populations, the human settlement
pattern and physical results of past and present human activity (terracing, water storage or drainage
structures, roads, buildings, etc.)
Functions of land: The basic functions of land in supporting human and other terrestrial ecosystems
can be summarized as follows:
✓ A store of wealth for individuals, groups, or a community

✓ Production of food, fibre, fuel or other biotic materials for human use Provision of biological
habitats for plants, animals and microorganisms
✓ Co-determinant in the global energy balance and global hydrological cycle, which provides both
a source and a sink for greenhouse gases
✓ Regulation of the storage and flow of surface water and ground water
✓ Store house of minerals and raw materials for human use A buffer, filter or modifier for chemical
pollutants
✓ Provision of physical space for settlements, industry and recreation
✓ Storage and protection of evidence from historical or pre-historical record (fossils, evidence of
past climates, archaeological remains, etc.)
✓ Enabling or hampering movement of animals, plants and people between one area and another
1.2. What is land degradation

There are changing definitions and concepts of land degradation (LD) which has been expanded from
a focus on the soil to a focus on the ecosystem as a whole and from the narrow concept of production
to the range of goods and services provided. The following are the progressing definitions of land
degradation.
✓ LD is the temporary or permanent lowering of the productive capacity of land.

✓ Is a process which lowers the current/potential capability of soils to produce (FAO, 1979).
✓ Implies reduction of resource potential by a combination of processes acting on land (UNEP,
Page | 1 MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

1992).
✓ It is the reduction in the capacity of the land to perform ecosystem goods, functions and services
that support society and development (MEA, 2005).
✓ Land degradation is the Reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity and
complexity of rainfed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest and woodlands
resulting from land uses or from a process or combination of processes, including processes
arising from human activities and habitation patterns, such as: (i) Soil erosion caused by wind
and/or water; (ii) Deterioration of the physical, Chemical and biological or economic properties
of soil; and (iii) Long-term loss of natural vegetation
✓ The reduction in the capacity of the land to provide ecosystem goods and services and assure its
functions over a period of time for its beneficiaries (LADA, 2009).
1.3. Trends in land degradation

Land degradation may be as old as the beginning of pastoralism and agriculture. The trends of
degradation can be explained using different parameters. For instance, forest cover in Ethiopia
constituted about 65% before 1950‘s, 15% in 1950‘s and less than 3% in 2000. The trends in land
use/cover change in Gode of Somali National Regional State are depicted in Table 1 below.
1.4. Processes of land degradation

Land degradation can be categorized into three broad processes (physical, chemical and biological)
from which the following processes emanate including:

✓ Acidification
✓ Salinizaton and alkalinization
✓ Compaction
✓ Water logging
✓ Soil erosion (gully, sheet, rill, tunnel, wind, gravity, coastal, stream bank, glacial, land slide)
✓ Biodiversity loss
✓ Vegetation removal/deforestation
✓ Loss of water body (wet lands, lakes, rivers, springs, marshes)
✓ Pollution
✓ Desertification
1.5. Hazards and disasters of land degradation

A ‘hazard ‘, by definition, is any event, phenomenon, or human activity that may cause loss. Natural
and human induced factors may act together to create a hazard. For example, earthquakes are
normally considered to be natural hazards, but they can also be triggered by mining activities or the
impoundment of large dams. A landslide can be caused by a combination of heavy rains, light
earth tremors, and deforestation.
A ‘disaster ‘ i s defined as an event that causes serious disruption, leading to widespread human,
material, or economic losses beyond the coping capacity of a given society. Disaster management
requires a set of actions and processes that are designed to lessen hazardous events before they
become disasters. There are different categories of natural and human-induced hazards and disasters
including:
A. Hydro-meteorological Hazards
Floods
Droughts Wildfires
Tropical cyclones and hurricanes Severe storms
Dust storms
B. Geological Hazards Earthquakes Tsunamis
Earthquakes
Tsunamis
Volcanoes and explosive crater lakes
Landslides, mudflows, erosion, and siltation
C. Biological Hazards: epidemics and insect infestations account for 36% of all disasters in Africa
D. Human-induced Hazards and Disasters
Air and water pollution
Gas flaring
Toxic waste disposal
Land degradation
Conflict-related hazards
E. Climate Change: climate change, especially global warming, may exacerbate many of the hazards
noted above. For example, sea-level rise will cause coastal erosion and is an especially serious threat to
island states.
1.6. Vulnerability
Vulnerability is related to the exposure of an entity to the hazard, its sensitivity to the hazard,
and a lack of capacity to address the hazard. For example, people living in a zone characterized by
high cyclone activity (exposure) who have significant under-nutrition and health issues (sensitivity)

and who live in communities that do not have the means to prepare for, and react to, the passing
of a cyclone (capacity), are at high risk from a disaster. Demographic pressures, climate change and
increased competition for land and water are likely to increase vulnerability to land degradation
and food insecurity particularly in Africa and Asia. Dry lands are especially vulnerable to LD because
of their:
Soils‘coarse texture
Low organic matter content
Low water and nutrition retention capacities Low inherent fertility, and
Low resilience.
According to the recent state of the art, disaster risk management has three components involving
hazard assessment, vulnerability analysis and improvement of managerial capacities. The risk
can be diminished by the capacity of an entity to recover from the adverse incidence. Risk is the
product of hazard and vulnerability over the recovery capacity of an entity (Risk = hazard x
vulnerability/recovery capacity).
Risks can be defined easily in the case of some hazards but may be complex in other hazards.
For instance, In the case of floods and earthquakes, the risk implied can be defined rather clearly. The
analysis of slowly advancing hazards like desertification is much more complex which implies that
implementing risk management strategies is not an easy task. The most important factors which
determine disaster risk are:
Demographic factors (population increment and distribution, etc.)
Economic factors (agricultural production, standard of living, poverty parameters, etc.)
Ecological factors (erosion, water management, deforestation, climate, etc.) Political factors
(political instability, decentralization, etc.)
Cultural factors
1.7. Rehabilitation
Land rehabilitation is the process of returning the land in a given area to some degree of its former
state. Many projects and developments may result in the land becoming degraded. While it is
rarely possible to restore the land to its original condition, the rehabilitation process usually
attempts to bring some degree of restoration. Modern methods have in many cases not only
restored degraded land but actually improved it, depending on what criteria are used to measure
'improvement'.
2. MAJOR FORMS OF LAND DEGRADATION

2.1. Biodiversity loss
2.1.1. Definitions and concepts of biodiversity
The interrelated existence of the diverse life on earth: animals, plants, and microorganisms - is
commonly referred to as biodiversity. It also includes different ecosystems on the planet such as
deserts, rainforests and coral reefs. Biodiversity can be defined as follows:
1) The most straightforward definition is variation of life at all levels of biological

organization.
2) A second definition holds that biodiversity is a measure of the relative diversity among organisms
present in different ecosystems. Diversity‘ in this definition includes diversity within a species
and among species, and comparative diversity among ecosystems.
3) A third definition that is often used by ecologists is the totality of genes, species, and ecosystems
of a region. An advantage of this definition is that it seems to describe most circumstances and
present a unified view of the traditional three levels at which biodiversity has been identified. All
three interact and change over time and from place to place.
Genetic diversity - diversity of genes within a species. There is a genetic variability among the
populations and the individuals of the same species.
Species diversity - diversity among species in an ecosystem.
Ecosystem diversity - diversity at a higher level of organization, the ecosystem. It refers to the great
variety of environments produced by the interplay of the biotic (living animals and plants) and the
abiotic (non-living world; earth forms, soil, rocks, air and water).
Ecosystems are the combination of communities of living things with the physical environment
in which they live. There are many different kinds of ecosystems, from mountain slopes and
savannahs to oceans and coral reefs. The most diverse and ecologically rich systems include rainforests
and coral reefs. Each ecosystem provides many different kinds of habitats or living places providing
a home for a myriad of species.
Different species have differing functional roles to play in ecosystems which help maintain the
characteristics unique to that ecosystem. Ecosystems are dynamic in nature and can go through a
number of changes in their species composition before they become stable.
However, despite their dynamic nature and changes that may occur, some events remain constant
such as energy and nutrient cycling.
2.1.2. Biodiversity in Agriculture
Biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems provides our food and the means to produce it. The variety of
plants and animals that constitute the food we eat are obvious parts of agricultural biodiversity. Less
visible—but equally important—are the myriad of soil organisms, pollinators, and natural
enemies of pests and diseases that provide essential regulating ser vices that support agricultural
production. Every day, farmers are managing these and other aspects of biological diversity in
agricultural ecosystems in order to produce food and other products and to sustain their livelihoods.
Biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems also contributes to generating other ecosystem services
such as watershed protection and carbon sequestration.
The importance to agriculture of crop, livestock, and aquatic genetic resources has long been
recognized, but only in the last decade or so has the global community acknowledged the
significance of the full range of agricultural biodiversity in the functioning of agricultural
ecosystems. Global rates of agricultural biodiversity loss are increasing. Estimates from the World
Watch List of Domestic Animal Diversity note that 35% of mammalian breeds and 63% of avian
breeds are at risk of extinction and that one breed is lost every week.

2.1.3. Importance of biodiversity
Humans cannot exist without biodiversity as we use it directly and indirectly in a number of ways.
Direct use includes things like food, fibres, medicines and biological control, whilst indirect uses
include ecosystem services such as atmospheric regulation, nutrient cycling and pollination.
Explicitly, bio-diversity a number of values for us and could be classified as follows:
Consumptive use value: are direct use values where the biodiversity product can be harvested
and consumed directly, i.e. fuel, food, herbs, fibers etc.
Productive use values: these are the commercially usable values where the product is marketed
and sold. It includes timber and wild gene resources, wild animal products etc. which are traded
in the market.
Social Values: associated with the social life, customs, religion and psycho-spiritual aspect of
the people.
Ethical Values: also known as existence value. It involves the ethical issue that ―all life must
be preserved‖. The concept is that- species exist in nature gives us pleasure.
Aesthetic Values:
Optional Values (for future use or non-use): includes the potentials of biodiversity that are
presently unknown and need to be explored. There is a possibility that we may have some
potential cure for AIDS and cancer.
Ecosystem Service Value: It refers to the services provided by ecosystems like prevention of
erosion and floods, maintenance of soil fertility, cycling of nutrients, and fixation of nitrogen,
cycling of water, their role as carbon sinks, pollutant absorption and reduction of threat to global
warming.
Bequest value (in passing on a resource to future generations)
Existence value (value to people irrespective of use or non-use)
Intrinsic value (inherent worth, independent of that placed upon it by humans)
2.1.4. Biodiversity loss
Available evidence has identified the following certainties concerning biodiversity and ecosystem
functioning:
Human impacts on global biodiversity have been dramatic, resulting in unprecedented losses in
global biodiversity at all levels, from genes and species to entire ecosystems;
Local declines in biodiversity are even more dramatic than global declines, and the beneficial effects
of many organisms on local processes are lost long before the species become globally extinct;
Many ecosystem processes are sensitive to declines in biodiversity;
Changes in the identity and abundance of species in an ecosystem can be as important as changes
in biodiversity in influencing ecosystem processes.
From current research, the following impacts on ecosystem functioning that often result from loss
of biodiversity have been identified:
Plant production may decline as regional and local diversity declines;
Ecosystem resistance to environmental perturbations, such as drought, may be lessened as
biodiversity is reduced;
Ecosystem processes such as soil nitrogen levels, water use, plant productivity, and pest and
disease cycles may become more variable as diversity declines.
There is estimation that some 27,000 plant, animal and insect species become extinct every year (the
vast majority being insects). About 24 per cent (1,130) of mammals and 12 per cent (1,183) of

bird species are currently regarded as globally threatened. Most species extinction can be traced
to human encroachments on habitat, including forests and coral reefs, which results from population
growth and economic development.
Multiple factors are responsible for vegetation degradation and loss of biodiversity and the good
example is that of our country, Ethiopia. Some of the tips are: Critical processes at the ecosystem
level influence plant productivity, soil fertility, water quality, atmospheric chemistry, and many
other local and global environmental conditions that ultimately affect human welfare. These
ecosystem processes are controlled by both the diversity and identity of the plant, animal, and
microbial species living within a community. Human modifications to the living community in an
ecosystem-as well as to the collective biodiversity of the earth -Can therefore alter ecological
functions and life support services that are vital to the well-being of human societies.
The major causes of biodiversity loss include:

1. Habitat change: Humans have had an effect on every habitat on Earth, particularly due to the
conversion of land for agriculture. Cultivated systems (areas where at least 30% of the landscape is
in croplands, shifting cultivation, confined livestock production, or freshwater aquaculture) now
cover one quarter of Earth‘s terrestrial surface. Habitat loss also occurs in coastal and marine systems,
though these changes are less well documented. Trawling of the seabed, for instance, can
significantly reduce the diversity of benthic habitats.
2. Climate change: observed recent changes in climate, especially warmer regional temperatures,
have already had significant impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems, including causing changes in
species distributions, population sizes, the timing of reproduction or migration events, and an
increase in the frequency of pest and disease outbreaks. By the end of the twenty-first century,
climate change and its impacts are likely to be the dominant direct driver of biodiversity loss and
changes in ecosystem services globally
3. Invasive Species: the spread of invasive alien species has increased because of increased trade
and travel. While increasingly there are measures to control some of the pathways of invasive species,
for example, through quarantine measures and new rules on the disposal of ballast water in
shipping, several pathways are not adequately regulated, particularly with regard to
introductions into freshwater systems.
4. Overexploitation: if we take marine systems for instance, the dominant direct driver of change
globally has been overfishing. Demand for fish as food for people and as feed for aquaculture
production is increasing, resulting in increased risk of major, long-lasting collapses of regional
marine fisheries. 50% of the world‘s commercial marine fisheries are fully exploited whilst 25% are
being overexploited.
5. Pollution (especially nutrient loading): since 1950, human mediated increases in nitrogen,
phosphorus, sulphur, and other nutrients (nutrient loading) has emerged as one of the most important
drivers of ecosystem change in terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal ecosystems, and this driver is
projected to increase substantially in the future. For example, humans now produce more biologically
available nitrogen than is produced by all natural pathways combined. Aerial deposition of reactive
nitrogen into natural terrestrial ecosystems, especially temperate grasslands, shrub-lands, and
forests, leads directly to lower plant diversity; excessive levels of reactive nitrogen in water bodies,
including rivers and other wetlands, frequently leads to algal blooms and eutrophication in inland waters
and coastal areas. Similar problems have resulted from phosphorus, the use of which has tripled between
1960 and 1990. Nutrient loading will become an increasingly severe problem, particularly in developing
countries and particularly in East and South Asia.
2.1.5. Conserving biodiversity
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment lists the following actions that have been at least partly
successful in reducing biodiversity loss and can be further strengthened in the future:
Protected areas
Species protection and recovery measures for threatened species.
Ex-situ and in-situ conservation of genetic diversity (e.g. gene banks). Ecosystem restoration.
Payments and markets for biodiversity and ecosystem services (e.g. for ecotourism or carbon
sequestration).
Incorporating considerations of biodiversity conservation into management practice in sectors
such as agriculture, forestry, and fisheries.
Capture of benefits by local communities (i.e. ensuring local people benefit from the
conservation of the biodiversity around them).
Increased co-ordination among multilateral environmental agreements and between
environmental agreements and other international economic and social institutions (i.e. ensuring
that ecosystem services are considered in all international agreements and treaties and that those
concerning biodiversity co-ordinate with those focusing on other areas such as economics and
trade).
Public awareness, communication, and education.
Enhancement of human and institutional capacity for assessing the consequences of ecosystem
change for human well-being and acting on such assessments.
Increased integration of sectoral responses (i.e. biodiversity issues in agriculture, fishery, and
forestry management in many countries are the responsibility of independent ministries, these
ministries need to establish processes that encourage the development of cross-sectoral policies).
Elimination of subsidies that promote excessive use of ecosystem services. Sustainable
intensification of agriculture.
Slowing and adapting to climate change. Addressing unsustainable consumption patterns.
Slowing the global growth in nutrient loading.
Correction of market failures and internalization of environmental externalities that lead to the
degradation of ecosystem services. (Because many ecosystem services are not formally traded,
markets fail to provide appropriate signals that might otherwise contribute to their efficient
allocation and sustainable use. In addition, many of the harmful trade-offs and costs associated
with the management of one ecosystem service are borne by others and so are not weighed in
sectoral decisions regarding the management of that service).
Integration of biodiversity conservation and development planning.
Increased transparency and accountability of government and private-sector performance in
decisions that affect ecosystems, including through greater involvement of concerned
stakeholders in decision-making.
Scientific findings and data need to be made available to all of society.
2.2. Soil loss

The speed and extent of soil degradation depend on different factors, such as soils, relief, climate
and farming systems (intensity of use). Soil loss can be 20 to 40 times higher than the rate of soil
formation, which means there is no hope of restoring destroyed soils within a time span that bears
any relations to human history. It is estimated that about 1.5 billion tones of soil is being eroded
every year in Ethiopia. In extreme cases, especially for the highlands, the rate of soil loss is estimated

to reach up to 300 tones/ha/year with an average of 70 tones/ha/year which is beyond any tolerable
level.
This soil loss is majorly caused by water and wind erosion with water taking the lion share in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Highlands Reclamation Study (FAO, 1986) concluded that water erosion (sheet and rill
erosion) was the most important process and that in the mid 1980‘s 27 million ha or almost 50% of
the highland area was significantly eroded, 14 million ha seriously eroded and over 2 million ha
beyond reclamation. Erosion rates were estimated at 130 tons per ha and year for cropland, and 35
tons per ha and year on average for the entire highlands.
2.3. Soil degradation (physical, chemical and biological)

2.3.1. Soil physical degradation
Physical degradation may occur as a result of sealing, compaction, and reduction in aeration
(water-logging) and reduced permeability etc. Lack of organic matter and a high percentage of very
fine sands and silt in soils are some of the factors contributing to surface sealing. Crop production
requires finely prepared seedbed with the maresha which affect soil structure, leave the soil
devoid of vegetation exposing the latter to kinetic energy exerted from rain drops. In such cases the
clods dislodge and seal soil pore spaces. A decrease in soil pore spaces reduces infiltration and
increases overland flow volume and velocity, leading to soil crusting especially when it is dry.
Overstocking and overgrazing including grazing of leftover residues on cropland after harvesting
cause soil compaction due to heavy and continuous trampling by livestock. Watering points and
cattle routes are particularly vulnerable to soil compaction, which leads to excessive runoff and
reduced water infiltration. Re-vegetation in these areas is therefore impeded. Unimpeded water
flowing down slopes causes rills and gullies.
2.3.2. Soil chemical degradation

Generally, nutrients are lost through erosion in runoff and in the eroded sediment. Finer soil fractions
are the most vulnerable to erosion. Nutrients, being abundant in these finer soil fractions, are also
lost to erosion. Further nutrient losses occur through chemical degradation, i.e. deterioration of
properties of the soil, that occur as a result of acidification and salinization or sodification. The
latter is common in arid and semi-arid areas where rainfall is inadequate to leach excess salts down
through the profile.
The acidification process may be accelerated through burning and clearing of vegetation, continued
use of acid containing fertilisers and excessive irrigation. In general, soil erosion has received the
most attention in Ethiopia as this is seen as the principal form of soil degradation and nutrient
loss. Soil acidification is one of the chemical degradation covering about 40% of cultivated land in
Ethiopia.
Salinization and/or sodification is a result of increasing build-up of salts, mainly sodium chloride
and sodium carbonate in soils used for irrigation due usually to a rise in water table when more
irrigation water is applied than crops use. The problem of rising water tables and salinization of soils
is endemic in all irrigation schemes worldwide. Dry land salinity (due to shortage of precipitation) is
usually the result of a human-induced change on the hydrology of a landscape. Deforestation of
slopes reduces transpiration rates and more water drains through the soil following rainfall. This
leads to increased subsurface seepage, dissolves salts and raises the water tables in depressions.
2.3.3. Soil biological degradation

Biological degradation refers to the process that leads to a decline in the humus content of soil
through mineralisation. Decomposition of organic matter is a function of microbial activity. The

majority of organic matter is concentrated near the soil surface in the form of decaying leaves and
stems so erosion of topsoil results in a rapid decrease in soil organic matter levels and therefore
causes a loss of food for soil micro organisms. Once the organic matter layer is depleted, soil
productivity and crop yields decline because of the degraded soil structure and depletion of nutrients.
The stability of soil aggregates is dependent on microbial biomass. Thus, elimination of soil micro-
organisms(by erosion, burning etc.) causes physical damage to the soil ecosystem. These physical
effects may in turn lead to increased erosion, organic matter depletion, and further reduction in microbial
activity. All factors that favour the production and decomposition of organic matter will minimise the
risk of biological degradation.
A decline in organic matter has a far-reaching effect on both chemical and physical properties
of soils. It affects soil physical properties through its influence on soil structure and aggregate stability
which therefore influences soil erosion. The availability of nitrogen and phosphorous is dependent on
the organic matter content of the soil.
2.4. Water scarcity and loss of water

Of all the water on Earth, 97 percent is in the oceans and only 3 percent is fresh water. Of the fresh
water, less than one percent is found in lakes, rivers, and other surface water bodies. Most fresh
water is stored in ice caps and glaciers, or underground in the form of groundwater (Table 2.1).
Nevertheless, the tiny fraction of the Earth‘s water that actively circulates as fresh water plays an
incredibly important and dynamic role in life on Earth, sustaining human life and the lives of all
other land-dwelling and fresh-water species.
Table 2.1. Distribution of Fresh Water on Earth
However, renewable fresh water scarcity remains a problem for millions of people around the world,
especially those in arid and semiarid regions. In 1995, there were 436 million people living in 29
countries considered water stressed. It is estimated that by 2050, for medium population projections,
there will be 4 billion people living in 54 countries which will experience some level of water
scarcity. The problem of water scarcity is accentuated by water quality. Soil degradation and water
quality are interrelated issues. Soil degradative processes lead to pollution and eutrophication of natural
waters.
The decrease in the water holding capacity or the volume of water in the water bodies is the most
alarming outcome of the overall degradation process going on in world in general and Africa in
particular. The loss of water in water bodies could be summarized in two ways- either there is a
decrease in the supply of water to the water body or increase in consumption of water, even it
could be the combination of both. The supply of water could be concerned with factors like decrease
in overall rain fall or change in frequency and dry spell, deforestation, erosion, siltation, and less
charge of aquifers. In this context the increase of surface runoff and decrease of ground water
discharge is quite significant. Reasons related with decreased water as a result of consumption is due
to use of water for irrigation, increased domestic use by population explosion, excess use by expanding
urbanization, and use by growing industry. Factors of climate like increase in temperature and dry
spells is also contributing substantially.
Though it‘s a universal problem and more or less every country of the world is by one way or other
facing the problem of water scarcity, in case of Africa the problem is alarming. The most important
freshwater reserves in Africa could be reduced to inhospitable bogs or even completely dry out within
a few decades, according to a dramatic report from the United Nations Environment Programe
(UNEP). The water levels of many of Africa's lakes have dropped, some drastically, and the
supply of clean drinking water to an exploding population is being endangered. The rapid
changes that are sweeping Africa's lakes are due to a combination of human activities and climate
change.
Africa has an estimated 677 lakes, holding 30,000 cubic kilometers of water, the largest volume
on any continent. Close to 90 percent of water in Africa is used in agriculture, of which 40 to 60
percent is lost to seepage and evaporation according to the UNEP. The level of Lake Victoria, the
largest body of water in Africa, is one meter lower than it was 10 years ago, while Lake Chad has
been reduced to one tenth of its original size. Meanwhile Lake Songor in Ghana has also seen its
size decrease dramatically -- in its case due to intensive salt production and the resultant evaporation.
The potential for disaster is evident as an ever-increasing population faces a scramble for this dwindling
resource.
For instance, Lake Victoria has some 30 million people living around it, and supports one of the poorest
regions in the world with a per capita annual income of $250. Compounding the problem, an average
of 1,200 people is crammed into each square kilometer surrounding the lake. Ethiopia is also facing
the same problem and even more chronic in certain cases as some of the water bodies such as
Lakes Haramaya and Ashange and many other wetlands and water bodies disappeared. Other water
bodies, especially lakes, of the country are also constantly decreasing. There are a number of causes
for the reduction in the level of Africa's freshwater lakes including:
Droughts caused by climate change,

Increased need for drinking and irrigation water due to increased population numbers,
Evaporation due to the rapid deforestation and desertification, and • inappropriate dam
construction.
Sediment load
Overexploitation
It is not only the water supply that is being affected but also water quality, as invasive species and
pollution from sewage and industrial waste affect the supply of clean drinking water. In
addition the size of the catch is being affected by the pollution, overfishing and the introduction
of certain species such as perch. The annual catch of freshwater fish in Africa is around 1.4
million tons but this has experienced a drop in many places, particularly in the Nile Delta, Lake
Chad and Lake Victoria.

2.5. Climate change

Climate change is one of the major challenges of our time and adds considerable stress to our
societies and to the environment. From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production,
to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are
global in scope and unprecedented in scale. Without drastic action today, adapting to these impacts in
the future will be more difficult and costly.
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, earth‘s population has increased dramatically,
with accompanying large-scale burning of fossil fuels, the manufacture of cement, and intensive
cultivation of lands not previously used for crops or livestock production. The largest population
in human history will occur during the 21 st century and thus dictate greater pertinence of climatic
changes because the consequences may be so great and drastic.
Human-induced climate change presents society with a long-term problem. The challenge is to find
ways of reducing CO2 emissions in the short term that also enable society to reach long-term goals.
Over the last 20 years, it has become increasingly clear that human activities are adding to
natural changes in the climate. The enhanced greenhouse effect caused by emissions of greenhouse
gases related to human activities is a major factor in currently observed climate changes, as well as
in climate change that is expected to occur in the coming centuries
2.5.1. Defining weather and climate

Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a specific time in a specific place. Temperature,
cloudiness, humidity, precipitation, and winds are examples of weather elements. Thunderstorms,
tornadoes, and monsoons are also part of the weather of some places during some seasons.
Climate is defined as long-term weather patterns that describe a region.
2.5.2. Climate variability and climate change

Climate variability refers to variations in the prevailing state of the climate on all temporal and spatial
scales beyond that of individual weather events. Variability may be due to natural internal processes
within the climate system, or to variations in natural or anthropogenic (human-driven) external forces.
Global climate change indicates a change in either the mean state of the climate or in its
variability, persisting for several decades or longer. This includes changes in average weather
conditions on Earth, such as a change in average global temperature, as well as changes in how
frequently regions experience heat waves, droughts, floods, storms, and other extreme weather. It is
important to note that changes in individual weather events will potentially contribute
substantially to changes in climate variability.
Climate change could occur naturally as a result of a change in the sun‘s energy or Earth‘s orbital
cycle (natural climate forcing), or it could occur as a result of persistent anthropogenic forcing, such
as the addition of greenhouse gases, sulfate aerosols, or black carbon to the atmosphere, or through
land-use change.
2.5.3. The climate system and the carbon cycle

The climate system is driven by the sun‘s energy and regulated by natural processes and cycles in the
Earth system. These include the carbon cycle and greenhouse effect, orbital cycles, ocean currents
that distribute warmer and colder water around the globe, and atmosphere-ocean interactions
that moderate temperature. Humans are principally affecting the climate system through alterations
to the carbon cycle, which regulates the flow of carbon among living and non-living parts of the Earth
system.
Carbon is found in all living things, in soils and rocks, in fossil fuels, in ocean sediments and corals,
and as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Each of these carbon reservoirs stores a percentage of
the Earth‘s total carbon and carbon moves at varying rates among the reservoirs. In some cases,
the carbon may remain in a reservoir for millions of years, as in the case of fossil fuels before the
Industrial Revolution. As humans burn fossil fuels to produce energy and as they clear natural
ecosystems, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, where it acts as a greenhouse gas.
2.5.4. Causes for global climate change

1. Greenhouse gases: The presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is a natural component
of the climate system and helps to maintain the Earth as a habitable planet. Greenhouse gases are
relatively transparent to incoming solar radiation, allowing the sun‘s energy to pass through the
atmosphere to the surface of the Earth. The energy is then absorbed by the Earth‘s surface, used
in processes like photosynthesis, or emitted back to space as infrared radiation. Some of the emitted
radiation passes through the atmosphere and travels back to space, but some is absorbed by greenhouse
gas molecules and then re-emitted in all directions. The effect of this is to warm the Earth‘s surface
and the lower atmosphere. Water vapor (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are the two largest
contributors to the greenhouse effect. Methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs) and other greenhouse gases are present only in trace amounts, but can still have a powerful
warming effect due to their heat-trapping abilities and their long residence time in the atmosphere.
Without the greenhouse effect, Earth‘s average temperature would be -0.4°F (-18°C), rather than the
present 59°F (15°C).
Concentrations of greenhouse gases – and especially carbon dioxide– have risen over the past two
hundred and fifty years, largely due to the combustion of fossil fuels for energy production. Since
the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century the concentration of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere has risen from about 270 parts per million (ppm) to about 370 ppm. Concentrations of
methane have also risen due to cattle production, the cultivation of rice, and release from landfills.
Nearly one-third of human-induced nitrous oxide emissions are a result of industrial processes and
automobile emissions.
2. Sulfate aerosols and black carbon: Sulfate aerosols and black carbon are two important additional
examples of anthropogenic forces. Sulfate aerosols, which enter the atmosphere naturally during
volcanic eruptions, are tiny airborne particles that reflect sunlight back to space. Industrial activity
has recently increased their concentration in the atmosphere primarily through the burning of
fossil fuels containing sulfur. Anthropogenic emissions of sulfate aerosols have been associated with
a net cooling effect. Black carbon is soot generated from industrial pollution, traffic, outdoor fires,
and the burning of coal and biomass fuels. Black carbon is formed by incomplete combustion
especially of coal, diesel fuels, biofuels and outdoor biomass burning. Soot particles absorb sunlight,
both heating the air and reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the ground.
3. Land-use Change: The combustion of fossil fuels is not the only anthropogenic source of carbon
dioxide. When ecosystems are altered and vegetation is either burned or removed, the carbon stored in
them is released to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. The principal reasons for deforestation are
agriculture and urban growth, and harvesting timber for fuel, construction, and paper. Currently,
up to a quarter of the carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere can be attributed to land-
use change.
Agriculture provides both sources and sinks of greenhouse gases.(GHGs). The global
intensification of food and fibre production is an important factor influencing GHG emission.
More than 97% of the world‘s food supply is produced on land that emits GHGs when intensively
tilled and fertilized, and/or grazed by animals.
2.5.5. Adapting and mitigating climate change

2.5.5.1. Adaptation
Ecosystem based adaptation: Vulnerable communities adapt to climate change through good ecosystem
management practices, and their integration into global, regional, national and local climate change
strategies and action plans. The Flagship will be implemented in diverse ecosystem settings,
including mountains, river basins, dry-lands and low-lying coasts.
Ecosystem-based adaptation support: Increasing the resilience of ecosystems empowers

communities with natural defenses against the adverse impacts of climate change.
Impact and vulnerability assessments: integrated impact and vulnerability assessments for national
adaptation policy-setting and to integrate ecosystem resilience-building into national adaptation
policies.
Adaptation capacity, policy and planning support: united Nation Environmental program
(UNEP) enhances capacity and provides knowledge services for national adaptation policy-
setting, legislation and planning and their integration into national sustainable development
processes.
2.5.5.2. Mitigation
UNEP helps countries make sound policy, technology and investment choices that accelerate
their transition towards low-carbon economies and societies. UNEP‘s focus is on clean and renewable
energy sources, energy efficiency and energy conservation. UNEP also helps countries phase out
obsolescent technologies and deploy cleaner ones, financed through public and private sources
including the Clean Development Mechanism.
Analysis of emissions reduction opportunities Deployment of clean technologies in developing

countries Stimulating private sector involvement:
Forestation and aforestation
Biodiversity enhancement and improvement
Developing environmentally friendly and sustainable agriculture Soil and water conservation
Rehabilitating degraded lands
3. MAJOR CAUSES AND IMPACTS OF LAND DEGRADATION

Anthropogenic activities involving deforestation, overgrazing, intensive cultivation, soil
mismanagement, cultivation of steep slopes, and urbanization accelerate the soil erosion hazard.
Land use and management, topography, climate, and social, economic, and political conditions
influence soil erosion. In developing countries, soil erosion is directly linked to poverty level.
Resource-poor farmers lack means to establish conservation practices. Subsistence agriculture
forces farmers to use extractive practices on small size farm (0.5–2 ha) year after year for food
production, delaying or completely excluding the adoption of conservation practices that reduce soil
erosion risks. The leading three causes of accelerated land degradation are: deforestation,
overgrazing, and mismanagement of land/land resources. For instance, about 35% of soil
erosion is attributed to overgrazing, 30% to deforestation, and 28% to excessive cultivation.

3.1. Deforestation
Forests provide essential ecosystem services such as soil erosion control, ecosystem
stabilization, and moderation of climate and energy fluxes. Forests also provide wood, food, medicines,
and many other wood-based products. Excessive logging and clear-cutting, expansion of
agriculture to marginal lands, frequent fires, construction of roads and highways, and
urbanization are the main causes of denudation. For example, about 2.3 Mha of forest were removed
annually between 1990 and 2000 in Brazil alone. About 15 Mha yr−1 of forest are cleared annually
worldwide and the rate of land degradation, especially soil erosion, is projected to accelerate
with increase in deforestation. Forests are disappearing more rapidly in developing than in
developed countries. Selective logging and shifting cultivation represent another 15 Mha of forest
yr−1. About half of the deforested areas are left bare or abandoned. Runoff and soil erosion rates
are high from deforested areas. Deforestation removes the protective vegetal cover and accelerates
soil erosion. In sloping lands, clearing of forest for agriculture can increase soil erosion by 5- to 20-
fold.
Tropical rain forest (TRF) is an important ecosystem because of its impact on global hydrologic
and C cycles, biodiversity, and numerous social, economic, and political issues. However, the TRFs
are rapidly dwindling. The rate of deforestation of TRF ecosystems ranges from 0.36 million ha/yr
in Central America to 3.42 million ha/yr in Brazil. The global annual rate of deforestation is estimated
at 12.37 Mha out of a total remaining area of 1505 Mha or 0.82%/yr.
Once cleared of its protective vegetal cover, land resources (soils, biodiversity, and water for instance)
of the TRF eco-regions are prone to severe degradation by accelerated land degradation.
Colonization by undesirable species is also a severe problem following deforestation and
conversion to agricultural land uses. Watershed management can play a crucial role in planning for
a judicious management of TRF ecosystems, establishing criteria for selecting land that is suitable for
conversion to agricultural land uses, and in restoration of degraded soils. Some of the major causes of
deforestation in Ethiopia include :
Natural and human induced forest fire

Population pressures, particularly in the highlands
Conversion of forest land in to agriculture, settlement, and other purposes resulting in soil
erosion and environmental degradation.
Lack of land ownership rights and the resulting lack of commitment to
environmental stewardship of the land
Conversion of crop residues and animal waste into fuel, thus depriving the soil a chance to
replenish itself.
Climate change, drought, and the resulting population dislocation
Cultural animal husbandry involving the overstocking of grazing land as well as use of dung
and crop residues for fuel
Lack of capital resources for investment in environmental rehabilitation
3.2. Soil erosion

Soil erosion is the wearing away of the land surface by running water, wind, ice, or other geological
agents, including such processes as gravitational creep. It is the detachment and movement of soil or
rock by water, wind, ice, or gravity.
There are two main types of erosion: geologic and accelerated erosion. Geologic erosion is a normal
process of weathering that generally occurs at low rates in all soils as part of the natural soil-forming

processes. It occurs over long geologic time horizons and is not influenced by human activity.
The wearing away of rocks and formation of soil profiles are processes affected by the slow but
continuous geologic erosion. Indeed, low rates of erosion are essential to the formation of soil. In
contrast, soil erosion becomes a major concern when the rate of erosion exceeds a certain threshold
level and becomes rapid, known as accelerated erosion. This type of erosion is triggered by
anthropogenic causes such as deforestation, slash-and burn agriculture, intensive ploughing,
intensive and uncontrolled grazing, and biomass burning.
3.2.1. Water erosion

Water erosion is the processes of detachment, transport and subsequent deposition of particles
from the soil. Eroded soil is transported as sediment and sedimentation occurs when sediment is
deposited. Rate of erosion depends on climate, soil, topography, plant cover and land use.
Detachment is a function of the erosive forces of raindrop impact and flowing water, and the soil‘s
resistance to erosion. Detached particles are transported by raindrop splash and flow. Deposition
(sedimentation) occurs when transport capacity is exceeded. On a global scale, water erosion is the
most severe type of soil erosion. It occurs in the form of splash/inter-rill, rill, gully, tunnel, stream-
bank, and coastal erosion. Runoff occurs when precipitation rates exceed the water infiltration rates.
Both raindrop impact and water runoff can cause soil detachment and transport. Unlike wind erosion,
water erosion is a dominant form of erosion in humid, and sub-humid, regions characterized by
frequent rainstorms. It is also a problem in arid and semiarid regions where the limited precipitation
mostly occurs in the form of intense storms when the soil is bare and devoid of vegetation cover.
There are different forms of water erosion including sheet, rill, gully, tunnel and stream bank.
Sheet erosion: Removal of a fairly uniform layer of soil from the land surface by raindrop splash
and/or runoff, most down slope movement of upland sediment is by flow in rills. Sheet erosion
can be prevented by tillage.
Rill erosion: This type of erosion takes place through small channels. It results primarily from soil
detachment by concentrated runoff. This concentration may be due to topographic variation or tillage
marks. Rill erosion will start when the flow shear forces exceed the resistance of the soil.
Concentrated runoff therefore flows down slope before rills form. If the inter-rill sediment load is
less than the flow capacity, rill erosion is likely to start; if the sediment load is greater, deposition
occurs. A rill depth of 300 mm is usually used as the threshold between rills and gullies. Usually
only a small portion of the field is affected, but it is much more visible than sheet erosion.
Gully erosion: This is the removal of soil by running water that results in the formation of channels
sufficiently large that they disrupt farming operations and are too large to be filled during normal
cultivation. Once gullies have formed it is difficult to regain stability. Gully head erosion lengthens
the gully, gully side erosion widens it. Subsoil erodibility is affected by water table height due to the
low strength and coherence of saturated soil.
Tunnel erosion (piping): Removal of subsurface soil by water while the surface soils remain intact.
The result is cavities which enlarge until the surface is no longer supported and caves in, forming
circular holes.
Stream bank erosion: Removal of soil from stream bank by the direct action of stream flow, wind and
wave action.
3.2.2. Wind erosion

Wind erosion occurs when the lift forces of the wind exceed gravity and coherence forces of the soil

grains at the surface. Movement is separated into three different size fractions: ‗creep fraction‘
where particles > 0.5 mm move at a low velocity and roll and bump their way across unstable
surfaces as a result of other faster moving particles. The ‗saltation fraction’ (0.1-0.5mm) moves
by jumping and bouncing across the surface. The maximum distance particles can move is about
50 cm. It is the largest proportion of soil moved by wind. The ‗suspension fraction‘ (<0.1mm)
is carried by wind across the surface and is suspended in air.
3.3. Overgrazing
Herds of cattle and sheep are often concentrated on the same piece of land for too long in many
livestock farms. This confinement results in overgrazing, repeated trampling or crushing, and
soil displacement during traffic. Removing or thinning of grass reduces the protective cover and
increases soil erosion particularly on steep slopes or hillsides.
Overgrazing reduces soil organic matter content, degrades soil structure, and accelerates water and
wind erosion. Trampling by cattle causes soil compaction, reduces root proliferation and growth,
and decreases water infiltration rate and drainage. Increase in stocking rate results in a
corresponding increase in runoff and soil erosion in heavily grazed areas. In wet and clayey soils,
compaction and surface runoff from overgrazed lands can increase soil erosion. Increased erosion from
pasturelands can also cause siltation and sediment-related pollution of downstream water bodies.
In dry regions, animal traffic disintegrates aggregates in surface soils and increases soil‘s
susceptibility to wind erosion. Continuous grazing increases the sand content of the surface soil
as the detached fine particles are preferentially removed by flowing water and wind.
3.4. Land use mismanagement

Expansion of agriculture to sloping, shallow, and marginal lands is a common cause of soil erosion.
Intensive agriculture and plowing, wheel traffic, shifting cultivation, indiscriminate chemical input,
irrigation with low quality water, and absence of vegetative cover degrade soils. Removal of crop
residues for fodder and biofuel and industrial uses reduces the amount of protective cover left on
the soil surface below the level adequate to protect the soil against erosion.
Intensive cultivation accelerates water runoff and exacerbates soil erosion, which transport nutrients
and pesticides off-site, declining soil and water quality. Shifting cultivation, a system in which
depleted soils are abandoned to recover while new lands are cleared for cultivation, often worsens
soil erosion as the duration of the fallow phase is reduced in densely populated regions. It often
involves slashing and burning of forest or pasturelands to create new croplands, a common practice in
tropical forests such as the Amazon. Cultivation is typically shifted after 3 years, and the degraded
soil is left in a short fallow cycle (2 or 3 years), which does not provide long enough time for the
soil to restore its functionality. Degraded soils require a longer period (5 to 40 years) of time to
fully recover. In some regions, because of the high population pressure and scarce arable land area,
farmers are forced to use hilly, marginal or degraded lands for crop production.
3.5. Population pressure and urbanization

The rate at which population is increasing has slowed since 1980.
But the increase in actual numbers is currently higher than at any time in the world‘s history:
o Additions will average 97 million per year until the end of the century and ✓ 90 million
per year until 2025.
o Ninety-five percent of this increase is expected to take place in developing countries.
o Present figures indicate that by the year 2050 Africa‘s population will be three and a half
times its present level, and

By the year 2150, almost five times.

Land is becoming scarcer and scarcer as a resource, and this is particularly true of land available
for:
o Primary production of biomass or
o Conservation related purposes.
Competition for land among different uses is becoming acute and conflicts related to this
competition more frequent and complex:
o Often most apparent on the peri-urban fringe, where the continuing pressures of urban
expansion compete with agricultural enterprises, and
o With recreational demands.
There are also increasing demands on limited land for:
o Plant production,
o Grazing
o Urbanization Settlement
o Industrialization
o Infrastructures
Recreation
The symptoms of the problem of pressure on land resources are manifested both in terms of:
o Impacts on people, and
o Deterioration in the condition of land or impacts on other natural resources.
The deterioration in land condition may be reflected by an impaired ability to carry out any functions
of the land such as:
o Reduced capacity to produce biomass, and
o In turn, affect population support or quality of life.
3.6. Land tenure

Land tenure refers to the rules, authorities, institutions, rights and norms that govern access to and
control over land and related resources. It defines the rules and rights that govern the appropriation,
cultivation and use of natural resources on a given space or piece of land. It governs who can use
what resources, for how long and under what conditions. Strictly speaking, it is not land itself that
is owned, but rights and duties over it.
Land tenure system is made up of rules, authorities, institutions and rights. Land
administration itself (maps, deeds, registers, and so on) is only one part of a land tenure system.
Land tenure systems are highly complex. National and local situations are made up of a multiplicity
of overlapping (and at times contradictory) rules, laws, customs, traditions, perceptions and regulations
that determine how people use, control and transfer land. This has significant implications for the
analysis of land tenure issues and their significance for poverty reduction. In many cases, for
example, different people would describe the land tenure situation pertaining to a specific parcel of
land in very different terms. Land tenure is the relationship, whether legally or customarily defined,
among people, as individuals or groups, with respect to land.
Land tenure is an important part of social, political and economic structures. It is multi-dimensional,
bringing into play social, technical, economic, institutional, legal and political aspects that are often
ignored but must be taken into account. Land tenure relationships may be well-defined and enforceable
in a formal court of law or through customary structures in a community. Land tenure thus constitutes
a web of intersecting interests. These include:
Overriding interests: when a sovereign power (e.g., a nation or community has the powers to

allocate or reallocate land through expropriation, etc.)

Overlapping interests: when several parties are allocated different rights to the same parcel of
land (e.g., one party may have lease rights, another may have a right of way, etc.)
Complementary interests: when different parties share the same interest in the same parcel of
land (e.g., when members of a community share common rights to grazing land, etc.)
Competing interests: when different parties contest the same interests in the same parcel (e.g.,
when two parties independently claim rights to exclusive use of a parcel of agricultural land.
Land disputes arise from competing claims.)
3.6.1. Land tenure is often categorized as

Private: the assignment of rights to a private party, who may be an individual, a married couple, a
group of people, or a corporate body such as a commercial entity or non-profit organization. For
example, within a community, individual families may have exclusive rights to residential parcels,
agricultural parcels and certain trees. Other members of the community can be excluded from using
these resources without the consent of those who hold the rights.
Communal: a right of commons may exist within a community where each member has a right to
use independently the holdings of the community. For example, members of a community may have
the right to graze cattle on a common pasture.
Open access: specific rights are not assigned to anyone and no-one can be excluded. This typically
includes marine tenure where access to the high seas is generally open to anyone; it may include
rangelands, forests, etc, where there may be free access to the resources for all. (An important
difference between open access and communal systems is that under communal system non-
members of the community are excluded from using the common areas.)
State: property rights are assigned to some authority in the public sector. For example, in some
countries, forest lands may fall under the mandate of the state, whether at a central or decentralized
level of government.
3.6.2. Land tenure security

Land tenure security refers to people‘s ability to control and manage a parcel of land, use it and
dispose of its produce and engage in transactions, including transfers. There are three main
characteristics of land tenure security:
Duration – how long will different land rights last?

Protection – will land rights be protected if they are challenged or threatened?
Robustness – are the holders of land rights able to use and dispose of these rights, free
from interference of others?
3.6.3. Access to land

Access to land refers to “the ability to use land‖” and “other natural resources, to control the resources
and to transfer the rights to the land and take advantage of other opportunities.” There are three
main aspects to enhanced access to land: (i) strengthening land tenure security and land rights;
(ii) increasing the amount of land that someone has access to; and (iii) improving the productivity
of land. Alternatives to enhancing access to land for agriculture may include promotion of non-
farm activities and urbanization.
3.6.4. Land rights

There are three principal rights linked to the spatial dimension of land: use rights; control rights;
and transfer rights. Use rights refer to the right to use land for growing crops, passage, grazing
animals, and the utilization of natural and forest products. Control rights refer to the rights to make
decisions about how the land should be used and how benefits should be allocated. Transfer rights
refer to the right to sell or mortgage land, convey land to others, transmit the land through inheritance
and reallocate use and control rights. These different kinds of rights are often overlapping, thus
creating bundles of rights linked to a plurality and diversity of social relations between people, at
diverse levels, including at the intra-household (women, men, young people), social class (landlords,
peasants, farmers and farm workers), village, community, country (indigenous peoples), and
even at the multicounty level (cross-border/multistate pasture resources).
3.6.5. Land tenure in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian empire accommodated a land tenure system that is described as one of the most
complex compilations of different land use systems in Africa. The terminology that has become the
commonly used classification of the pre-revolutionary land tenure types does not reflect this
plethora of local land tenure systems but refers mainly to the imperial administrative classification.
It is commonly distinguished between communal (rist), grant land (gult), freehold, or sometimes
referred to as private (gebbar tenures), church (samon), and state (maderia, mengist) tenure regimes.
In 1975, the socialist derg regime that had overthrown the imperial regime of Haile Selassie, profoundly
altered the agrarian structure and the mechanisms of access to land. The “Public Ownership of Rural
Land Proclamation‖ nationalized all rural land and set out to redistribute it to its tillers and to
organize farmers in cooperatives, thereby abolishing exploitative landlord-tenant relations so
pertinent under the imperial regime.The proclamation of derg in 1975 declared all rural land to be
the property of the state without any compensation to previous rights holders – and prohibited all
tenancy relations. The Proclamation provided the legal basis for the distribution of usufruct rights
to a large number of rural families who had been working under exploitative tenancy contracts for
a small group of landlords. The reform hence implemented the ―land to the tiller‖ approach that was
popular in the 1970s.
The derg justified the land reform program on two principles: (1) historical justice – to overcome
the exploitative character of imperial agrarian relations; and (2) justice as egalitarianism –
providing each farm family with equal access to cultivation land according 34 to their needs. The
Proclamation made a number of provisions. Farmers were not allowed to transfer their usufruct rights
by sale, mortgage, or lease, and bequeathing of allocated usufruct rights was limited to primary
family members like spouse and children upon death of the rights holder. The plot size per family
was restricted to a maximum of 10 hectares, and the use of hired agricultural labor was prohibited
After the fall of the derg in 1991, the Transitional Government of Ethiopia, in its declaration on
economic policy in November 1991 (Transitional Government of Ethiopia 1991), announced
the continuation of the land policy of the derg regime. The new constitution of 1995 approved and
confirmed the state ownership of land in Ethiopia (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 1995).
Article 40 of the 1995 Ethiopian constitution states that: “ the right to ownership of rural land and
urban land, as well as of all natural resources is exclusively vested in the state and the peoples of
Ethiopia. Land is a common property of the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia” (Federal
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 1995, Article 40).
Study question: What types of land tenure systems do you know so far? How do land tenure
systems cause land degradation? Explain by evidence.
3.7. Pollution
Definition: Pollution is the harm that results because of the presence of a substance or substances
where they would not normally be found or because they are present in larger than normal quantities.
Polluting substances may occur as a solid, liquid or gas.
The consequences of pollution may be direct, through the toxic effect of a substance. For example,
an accidental spill of a pesticide entering a river may have an immediate effect and be very harmful
to the aquatic life.
The consequences of pollution may also be indirect. Nitrogen and phosphorus are essential for plant
growth, but excessive plant growth can be harmful to water (eutrophication = water fertility).
Pollution is often described as point source or diffuse (or non-point) pollution.
o Point source pollution: enters a water body at a specific site and is generally readily
identified.
o Non-point source pollution: arises where substances are widely used and dispersed over an
area as a result of land-use activities such as urban development, amenity, farming and
forestry.
Examples of diffuse pollution include the leaching to surface water and groundwater of
contaminants from:
o Roads,
o Manures,
o Nutrients and pesticides used in agriculture and forestry, and
o Atmospheric deposition of contaminants arising from industry.
Major substances that may cause pollution:

A. Nutrients: main potentially-polluting nutrients in relation to water are, ammonia (a form of N), P
and S. They arise from the natural breakdown of crop residues and soil organic matter, rainfall,
fertilizers, urine and manure, silage, landfill sites, wastewater and industrial effluents, power
generation and other fuel-burning activities.
B. Pesticides: These include herbicides, insecticides and fungicides that are used in gardens, in
agriculture, in roadside and trackside (railway) maintenance, and in parkland and golf courses.
C. Heavy metals: Heavy metals are widely-used ingredients for chemical compounds used in
industry. Industrial contaminated land can be a source of heavy metals leaching into the
environment. They also exist naturally in soils at low concentrations. They can be found in fuel,
chemicals, waste materials and batteries. In high concentrations they are toxic to humans,
animals and plants.
D. Suspended solids: Suspended solids are mineral and organic particles that remain suspended
in water. They sink only very slowly or are easily re-suspended by water turbulence.
Suspended solids might be eroded soil or decayed leaves. Wastewater from sewage works
and industry might also carry suspended solids into water bodies. Suspended solids cause water
to be turbid and this cloudiness reduces light levels. Turbidity can also be a sign of other pollution
since nutrients, pesticides and metals can be attached to the suspended particles.
E. Settleable solids: These are mineral or organic solids which can settle onto gravel beds where
they can prevent fish spawning.
3.8. Desertification
Desertification refers to a special type of land/soil degradation, where desert like conditions spread to
the areas on the fringe of the desert in semiarid and arid regions. Desertification implies decline in
soil quality leading to reduced biological productivity and environmental moderating capacity of land
in arid regions. Total land area in arid regions of the world is estimated at 4.85 billion ha of which
two thirds occur in Africa and Asia. Desertification may happen as a result of natural and human-
induced factors. The global land area prone to human induced desertification is about 1.02 billion ha
or 20% of the total dry land areas of the world. In addition to climate and soil factors, risks of
desertification also depend on land use and farming systems. Rangelands and rainfed croplands
are highly susceptible to desertification. Desertification is an especially severe problem in dry regions

of sub-Saharan Africa, West Asia and North Africa, Central Asia, parts of northern and western
Australia, western U.S., and south western regions of South America. An appropriate strategy for
desertification control may involve natural resource planning at the watershed level.
Study question: Explain the natural and anthropogenic causes of desertification supporting
by evidences.
4. LAND DEGRADATION ASSESSMENT

The assessment and problem identification phase helps the partnership and stakeholders find out what
is happening. The objective of land degradation (LD) is to provide stakeholders a grasp of the
environmental setting and a qualitative understanding of land conditions and problems. The
partnership oversees the uncovering of concerns, gathering and analyzing information and data,
documenting data and management decisions, and developing an overall goal. It starts with an
inventory. Assessment means evaluating available data and information to describe the land resource
condition and then making a judgment on that condition.
Land degradation indicators can be characterized as follows:
An indicator is a parameter (or value derived from parameters) which provides information
about a phenomenon.
Indicators should not be confused with raw data from which they are derived. ❖ Indicators are
quantified information which helps to explain how things are changing over time and space for
decision making.
An environmental indicator is a parameter which provides information about the situation or
trends in the state of environment, in the human activities that affect or are affected by the
environment or about relationships among such variables.
Land degradation indicators are the sub-set of environmental indicators focusing on a particular
trend in the state of the environment and associated human activities.
Land degradation assessment is an exercise for a purpose. The purpose must lead and the
methods are then chosen to achieve that purpose. Yes, integration is important if we are dealing
with complex inter-linked issues related to livelihoods, food security or even the implementation
of soil conservation projects. But specify what that purpose is first.
4.1. Indicators of land degradation

What makes a good indicator? Although individual indicators vary from project to project, “good”
indicators follow the SMART philosophy (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely). Land
degradation indicators should be:
Simple and relate to something that people can understand and use.
Able to address a need (e.g., be established through stakeholder dialogue or respond to a predicted
significant impact).
Sensitive to anthropogenic impacts – able to measure changes caused specifically by humans (i.e.
able to differentiate between long-term background changes and those changes arising from the
presence of oil and gas operations).
Dynamic and responsive to ongoing changes. Able to address positive and negative changes.
Spatially relevant across the required geographical level (i.e. local, regional, global). Valid and
reliable using technically defensible measurement techniques.
Cost-effective and involve the appropriate level of effort.

Policy relevant (easy to interpret, showing trends over time against baseline or reference values).
Able to address priorities and the issues of greatest importance.
Indicators are a way of presenting and managing complex information in a simple, clear, manner
that can form the basis for future action and can be readily communicated to internal or external
stakeholders as appropriate. Numerous indicators have been developed to monitor environmental
and sustainable development issues. Since LD is a subset of environmental degradation, it
encompasses the whole environment but includes individual factors such as:
Soils
Water resources (surface, ground) • Grasslands (range lands)
Crop lands (rainfed, irrigated)
Biodiversity (animal, vegetative cover, soil)
An indicator is a measurement that reflects the status of some social, economic, or

environmental system and can be used to track changes in complex systems and monitor progress
towards predetermined goals. Indicators can be divided into three broad groups including
biophysical, socioeconomic, and institutional indicators. Biophysical indicators are primarily
concerned with the physical setting and biological aspects of the area. Soil
erosion, slope, aspect, etc. are the indicators associated with physical setting of the area while
factors concerned with biodiversity, forest cover, vegetation, deforestation, etc. are associated with
biotic indicators.
Socioeconomic indicators are largely concerned with human behavior and action. Sometimes
they don‘t seem to be directly linked with the processes of degradation but have a very significant
role in determining the stage and direction of degradation. Population (density, distribution, growth)
and economic status of a family (poverty, per capita income etc.) are the best examples of it.
Institutional indicators are those which are very much concerned/governed by the policy matters.
Government policies, departmental supports, organizational backup, support by financial institutions
like bank and cooperatives (loan, subsidies), market, export etc. are the examples of institutional
indicators.
There are different arrays of LD indicators and some of them can be enumerated as follows:
1. Indicators of soil loss

Rills
Gully
Pedestals
Plant or tree root exposure
Exposure of below ground portions of fence posts and other structures
Rock exposure
Sediment in drains
Enrichment ratio
Soil texture and color
Soil and plant rooting depth
2. Indicators of production constraints

Crop yield
Crop growth characteristics

Nutrient deficiencies
Soil variables related to production: texture, color and depth
3. Deforestation: Death and disease can result from the localized flooding caused by
deforestation. Loss of sustainable logging potential and of erosion prevention, watershed
stability and carbon sequestration provided by forests are among the productivity impacts of
deforestation.
4. Loss of biodiversity: The extinction of plant and animal species will potentially affect the
development of new drugs; it will reduce ecosystem adaptability and lead to the loss of genetic
resources.
5. Combining indicators:
Why Single indicators are often insufficient?
Assessment of both process and cause
4.2. Methods of land degradation assessment

There are different approaches proposed and used by government departments of different countries or
reputed organizations. For global assessment of land degradation primarily GLASOD project was
completed but further to improve the quality and use of information a new approach was proposed by
FAO, which is widely accepted and used approach known as ‗Global Land Degradation Assessment‘
or in short form - LADA
Suggestions on methods and tools for land degradation assessment varied from concrete examples
(e.g., participatory monitoring and evaluation) to a flexible approach that considers a variety
of methods (e.g., rural appraisals, GIS spatial modeling, remote sensing, and aerial images).
Application of models is generally encouraged although it is emphasized that their limitations and
uncertainty should be clearly understood by both modelers and policy makers. The need to choose
indicators and methods that acknowledge user needs and the selection of cost-effective data sampling
and modeling exercises were emphasized.
4.3. Available models for different levels/scales

Modeling is the simplified symbolic representation of the complicated system or process of the real
world. Modeling involves developing physical, conceptual, or computer-based representations of
systems. It is widely used to explain the complicated degradation systems and processes in the physical
and socio-economic environment.
Whereas models provide insight and information that can be used to improve management, they do
not change things by themselves: something still has to be done. A relevant question, therefore,
is whether Land Degradation Models can provide information that can improve decision-making ….
The answer is yes: Land Degradation Models can support farming indirectly by being a source
from which guidelines, diagrams, and extension service advice can be derived, and by enabling explicit
alternatives for agricultural development to be drawn up.
When used correctly and of high quality, models allow us, based on relatively few data points
and for relatively low costs, to provide a wealth of information. They allow us to take into account
things that by their very nature are not directly measurable, for instance, because of the time or
spatial scales involved. They also allow us to carry out experiments and what-if scenarios that would
be unthinkable in the real world. Process-based models have one other vital benefit, which is that
they are based on, and may thus reveal a degree of insight in feedback mechanisms that the current
indicator frameworks do not reveal. Generally, the problem with models is that they will always
produce output whatever you feed into them. So even a perfect model (and there are few in the field

of land degradation) will deliver poor output if the input data and/or parameters are of poor
quality or inappropriate. So, while a statistical or process-based model can help us fill in data gaps
it can equally well conceal data gaps (by providing data that only on closer inspection will turn
out to be too poor to use). This implies that when models are used for land degradation assessment we
need more than an evaluation of the scientific merits of the model or a sensitivity analysis – we
need, for each area in which the model is used:
A serious validation of the model output;

A proper uncertainty analysis that also takes the uncertainties of the input data and parameters into
account;
Locally relevant documentation and usage protocols; and Well-trained staff aware of the limitations
of the model.
5. REHABILITATIONS OF DEGRADED LAND

Learning Objectives
Up on completion of this chapter you will be able to:
To explain the need for rehabilitation of degraded lands
To identify appropriate rehabilitation methods for various types of land degradation
To describe the main activities carried out under different rehabilitation methods
Introduction
Land degradation can be prevented through different mechanisms depending up on the nature
and form of degradation. But, the main environmental principles for reducing land degradation are
to maximize vegetation cover to prevent erosion, replace nutrients removed, and to put in place
structures (terraces, bunds, vegetation strips) so as to reduce the speed and volumes of water flow
over the soil. Similarly, UNCCD (2004) revealed that forests and tree cover combat land degradation
and desertification by stabilizing soils, reducing water and wind erosion and maintaining nutrient
cycling in soils. Therefore, sustainable use of goods and services from forest ecosystems and the
development of agro forestry systems can contribute to poverty reduction, making the rural poor less
vulnerable to the impacts of land degradation. Broadly speaking, land degradation can be controlled,
reduced or even reverted if the land is used wisely, if all functions of the land are taken into account,
and if long-term interests of all segments of human kinds replace short-term vested interests of
privileged group globally, naturally and locally. However, rehabilitating degraded landscapes depend
on the costs relative to the value of output or environmental benefits expected.
Land degradation is not a sudden event but a gradual process. The costs of preventing land
degradation are not high if action is taken early. Once severe, however, the land must be abandoned
once its reclamation becomes economically prohibitive. Land degradation should be treated according
to the type of land degradation. So far, chapter discussions on land degradation were highly focused
on soil degradation. This chapter also continues to discuss the rehabilitation works giving emphasis
to reduce soil degradation. Most types of soil degradation can be prevented or reversed by
adding nutrients to nutrient depleted soil, rebuilding topsoil through soil amendments,
reestablishing vegetation, or buffering soil acidity. However, some aspects of land degradation are
less easily reversed than others. For example, terrain deformation by gully erosion, or advanced
salinization, or total topsoil loss from erosion, or the wiping out of native soil fauna is more
irreversible than a negative nutrient balance, or surface sealing and crusting.
N.B the efforts to combat land degradation in Ethiopia has focused on physical conservation structures.

5.1. Sustainable Agricultural Practices

An agriculturally marginal soil is prone to accelerated erosion and is thus characterized by adverse
properties, and low fertility and productivity. Adopting practices such as vegetation cover,
conservation tillage (e.g., no-till, reduced tillage), crop rotations, manuring, and application of
organic amendments is an alternative to restore marginal soils. These biological technologies
can restore partially degraded soils, but severely degraded soils require costly restoration practices.
A brief explanation of each restorative practice is presented below:
1. Vegetative cover - one of the first strategies to restore agriculturally marginal soils is the
establishment of vegetative cover. Trees produce abundant biomass and floor litter, which increases
soil organic matter and nutrient contents. Likewise, perennial grass species stabilize the soil,
reduce soil erosion, and improve soil physical properties. Introducing agro-forestry systems is also an
effective conservation technology. Combining trees with field crops restores soil productivity
because trees improve water infiltration and provide economic benefits to farmers. Multipurpose
tree species, for example, provide food, wood, and fiber along traditional food crops. Establishment
of conservation buffers (e.g., filter strips, riparian buffers, grass hedges, grass waterways) is part of
best management practices to stabilize marginal soils and reduce off-site transport of sediment
and nutrients. An appropriate use of marginal soils could generate income through restoration and
enrollment in conservation programs. In degraded pasturelands, livestock rotation is critical
for maintaining soil resilience because it allows the system to rejuvenate and recover from grazing.
2. Tillage and cropping system - no-till system is a recommended practice because it reduces
the rate of residue decomposition, protects the soil surface, and promotes soil aggregation and
microbial activity. Incorporation of legumes in crop rotations, intercropping, and mixed
cropping are recommended strategies to increase soil organic matter content and improve soil
fertility. Legume crops fix their own N from the atmosphere and reduce the use of inorganic fertilizers
in nutrient-depleted soils. Both grain and forage legumes are viable alternatives for crop rotations
with N-demanding crops. For example, planting soybean after corn or fallow regenerates soil fertility
by enhancing proliferation of N-fixing organisms and thus increasing N levels. Diversified crop
rotations with perennials forages provide a permanent cover and protect soils against water and
wind erosion. Conversion of agriculturally marginal soils to permanent crops also improves
wildlife habitat and enhances biodiversity. Most importantly, it can promote C sequestration and
reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
3. Use of crop residues and amendments - because degraded soils are often characterized by acidic
or alkaline pH, low organic matter and nutrient contents, compacted horizons, and low water retention
capacity, application of organic amendments is a desirable strategy. Degraded soils respond
rapidly to use of organic and inorganic amendments. Animal manure, green manure, compost,
and other nutrient-rich materials react with soil and improve fertility and biological activity. Crop
residues left on the surface not only protect soil but also provide organic matter. Compost is a
rich source of active soil organisms, organic matter, and nutrients that improve soil resilience.
Composting or recycling yard and food wastes is also an important strategy to increase plant growth
and yield while easing pressure on landfills.
4. Natural fallows - is a common practice to restore slightly and moderately degraded soils. This
practice consists of retiring a cultivated soil for one or more growing seasons. Natural fallows rely
on the intrinsic and natural ability of the soil to regain its potential under naturally grown
vegetation, mostly grasses and shrubs. Restoration of soil physical properties and fertility often
requires that soils be left in natural fallow for extended period of time (15 to 20 yr). Soil recovery to

an equilibrium level increases in direct proportion to the length of natural fallow. The length of
natural fallow has unfortunately been based on the needs of landowners and policymakers rather
than on the needs of the system to fully recover its potential.
Differences in resilience among soils determine the optimum duration of natural fallow periods.
Long-term and site-specific studies are critical to determining the optimum time required for the
soil to recover. Severely degraded ecosystems may require long (>20 yr) fallow periods. In
mountainous tropical ecosystems, the use of natural fallows is linked to shifting cultivation where
cultivated soils (often degraded) are left in fallow to recover their natural fertility while neighboring
soils are brought under cultivation by slash and burn system.
5. Nutrient and pesticide management - one of the key roles of restoring degraded soils is to reduce
the environmental pollution by filtering, detoxifying, and degrading excess chemicals. Applying
only the necessary amounts of chemicals and monitoring the soil following application are
important measures. Use of non-chemically based practices (e.g. organic farming, crop rotations,
cover crops, manure management) is desirable to reduce non-point source pollution. The integrated
use of mineral fertilizers, organic manure, and soil biological support lessens the reliance on
fertilizers and better matches the economic limitations faced by the dry land farmers. Proper
management of animal manures and bio-solids is also important to protecting the water quality.
5.2. Soil and Water Conservation Measures

To counter the degradation process soil and water conservation measures can be taken. Soil and water
conservation measures can be technically defined as any set of measures intended to control or prevent
soil erosion or to maintain soil fertility. Key points for managing any type of erosion are to reduce
the erosivity of the eroding agent, decrease the soil‘s susceptibility to erosion, and prevent
particle transport. However, the terms for soil and water conservation technologies and approaches
are not consistently used. According to World Overview of Conservation Approaches and
Technologies (WOCAT), soil & water conservation measures can be:
1. Overall management measures - involve a fundamental change in land use, involving no

agronomic and structural measure, often result in improved vegetative cover and reduce the
intensity of use. E.g. land use change, area closure, rotational grazing, legal and institutional
arrangements and policies, etc.
2. Agronomic measures – are usually associated with annual crops; are repeated routinely each
season or in a rotational sequence; are of short duration and not permanent; do not lead to change in
slope profile; and are normally independent of slope. They involve both crop and soil management
practices. E.g. Crop selection, mixed cropping, strip cropping, contour cultivation, mulching,

conservation tillage, etc.

3. Vegetative measures – involve the use of perennial grasses, shrubs or trees; are a long duration;
often lead to a change in slope profile; are often spaced according to slope. E.g. grass strips, hedge
barrier, wind breaks, other agro forestry practices, etc.
4. Structural measures – such as terraces (benches, retention, diversion) , bunds, check dams, etc.
often lead to a change in slope profile; are of long duration or permanent; are carried out primarily
to control runoff, wind velocity and erosion; often require substantial input of labor or money
when first installed; and involve major earth movements/construction with wood, stone, concrete,
etc.
The most effective erosion control component is certainly a dense plant cover, and thus agronomic
and vegetative soil and water conservation are given high priority in soil protection. Optimal
conservation effect can be achieved if all components are integrated in to one farming and protection
system. Soil and water conservation measures can also be broadly grouped into two categories:
biological (the principal method by which vegetation is used to ensure the conservation of soil)
and mechanical (method by which physical structures are used). Additionally, cultural practices
can considered as different category by taking the indigenous knowledge of societies in to account
and can be either biological or mechanical or a combination of both.
5.2.1. Cultural Practices

When deciding what conservation measure to employ, preference is always given to cultural measures.
The measure includes all farming practices in which vegetation helps to minimize erosion by reducing
splash erosion and runoff velocity. It also aims at a good fertility and structure of soil including
improvement in infiltration. The cultural practices, which are helpful for creation of high infiltration
rate, are essentially based on farming techniques, tillage and use of cover crops. But, the safe disposal
of runoff from the field is carried out by physical manipulation of soil surface.
Various interventions in SWC are implemented by farmers throughout East Africa, and they also form
the foundation of many development projects with agriculture and land management on their
agendas. Indigenous and innovative technologies in soil and water conservation, rain water
harvesting and soil nutrient management abound in East Africa, some of which have proved easier
to replicate, especially those that are applicable over diverse biophysical conditions and have low
labor requirements. Some of the most common soil and water conservation technologies used by
smallholder farmers include contour ridging, trash lines, vegetative barriers and so on.
Contour ridging/bunding/
Contour bunds are soil conservation structures that involve construction of an earthen bund by
excavating a channel and creating a small ridge on the downhill side. Thus contour bunds resemble
narrow channel terraces.
Trash line
Trash lines involve arranging the previous season‘s crop residues or any other dead vegetative
materials in lines across the slope to form organic buffer strips along the contour. In the wetter areas
where farm sizes are restricted, farmers prefer to feed crop residues to livestock, while in the dry
areas trash lines are associated with termite infestation. Trash lines have the advantage of low labor
requirement. They are to be found almost in all areas, but are particularly popular in semi-arid districts.
Grass Strips and Vegetative Buffers

Narrow rows of permanent vegetation (usually grasses or shrubs) planted on the contour can be used
to slow down runoff, trap sediment, and eventually build up natural or living terraces. In some

situations, tropical grasses have shown considerable promise as an affordable alternative to the
construction of terraces. The dense, stiff stems tend to filter out soil particles from the muddy runoff.
This sediment builds up on the up slope side of the grass barrier and, in time, actually creates a
terrace that may be more than 1 m above the soil surface on the down slope side of the plants. The grass
is planted in dense strips, about 0.5 to 1 m wide, along the contour, at intervals equivalent to calculated
terrace spacing. On gentle sloping land, the strips are made with a wide spacing (20-30 m), while
on steep land the spacing is about 10 to 15m. The main drawback with grass strips is that they harbor
rodents and in dry areas, they may not survive the dry spells.
Mulching
Mulching is the covering of the soil with dead plant residues; straw, banana leaves, maize stalk or
grass. The cover protects the soil from raindrop and increases the infiltration rate as the pores of the
soil are not clogged. It is useful in dry areas where insufficient rain prevents the establishment of a
ground cover before the onset of heavy rain.
Trees (agro-forestry practices)

Trees are important in soil conservation and soil improvement. The term agro-forestry is a collective
name for land use system in which woody perennials (trees, shrubs) is growing in association with
crops and /or livestock to achieve both ecological and economic interactions between trees
and non-tree components of the system. Multi-purpose trees and shrubs for soil conservation; trees
on soil erosion structure such as trees on terraces, trees on grass strips and trees as a barrier hedge
are few roles of trees for protection and fertility maintenance.
5.2.2. Biological Measures

The principle of biological measures is to maintain a high vegetation cover, which serves two
purposes: production and protection. They are intended for obstruction of runoff, structural
stabilization, re-vegetation of forest and grazing lands and stabilization of degraded / fragile
lands. They create effects both above and below the soil surface. Plants also help to increase
infiltration in many ways: (1) directly through their roots, and (2) indirectly by increasing organic
matter and thus improving aggregate stability and the soil structure. The use of these measures is
entirely dependent upon the soil type, land slope and rainfall characteristics. Some examples include:
Multi-storey cropping
In multi-storey cropping, a wide variety of woody and herbaceous crops are grown together in a dense
pattern, at first sight disorderly but probably controlled by detailed management. Given the dense
litter production all the year round, erosion control is inherent in such systems, confirmed by the
fact that these systems clearly maintain fertility.
Alley cropping
In alley cropping, rows of trees or shrubs (the hedgerows) are intercropped with herbaceous crops in
the spaces between (the alleys). It has multiple objectives, including fertility maintenance, and
may be practiced on flat or sloping land.
Biological barriers /Hedgerows and Windbreak/

Vegetative barriers are widely used in conjunction with hillside ditches and ridge terrace; hedgerow
of shrubs, being planted immediately above and parallel to the ditch or channel to obstruct the force of
runoff. A combination of shrubs and trees are also used in windbreak or shelterbelts to control wind.
Shelterbelts placed perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction can effectively control erosion

by reducing wind velocity, trapping material and breaking up field lengths. Belts may be composed
of grasses, shrubs, or trees.
Improved Fallows and Biomass Transfers

Improved fallows have been described as the deliberate planting of leguminous tree species with the
primary purpose of fixing nitrogen as part of a crop fallow. Improved tree fallow is intended to
simulate the effects of shifting cultivation but with the tree fallow consisting of planted species,
selected for their soil-enrichment capacity or useful products. The biomass transfer is the
incorporation into the soil of leafy shrubs, which accumulate high concentration of nutrients
in their leafy biomass and mineralize rapidly. It is a form of cut and carry mulching.
5.2.3. Physical Measures

When the use of cultural and biological measures is either inadequate or not sufficient to achieve
the goal of erosion control, the use of mechanical measures is recommended. Physical soil and
water-conservation measures are those measures developed through soil cutting and earth moving
to reshape the topography. They are mechanical barriers constructed across the direction of
flow of rainwater to retard or retain the runoff or safely discharges (reducing velocity) of runoff
thereby reduce the soil and water losses. The important principles to be kept in view while planning
physical control measures are:
Increasing the time of concentration of runoff thereby allowing more of it to be absorbed and held
by the soil,
Intercepting a long slope into several short ones so as to maintain less than a critical velocity for
the runoff water,
Protection against damage due to excessive runoff.
N.B Such measures are normally employed in conjunction with cultural and biological measures
which are equally important for maintenance soil fertility.
1. DITCHES
Retention Ditches
Retention/ infiltration ditches are large ditches designed to catch and retain all incoming runoff
and hold it until it infiltrates in to the ground. They are also called infiltration ditches and commonly
used as an alternative to diversion ditches if there is no place to discharge run off or if there is a
need as semi-arid areas, to harvest water.
Diversion Ditches
Diversion ditch is a graded channel with a supportive ridge or bank on the lower side. It is constructed
across a slope and designed to intercept surface runoff and convey it safely to an outlet or water way.
Diversion ditches are constructed at gully head to intercept the runoff, coming from catchment area.
The cross sectional area of this diversion tool involves wider width and shallow depth. The grade is
kept in such a range that can produce low runoff velocity. The capacity should be large enough
to carry all the water yielded from contributing catchment area. Normally its design is
performed for the maximum runoff obtained during 5 to 10 years highest rainfall. The diversion
ditches should also be sufficient to empty the water into spreading area.
2. WATERWAYS
Waterways are the natural or artificial channels used to carry or dispose surface runoff from fields or
pastures to lower levels of land. They are constructed along the slope of the area being needed to
conduct runoff safely from hill slopes to valley bottoms where it can join a stream or river. Apart

from disposing the runoff, they also act as an outlet for the terrace or graded bunds. The narrower
waterways should be 20 to 100 ft wide, depending on the amount of water to be carried and
the steepness of the slopes. Waterways subject to constant or prolonged flows require special
supplemental treatment, such as grade control structures, stone center or subsurface drainage
capable of carrying such flows. After establishment, protective vegetative cover must be
maintained. Seeding should not only cover the channel but extend well back on the shoulders to
prevent scouring and under cutting. Some artificial water ways must be protected with concrete or
wooden baffles and strips of sod.
3. BUNDS
Bunds are simply embankment like structures constructed across the land slope. Through bunding,
the entire area is divided in to several small parts; thereby the effective slope length of the area
is reduced. It is generally, most suitable for the land having the slope, ranges from 2 to 10 percent.
However, it can also be used beyond 10 percent land slope but, there must be a close spacing of bund,
which results high cost of construction. Bunds are basically three types, which may have an identical
appearance but a completely different purpose and origin.
Soil bund: pure soil bunds are susceptible to heavy rainfall and easily eroded by water and wind.
Soil bunds covered by grass are often developing over years on the small, unplowed strip between
two fields and not following the contour line.
Stone bund: stone bunds are wide spread and well known in east Africa. A lot of varieties can be
found ranging from semi-permanent simple structures to intensively maintained terrace
development risers to limit the risk of overflowing. They are constructed where suitable stones
are available on or near the field. They are preferred in sub-humid environment because the
drainage of excess water is better than on soil bunds.
Stone faced bunds: a stone layer often makes the foundation, while a combination of stones and soil
is used during further development. The purpose of combined stone and soil bunds within a field is
to increase proportion of arable land through leveling of steep land; reduction runoff and control
erosion. Bunding systems are divided according to their function which they perform. This is
given as:
Contour bunding – the formation of bunds passing through the points of equal elevation (i.e. on
contour) of the land. The main functions of contour bunds are:
Reducing length of slope to reduce soil erosion

Impounding the water in the area and permitting more water to recharge in to the soils so that it is
utilized for crop cultivation.
Contour bunding can be adopted on all type of relatively permeable soils except the clay or deep
black cotton soils.
Graded bunding- the formation of bunds in such a way that the water flows at slow speed flowing
directly down the slope, causing no soil erosion there. It consists of constructing wide and relatively
shallow channels across the slope very near the contour ridges and at critical intervals. The main
function s of graded bund are:
Reducing length of slope to reduce soil erosion

Disposing the excess water very safely to a suitable point

It is adapted in areas where annual rainfall exceeds 80 cm and particularly in clay soils even with less
rainfall.
4. TERRACES
A terrace has been described (Critchley 2000) “as a unit consisting of a relatively steeply faced
structure across the slope (referred to as a riser, bank, dyke, ridge, wall or embankment),
that supports above it a relatively flat terrace bed (which may be either flat, or sloping backwards or
forwards and may slope laterally).” The steeper the slope, the more needs the drainage system to
be supported by terraces in order to reduce slope length and slope gradient.
Terraces usually involve more or less permanent change in slope profile and contain a drainage
ditch and a dam of low height. Terracing generally involves the following main features:
Are constructed across the slope to intercept the surface runoff and covey it to a suitable outlet,
at non erosive velocity
Reduce the length of the slope by splitting the slope length in different parts
Is adopted for soil & water conservation, where land slope is greater than 10%, soil is more
erodible and prevail high rainfall intensity
Play an important role in trapping the splashed soil particle
Is not practiced or impossible particularly on those hill sloped areas where soil depth is not
sufficient
It proves a costly work
The most common types are bench, diversion, and retention terraces.
A. Bench Terrace
Bench terraces are type of terraces which are constructed in form of alternate series of shelves
and risers, used to cultivate the steep slopes. These types of terraces are generally constructed on
the land of 6 to 33% slope. In this system the hilly land is modified in the form of several steps,
which intercept the flowing water through the soil surface. These steps are also used for cultivation
purposes. On the basis of the slope of bench, bench terraces are again classified in to four types:
1. Level bench terrace – consist of level top surface and are generally used in the areas which
receive medium rainfall and have highly permeable soil. Contrary to the usual concept that bench
terraces are to be adapted on slopes steeper than 6 to 7 %, level bench terraces are required in paddy
growing areas on slope as mild as 1%, to facilitate uniform impounding. Sometimes this type of terraces
is referred as table top, or paddy terraces, conveying the sense that such bench is as level as top of the
table.
2. Outwardly sloping bench terraces– are adopted in low rainfall areas with permeable soil. A
shoulder bund is essential as it provide the stability to the outer edge of the terrace. For outwardly
sloping bench terraces constructed on soils having poor permeability, the provision of graded
channel at lower end is most essential for disposing surplus surface water to the waterways.
3. Inwardly sloping bench terraces – are preferred to construct in areas of heavy rainfall and
less permeable soils, from where large portion of rain water is drained as surface runoff. Such types
of bench terraces have a provision to drain runoff from the inner side by constructing a drainage
channel. It helps to grow crops which are extremely susceptible to water logging such as potato.
4. California type /Puertorican terraces- are constructed by excavating the soil little by little at the

time of each ploughing operation and simultaneously making benches by pushing the soil downhill
against vegetative or mechanical barriers laid on the contour of the land. These barriers should be
laid across the slope at suitable intervals. The terraces are developed gradually over years, by natural
leveling.
B. Retention Terraces
These are level terrace, used particularly when water is required to conserve by making storage
on hill sides. These terraces are constructed for conserving the moisture and controlling the
soil erosion. These absorption terraces are most suitable to areas where: rainfall is low and
intensities are not excessive, slope is less than 6%, and Infiltration and permeability are high. The
height of embankment should be such that the runoff water cannot overtop it. This type of terrace
is also known as conservation terrace. The other most common example that helps to retain water
on-site is fanya juu terrace. Fanya Juu (throw uphill) is an embankment along the contour made
of soil and/or stones, with a channel at its lower side, where overflowing water is collected. Its
purpose is to protect the high potential land and to conserve soil and water. Fanya Juu reduces
the velocity of overland flow and consequently soil erosion.
C. Diversion/Channel Terrace
Diversion terraces are used for intercepting the overland flow from hilly slopes and channel it across
the slope to a suitable outlet (e.g. grass waterway) built at slight down slope grade from contour.
5. CHECK DAMS
Check dams are a series of checks which transform the longitudinal gradient into a series of steps with
low rises and long flat treads so that the erosive velocities of gullies (steep-sided eroding water
courses) are reduced by flattering out the steep uniform gradient of the gully. The working principle
of check dams is given as below:
They reduce the degree of slope of gully bed by constructing a series of checks at regular
interval, across the width, in the gully. These series of checks divide the longitudinal slope of
gully bed into a series of steps with low risers and long flat treads.
They reduce the velocity of running water by creating obstructions in flow path and thus making
the silt to deposit over the gully bed, carried by the running water.
The series of such breaks increase the time of opportunity of flow in the gully by which the
scope for percolating of water in to the soil gets increased.
Check dams can be classified as temporary and permanent depending on their duration of functions.
Temporary check dams are intended to function only until vegetation becomes well enough
established to provide necessary protection. Brushwood dams, log dams, netting dams and brick
weirs are some of the temporary check dams. Temporary check dams thrown across the bed of the
gully serve two purposes: (1) To collect sufficient soil and water to enable the proper growth of
vegetative cover; and (2) To check the channel erosion until sufficient stabilizing vegetation can be
established at that critical point. Permanent check dams are used in gully control where temporary
structures are either inadequate or impractical. The most frequent permanent structures used in gully
control measures are silt trap dams, regulating dams, gully head dams, drop structures and gabions.
N.B in Ethiopia, the more common methods of soil and water conservation include inter-cropping,
contour cultivation, mulching, grass strips, tree planting, level contour bunds, cutoff drains, hill
terracing and graded bench terraces.

5.3. Reforestation
Most global statistics on degradation are based not on assessments of degradation but on
deforestation. Efforts to stop or slow deforestation have been attempted for many centuries because
it has long been known that deforestation can cause environmental damage sufficient in some
cases to cause societies to collapse. Vegetation has a curative and protective value.
The otherwise abandoned land may regain importance as a result of a carefully planned and
efficiently administered scheme of reforestation- the most important measures to restore the
disturbed rural ecology on scale large enough to cope with the problems of soil erosion and
water wastage. Combating land degradation must consist of controlling deforestation, encouraging
reforestation, regulating fires so that their effect is minimized, and limiting the intensity of grazing
to the carrying capacity of the land.
Reforestation refers to the re-establishment of trees in deforested lands. It is the best option to
overcome deforestation and offset soil degradation. The basic principle of reforestation is to encourage
the recovery of the lost vegetation. It can be accomplished by promoting and protecting the growth
of native vegetation (i.e. natural regeneration), or replanting with new vegetation (i.e. seeding and
transplanting).
When forest re-vegetation is allowed to occur through natural recovery, it requires total protection
from man and animals throughout the re-growth period. Virtual exclusion of people and domestic
animals is possible through social fencing of an area. This requires strengthening of the grassroots
level institutions and enforcing community led understanding that the designated area is to be
temporarily off-limits. It takes about 4–5 yr before trees can produce sufficient litter cover to
significantly reduce runoff and soil erosion. Litter cover of at least 5 cm depth is required to protect
the soil against erosion. Management of young tree plantations is important to reduce formation of
rills and gullies, which are likely to occur during the vegetation establishment stage.
Planted recovery starts with land preparation followed by the introduction of indigenous or exotic
vegetation. Protection of what is planted from man and livestock in this fragile environment is
equally necessary. The purpose of land preparation is to create a medium that assures maximum
survival and sustainable growth and development after initial establishment. For example,
improvement of the planting site by digging a pit and filling it with a reconstituted soil mixture
has been found to be highly useful in the early establishment and subsequent survival of
planted vegetation. Promotion of multipurpose trees will lead to faster acceptance by the farmers.
The presence of trees in agro- pastoral systems moderates temperatures and has been shown to
produce four to six times higher pasture biomass than in the absence of trees. However, the
rate of restoration of the degraded lands may depend on the seed sources, degree of past disturbance
and prevailing management practices.
In some places, single tree species have replaced areas previously under multi-species natural
forests. Plantations of single species are used for commercial purposes and not specifically
designed to restore biodiversity lost with deforestation. Natural forests provide not only wood, fiber,
foods, and medicines but also protect soil and water resources. Reforestation has concentrated on
planting Pinus, Eucalyptus, and Acacia species in tropical ecosystems. Planting a wide range of species
is necessary to achieve simultaneous goals of soil and water conservation and production of food,
wood, and bio-energy. Monocultures with limited number of tree species have generated important
benefits but not to the extent of ecosystem services provided by natural forests. Reclamation of
wastelands, restoration of ecosystem productivity, and protection of watersheds are among the
most important objectives of reforestation programs.
Planting trees, shrubs and grasses is the most effective method to protect such watersheds and bring
the wastelands into productive use. The lost fertility of soil can be, to some extent, regained by planting
leguminous trees and shrubs. Vast areas of deserts can be put to productive use by establishing
vegetative cover through sand dune stabilization plantations.
An advantage of regeneration of natural forests, apart from reduced cost per unit area, is that the
ecological balance is established at an earlier stage and the local biodiversity of the area is conserved
at the same time. Sustained-use management of such regenerated forests can yield valuable products
and services to the local communities.
5.4. Reclamation of Saline, Sodic, Acidic and Alkaline Soils

Soil salt effect is best managed by knowing soil salt concentrations and salt type. Therefore, it is useful
to gather and observe as much information about the affected area as possible. The choice of each
practice depends on the severity of the problem, specific soil characteristics, climate, and water
availability.
RECLAIMING SALINE SOILS

Reclamation of saline soils is essentially a process whereby soil solution of high salt
concentration is displaced by less concentrated solution. The reclamation process is aimed at removing
or lowering the salinity growth factors. For saline soils with high enough salt levels to significantly
damage plants and reduce growth, reclamation with excess water (leaching) is recommended, provided
there is enough good quality water available and adequate drainage. The reclamation of a saline soil
depends on the efficiency of removal of salts from the upper to lower layers and is relatively simple if
drainage is not restricted. The simplest procedure is to flood the field after making ridges at the
boundaries.
The movement of water through the soil profile will carry the dissolved salts in to the lower layers
below the root zone but not into ground water reserves. These salts are drained away if adequate
subsurface drainage is provided. In most soils, application of 50 cm of water removes about 80% of
salts from an equivalent 50 cm depth of soil although the salt removal effectiveness is a
function of site-specific characteristics, namely soil texture, permeability, water table depth,
subsurface drainage, and the salinity level of the irrigation water.
N.B Additional measures can be made through controlling salinity with irrigation water, and growing
salt tolerant plants.
RECLAIMING SODIC AND SALINE-SODIC SOILS

Reclaiming sodic and saline-sodic soils requires a different approach than saline soils and can be
considerably more costly. Prior to leaching, excess Na+ needs to be replaced from the exchange
site by another cation, namely Ca2+ or Mg2+. This is done by adding an amendment that either directly
or indirectly releases exchangeable Ca2+ or Mg2+. Because Ca2+ and Mg2+ have a stronger charge than
Na+, they will replace Na+ on exchange sites, causing Na+ to be released to the soil solution and be
susceptible to removal by leaching. Amendments used to correct sodicity include gypsum
(CaSO4·2H2O), lime (CaCO3), calcium chloride (CaCl2), magnesium chloride (MgCl2), sulfur and
sulfuric acid materials and organic amendments. The most common and economical amendment used
on sodic soils is gypsum, which can be applied dry or with irrigation water. Gypsum is slow reacting,
but will react in the soil for a long period of time. Fine gypsum should be used to maximize reactivity
and effectiveness.

For amendments to be effective, water needs to be applied to leach the Na+ that is pushed off exchange
sites by Ca2+. Leaching and drainage in sodic soils can be slow due to poor structure and limited water
movement associated with sodic soils. For sodic soils with low EC, saline water may be appropriate
for the initial stages of reclamation to provide additional Ca2+ to promote flocculation, and thus
increase permeability. Tillage may help break up surface crusts and increase water infiltration into the
soil.
N.B Establishing a salt-tolerant crop or forage shortly after reclamation has begun will also increase
the effectiveness of reclamation efforts.
RECLAMATION OF ACID SOILS
Lime (calcium carbonate) and other liming materials reduce acidity by neutralizing the acid reaction
in the soil. The finer liming material with a higher purity and higher neutralizing value (NV) preferably
>80% provides a quicker response. Rates of 1-2 t/ha can be applied depending upon lime quality and
required pH rise. The most important benefit of liming acid soils is reduction in solubility of the
potentially toxic elements hydrogen, aluminum (Al3+) and manganese (Mn2+).
N.B other options for the management of soil acidity include do nothing, reducing acidification, applying
more nutrients, and growing more tolerant plant species, etc.
RECLAMATION OF ALKALINE SOILS

The reclamation of alkaline soils is more difficult because alkali soils have a very low
permeability and they require the replacement of excessive exchangeable sodium by calcium.
However, it will be important to practice some of the following steps in reclamation of alkaline soils.
Improve Internal Soil Drainage: there are a number of ways internal drainage can be improved.
Most are expensive, but when the problem is severe many will pay for themselves with time. Tile
drains and open ditches are effective for removing subsoil water that accumulates due to a
restrictive layer such as compacted clay or bed rock. Compacted soil layers near the surface can be
broken up by sub soiling. This is effective only if done when the soil is dry enough to have a shattering
effect and at best provides only temporary benefit. Problem soils which have developed from use
of poor irrigation water or brine (sea water) spills may already have good internal soil drainage.
Add Organic Matter: once internal drainage has been assured, the next important step is to improve
water movement into the soil. Incorporating 20-30 tons per acre of organic matter into the top six inches
of soil creates large pores or channels for water to enter. Even rainfall from intense storms is more
effective because there is less runoff. In addition to improving water movement into the soil, the
large pores lessen the capillary or wick-like upward water movement during dry periods. Any
coarse organic material such as barn yard manure, straw, rotted hay, or crop residue is suitable.
Add Gypsum to Slick-Spots: since high amounts of sodium absorbed to the soil are the cause of alkali
problems, sodium must be loosened from the soil before it can be leached out. Gypsum is the
most effective soil amendment for removing sodium from the soil particles. Gypsum is a slightly
soluble salt of calcium sulfate. This means that gypsum will slowly react in the soil, but for a long time.
Gypsum applications are needed when the exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) approaches 15
percent. Calcium ions (Ca2+) in gypsum replace sodium ions (Na+) on the colloids which results in
improved soil conditions. The amount of gypsum required will vary widely depending upon the
percentage of exchangeable sodium and the soil texture, as determined by the soil test. Successive
applications should not be made until time has allowed for some leaching to occur, and the need has
been verified by a second soil test. The gypsum should be incorporated only to a depth of about one
or two inches, enough to mix it well with the surface soil and keep it from blowing away.
Leach Soil: leaching the soil is essential to reduce the amount of salts or sodium in the soil. In order for
this leaching process to occur, water must enter the soil in excess of what is used by growing crops
and lost by evaporation. How fast and to what extent the reclamation is successful will depend
on how much good quality water passes through the soil in a given period of time. The shorter the
time interval over which excess water is applied, the more effective that amount of water is in
reclamation. For this reason, rainfall is most effective when it falls on soil which is already wet.
Avoid Deep Tillage and Establish Cover: once the leaching process has been started, deep tillage
such as moldboard plowing should be avoided for several years to promote uninterrupted
downward movement of the salts. Such tillage will bring salt back up to the soil surface, and leaching
is then again required. As soon as the salt level in the soil is low enough, a salt tolerant crop such as
barley or Bermuda grass should be established on the problem area to provide a cover for as much of
each growing season as possible. It is especially important to have the cover crop during mid-summer
when evaporation is high. Adequately fertilized bermuda grass does a good job of drying the soil. To
minimize soil compaction it should be cut for hay instead of pastured, make sure to keep heavy
equipment off the area when it is wet. Some problem areas may be too salty to establish a cover
crop until some salts have been leached out.
Wait: the final step in reclamation is simply to wait for the previous practices to work. Except for brine
(sea water) spills, these problem soils developed over a period of several years. Reclamation may
not take as long, but, depending on how well reclamation practices can be carried out, may take one
or more years.
N.B Alternative to reclamation - Learn to live with it. Depending on the severity of the problem it may
be necessary to select a different crop than has been grown in the past.
5.5. Bioremediation
Bioremediation is defined as the elimination, attenuation, or transformation of polluting substances
by the use of biological processes. It uses relatively low-cost, low-technology techniques, which
generally has a high public acceptance and can often be carried out on-site. Biological treatment
of contaminated soils is a remedial technique making use of naturally occurring microorganisms
in the soil, which are capable of degrading toxic materials while carrying out their daily
biological activities. Examples of such organisms include bacteria and yeast.
As explained before, some bacteria are capable of digesting a wide range of organic
contaminants that are otherwise very difficult to separate or degrade by any of the known technical
methods. There are two means of manipulating conditions to affect bioremediation:
1) Biostimulation involves the addition of nutrients, oxygen and/or moisture to stimulate

microorganisms in contaminated soils to enhance biological processes.
2) Bioaugmentation involves the addition of specifically prepared ‗cultures‘ of organisms to
carry out specific functions, e.g. biodegradation.
Biostimulation is by far the most frequently applied and verified approach. However,
bioaugmentation has been found to be of use in some specific instances, e.g. to facilitate the anaerobic
degradation of chlorinated solvents in situations where the appropriate population is not present
indigenously.

Bioremediation of Organic Pollutants

In bioremediation of organic pollutants, organisms are employed in extraction and removal of metals
from the contaminated soil.
Organisms include microorganisms (for example, yeast, fungi, or bacteria) and higher plants (trees,
shrubs). So, bioremediation may broadly be grouped into (1) microbial remediation, (2)
phytoremediation, and (3) rhizoremediation.
Microbial Remediation
Since numerous types of pollutants are to be encountered in a contaminated site, diverse types of
microorganisms are likely to be required for effective mediation. Bioremediation can occur naturally
or through intervention processes. Natural degradation of pollutants relies on indigenous micro
flora that is effective against specific contaminants and it usually occurs at a slow rate. With
intervention processes, the rate of biodegradation is aided by encouraging growth of microorganisms,
under optimized physicochemical conditions.
The microorganisms employed for biodegradation of organic pollutants of soil may be classified
into the following groups:
1. Aerobic: Efficient aerobic degraders are Pseudomonas, Alcaligenes, Sphingomonas,

Rhodococcus, and Mycobacterium. They have been used to degrade pesticides and
hydrocarbons, both alkanes and polyaromatic compounds. Many of these bacteria use the
contaminant as the sole source of carbon and energy.
2. Anaerobic: Anaerobic bacteria are less used than aerobic bacteria. They can effectively be used for
bioremediation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in river sediments, dechlorination of the
solvent trichloroethylene (TCE), and chloroform.
3. Ligninolytic fungi: Fungi such as the white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium have the
ability to degrade an extremely diverse range of persistent or toxic organic pollutants. Common
substrates used include straw, sawdust, or corn cobs.
4. Methylotrophs: Aerobic bacteria include those that utilize methane for carbon and energy. The initial
enzyme in the pathway for aerobic degradation, methane mono-oxygenase, has a broad substrate
range and is active against a wide range of compounds, including chlorinated aliphatics
trichloroethylene and 1,2-dichloroethane.
Degrading microbes and contaminants must be in contact for degradation to be effective. Since the
microbes and the contaminants are not uniformly spread in soil, achieving an effective contact
between the two is difficult. However, some bacteria are mobile and exhibit a chemotactic
response, sensing the contaminant and moving toward it. Filaments of fungi grow toward the
contaminant. It is possible to enhance the mobilization of the contaminant utilizing some
surfactants such as sodium dodecyl sulfate.
Phytoremedition
Phytoremediation is the term applied for the utilisation of plants as collectors or agents for
remediation of lands contaminated by organic or inorganic pollutants. The same may also be used to
remove contaminants from groundwater. As a matter of fact, the major part of these processes takes
place in the rhizosphere, i.e. in the root parts of the plant, rather than in any other parts. Thus, the use
of plants for in situ treatment of pollutants in soils, sediments, and water is known as phytoremediation.

There has been considerable interest in the use of plants for bioremediation and this merits a rather
extensive discussion. Plants can play an important role in bioremediation for several reasons:
1) they can transport contaminants from the soil

2) they can metabolize the contaminants after uptake
3) they can produce exudes that support microbial activity for degradation of the
contaminants. In addition, bacteria can produce metabolites that counter the effect of toxins
produced by fungi, and serve as bio-control agents that diminish the need for the application
of agrochemicals. Plant exudates play an important role in supporting the growth and
activity of bacteria that carry out the degradation of contaminants in the rhizosphere and
rhizoplane (the external surface of roots including adhering particles of soil).
Bacteria are also of increasing importance as bio-control agents against plant pathogens in the roots
of plants. Phytoremediation uses the ability of plants to adsorb, degrade, volatilize, or accumulate
contaminants in soil, sediments, surface, or groundwater. A list of plants employed for
phytoremediation of organic pollutants from soil include Leucaena leucocephala, Morus
rubra L., Populus spp., Salix spp., Ulmus pumila. It is best applied at sites with relatively shallow
contamination of pollutants that are amenable. The chief processes of phytoremediation are:
Phytoaccumulation or phytoextraction refers to the uptake of contaminants in plant roots and their
concentration in harvestable tissues. It is the most commonly and popularly used process of
phytoremediation of heavy metals from contaminated soils. Phytoextraction utilizes the
metal hyper accumulating ability of some plants in their aboveground parts. Selected
hyperaccumulating plants are grown in contaminated soils and harvested aboveground parts are
treated in different ways (reduction in volume and weight, composting, compaction, burial, thermal
treatment).
Phytodegradation /Phytotransformation is breakdown of contaminants taken up by plants
through metabolic processes within the plant, or breakdown of contaminants external to the
plant through the effect of compounds (such as, enzymes) produced by the plants. Pollutants
are degraded and incorporated into the plant tissues. It simply refers to biodegradation of
pollutants by plant enzymes.
Phytovolatilization is the uptake and transpiration of contaminants by plants and their subsequent
release of the contaminant or a modified form of the contaminant into the atmosphere in a
volatile form.
Phytostabilization is the use of certain plant species to immobilize contaminants in the soil and
groundwater through absorption and accumulation by roots, adsorption onto roots, or
precipitation within the root zone. Phytoremediation technologies have many advantages which
include low costs, in situ applicability, minimal environmental disturbance and high public
acceptance. The main limitation of these methods is long time requirement for the completion
of the process and adverse environmental factors (like inappropriate temperature, pH, nutrients
content, moisture etc.) which inhibit plant growth and also the toxicity of the pollutant and its
degradation products to the plants. Despite some drawbacks, phytoremediation is a promising
technology and can be successfully used at many sites contaminated with different pollutants.
Rhizoremediation
This is the breakdown of contaminants in the soil through microbial activity enhanced by the presence
of the rhizosphere. There is enhanced soil organic carbon, soil bacteria, and mycorrhizal fungi
in the rhizosphere. These factors encourage degradation of organic chemicals in soil.
Rhizosphere bioremediation is also a kind of plant-assisted bioremediation. Plants may
also release exudates to the soil environment that help to stimulate the degradation of organic
chemicals by inducing enzyme systems of existing bacterial populations, stimulating growth of new
species that are able to degrade the wastes, and/or increasing soluble substrate concentrations for all
microorganisms.
Different species of plants have been used in various applications including Salix spp. (hybrid
poplars, cottonwoods, and willow), grasses (rye, Bermuda grass, sorghum, fescue, bulrush), and
legumes (clover, alfalfa, and cowpeas). Fungi, growing in symbiotic association with the
plant, have unique enzymatic pathways that help to degrade organics that could not be transformed
solely by bacteria. In addition to soluble exudates, the rapid decay of fine root biomass can become
an important addition of organic carbon to soils that serves to retard organic chemical transport.
Plants help with microbial transformations through the following:
1) Mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria associated with plant roots metabolize the organic pollutants
2) Plant exudates stimulate bacterial transformations (enzyme induction),
3) Buildup of organic carbon increases microbial mineralization rates (substrate enhancement
4) Plants provide habitat for increased microbial populations and activity, and
5) Oxygen is pumped to roots ensuring aerobic transformations.
6. SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT

6.1. Sustainable Land Management (Slm) Concept and Progress
SLM is defined as a knowledge-based procedure that helps integrate:-
o Land,
o Water,
o Biodiversity, and
o Environmental management (including input and output externalities) to meet rising food
and fiber demands while sustaining ecosystem services and livelihoods.
SLM is necessary to meet the requirements of a growing population.
Improper land management can lead to:-
o land degradation and
o a significant reduction in the productive and service (biodiversity niches, hydrology, carbon
sequestration) functions of watersheds and landscapes.
SLM is the adoption of land use systems that enhance the:-
o Ecological support functions of land with appropriate management practices, and
o Thus, enable land users to derive economic and social benefits from the land while
o Maintaining those of future generations.
This is usually done by integrating socio-economic principles with environmental concerns so as to:-
Maintain or enhance production,

Reduce the level of production risk,
Protect the natural resource potential,
Prevent soil and water degradation,
Be economically viable, and
Be socially acceptable.
Within a local context, SLM combines policies, technologies and activities aimed at integrating
socio-economic principles with environmental concerns so as to simultaneously:
maintain or enhance production/services (productivity);

reduce the level of production risk (security);
protect natural resources and prevent their degradation (protection);
be economically viable (viability is given e.g. if the contribution of the activity to income
is sufficient to make its continuation attractive);
Be socially acceptable (acceptability is given e.g. if activities are negotiated among all
stakeholders, when possible conflicts of interest are addressed and resolved, and when activities
adequately meet the needs of poorer people).
SLM is vital for enhancing and sustaining the productivity of food and fiber systems globally.
The world‘s highly productive grain, livestock, and forestry products systems need to be:-
o sustained and
o made more efficient in terms of reduced environmental impact.
Where marginal lands have been occupied for agriculture and land degradation has occurred, there is
an urgent need to stop further degradation and reverse the slide.
Some of the approaches by which most rural communities and land users could be actively involved in
various strategies to achieve sustainable land management via:
Increased planning and implementation of land and water management at the watershed scale
Widespread awareness of the importance of both productive and environmental services of land
and natural resource management
Better targeting of farm inputs via precision farming and increased use of conservation and no-
till and direct seeding farming methods
Increased use of integrated crop protection methods and a significant reduction in pesticide use
Integrated land and water management and optimization of farm nutrient balances through
nutrient bookkeeping
Major investments for manure storage and management in intensive livestock operations
Protection of riparian zones via vegetative filter strips, rehabilitated wetlands, and zero tolerance
for nutrient leakages into local streams
More efficient water use in irrigation and the recycling of waste water
Research and technology development
Knowledge sharing and extension
Providing incentives
6.2. Sustainable Land Use and Food Security

Sustainable land management is crucial to:-
• minimizing land degradation,
• rehabilitating degraded areas and
• ensuring the optimal use of land resources for the benefit of the:-
▪ Present and
▪ future generations.
SLM is based on four common principles:
1. Land-user-driven and participatory approaches
2. Integrated use of natural resources at ecosystem and farming systems levels;
3. Multilevel and multi-stakeholder involvement; and
4. Targeted policy and institutional support, including:-
✓ development of incentive mechanisms for SLM adoption and
✓ income generation at the local level.

6.3. Barriers to Sustainable Land Management

The following global facts show the major barriers in achieving SLM:
2.6 billion People depend directly on agriculture

52% of the land used for agriculture is moderately or severely affected by soil degradation
4-6 million ha of cultivated land are lost annually due to anthropogenic soil degradation
Cropland in developing countries decreased from 0.43 ha to 0.26 ha per capita in the period
from the 1960s to the 1990s
1.2 billion people live in areas where physical water is scarce ✓ 41% of the Earth‘s surface area
is dry lands
2.6 billion people (44%) are affected by desertification
Population growth was 18.5 % in dry land areas in the 1990s
The GDP in dry land areas is 50% lower than in non-dry land areas
Natural regeneration of vegetation cover and soils in arid areas takes 5-10 times longer than in
favorable areas with greater and more regular rainfall.
6.4. Strategic Options

6.4.1. Land tenure
The nature of tenure on a plot of land can affect land management and productivity on that plot
for several reasons.
If land tenure is insecure, then the household operating the plot may have less incentive to invest in
land improvement.
However, the household may increase investment if the investment can in turn increase security of
tenure.
In Africa, the need to increase food production to enable increased food consumption has become
more desperate as the demands of an increasing population have failed to be met.
As a result:- marginal land has been brought into production (cultivation or grazing),
✓ commercial operations continue to use fertilizers and chemicals for increased productivity
while
✓ fallow periods have been reduced.

6.4.2. Land administration

Land administration refers to the structure and processes for the determination, archiving and
delivery of land rights, and the systems through which general oversight on the performance
of the land sector is managed.
Imagine a country without any basic administration of land – their key asset.
Imagine that tenure to land and property cannot be secured, and that mortgage loans cannot be
established as a basis for property improvement and business development.
Imagine that the use and development of land is not controlled through overall planning
policies and regulations.
Land administration systems (LAS) are about addressing these problems by providing a
basic infrastructure for implementing land related policies and land management strategies to
ensure:-
o Social equity,
o Economic growth and
o Environmental protection.
A system may involve an advanced conceptual framework supported by sophisticated
ICT models as in many developed countries; or
it may be through very fragmented and basically analogue approaches that are found in less
developed countries.
The cornerstone of modern land administration theory is the land management paradigm in
which:-
o Land tenure,
o Value,
o Use and
o Development are considered holistically as essential and
omnipresent functions performed by organized societies.
Within this paradigm, each country delivers its land policy goals by using a variety of techniques
and tools to manage its land and resources.
6.4.3. Socioeconomic
Socioeconomic comprises the:-
social and economic conditions influencing SLM and

conversely SLM also affects socio-economic conditions.
It includes:-
o the natural,
o physical,
o financial,
o human, and
o social assets.
6.4.4. Policy mechanism

Land policy refers to the set of:-
o rules,
o regulations,
o laws and
o strategies adopted by governments to govern:-
▪ land tenure,
▪ land holding,

▪ land access,
▪ land distribution, and land resource utilization,
▪ land occupation, land related planning processes and
▪ the settlement and management of land disputes and land conflicts.
It is the set of agreed principles to:-
o govern ownership (or access to),
o use and management of land resources to enhance their productivity and
o contribution to social, economic, political and environmental development and poverty
alleviation.
Policy and sector work consists of aligning:-
o producer and consumer price incentives,
o fiscal and financial subsidies,
o licensing fees and taxation, and
o the structure of protection with a country‘s environmental and social policy objectives for
SLM.
Land policy is simply the set of aims and objectives set by governments for dealing with land
issues.
Land policy is part of the national policy on promoting objectives such as:-
o economic development,
o social justice and equity, and
o political stability.
Land policies vary, but in most countries they include:-
o poverty reduction,
o sustainable agriculture,
o sustainable settlement,
o economic development, and
o equity among various groups within the society.
Policy implementation depends on how access to land and land related opportunities are allocated.
Governments therefore regulate land related activities, including:-✓ holding rights to land,
supporting the economic aspects of land, and ✓ controlling the use of land and its development.
Administration systems surrounding these regulatory patterns facilitate:-
the implementation of land policy in the broadest sense, and ✓ in well-organized systems,
they deliver sensible land management and good governance.
Land policy formation in Africa has escalated over the last ten years in response to the persistence of
complex land problems, struggles for access to land for agriculture and livelihoods
6.4.5. Agro-ecological components

Agro-ecological zoning (AEZ) is highly valuable in planning and implementing SLM. AEZ
applications May include:-
Disaster management and targeted crop production, ▪ Land-use planning and basic farmland
zoning,
Generation of AEZ-specific technologies,
Land evaluation for crop suitability, crop-based farming systems and natural resource
conservation,
Land-use planning, crop diversification, suitability assessments and watershed based
agricultural planning,
Zoning of intensive cropping areas for coffee, rice, etc.

6.5. Other Enabling Environment

6.5.1. Intervening climate change (CC)
1. Adaptation: -
CC adaptation is the adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected
climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities
(IPCC, 2007).
According to Niles (2008), reducing GHG emissions in agriculture and adapting to climate change
will depend on organic production systems for three reasons:-
1) The overall emission reductions is possible using organic production methods;
2) The increased ability of organic production systems to sequester carbon; and
3) The demonstrated ability of organic production to better adapt to potential CC related events,
including drought, floods, pest increase, and loss of biodiversity.
Among all the adaptation measures identified and elaborated, the community based preparedness
and mitigation planning is the key as it would greatly enhance the capacities of communities by
broadening their coping range.
In ecosystem based adaptation, vulnerable communities adapt to climate change through:-
o good ecosystem management practices, and
o their integration into:-
▪ global,
▪ regional,
▪ national and
▪ local climate change strategies and action plans.
Increasing the resilience of ecosystems (ecosystem-based adaptation support) empowers

communities with natural defenses against the adverse impacts of climate change.
2. Mitigation
According to IPCC (2007), CC mitigation is defined as an anthropogenic intervention to reduce the
anthropogenic forcing of the climate system; it includes strategies to reduce greenhouse gas sources
and emissions and enhancing greenhouse gas sinks.
Proximate causes of land/soil degradation are well known, including:-
o farming on steep slopes,
o limited fallow or vegetative cover,
o deforestation,
o overgrazing,
o limited soil and water conservation measures,
o limited applicants of nutrients/organic matter, and
o burning of dung and crop residues (Pender, 2002).
Absence of alternative energy sources for most of rural households in Ethiopia has made the
people to consume large biomasses for fuel every time.
This continuous and ever increasing demand for fuel is the proximate cause for extensive
deforestation, removal of vegetation, and utilization of livestock manure for fuel in the country
Total consumption of dung in Ethiopia for fuels (mostly open burning) is 22,819,390 tons per
year ((Geissler et al., 2013).
The future of Ethiopia is bright with biogas technology that can provide multiple uses such as
soil health and fertility improvement and enhanced biomass production if effective and efficient
organic waste management is applied
Countries are expected to make sound:-
o policy,

o technology and
o investment choices that accelerate their transition towards:
low-carbon economies and
societies.
UNEP‘s focus is on:-
o clean and renewable energy sources,
o energy efficiency and
o energy conservation.
UNEP also helps countries phase out obsolescent technologies and deploy cleaner ones,
financed through public and private sources including the Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM).
REFERENCES
Blanco, H. & Lal, R. (2010). Principles of Soil Conservation and Management. Springer, New
York.
FAO (2003). Data Sets, Indicators & Methods to Assess Land Degradation IN Dry lands. Rome,
Italy.
Imeson A. (2012). Desertification, Land degradation and Sustainability. John Wiley & Sons, Inc,
UK.
Mesfin Abebe (2007). Nature and Management of Acid Soils in Ethiopia.
Michael Stocking & Niamh Murnaghan (2000). Land Degradation: Guidelines for Field
Assessment. Norwich, UK.
Mirsal, I.A. (2008). Soil Pollution: Origin, Monitoring & Remediation. Second edition. Springer,
Berlin.
Sivakumar, M.V.K. and Ndiang‗ui,N. (Eds.) (2007). Climate and Land Degradation. (In)
Environmental Science and engineering. Springer, Berlin.

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LAND DEGRADATION AND REHABILITATION (NaRM342) ARSI UNIVERSITY

`LAND DEGRADATION AND REHABILITATION

PREPARED BY: MOHAMMED KASIM JUFAR (MSc)

ARSI UNIVERSITY ASELLA, ETHIOPIA

Page | i MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

Page | ii MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

3.2. Soil erosion ....................................................................................................................................... 15

Page | iii MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

6.4.4. Policy mechanism..................................................................................................................... 43

Page | iv MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

Page | v MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

1. CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS

✓ A store of wealth for individuals, groups, or a community

1.2. What is land degradation

✓ LD is the temporary or permanent lowering of the productive capacity of land.

Page | 1 MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

1.3. Trends in land degradation

1.4. Processes of land degradation

Page | 2 MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

1.5. Hazards and disasters of land degradation

Page | 3 MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

2. MAJOR FORMS OF LAND DEGRADATION

1) The most straightforward definition is variation of life at all levels of biological

Page | 4 MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

Species diversity - diversity among species in an ecosystem.

2.1.2. Biodiversity in Agriculture

Page | 5 MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

2.1.3. Importance of biodiversity

2.1.4. Biodiversity loss

Page | 6 MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

The major causes of biodiversity loss include:

2.1.5. Conserving biodiversity

2.2. Soil loss

Page | 8 MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

2.3. Soil degradation (physical, chemical and biological)

2.3.2. Soil chemical degradation

2.3.3. Soil biological degradation

through mineralisation. Decomposition of organic matter is a function of microbial activity. The

2.4. Water scarcity and loss of water

Table 2.1. Distribution of Fresh Water on Earth

Droughts caused by climate change,

Page | 11 MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

2.5. Climate change

2.5.1. Defining weather and climate

2.5.2. Climate variability and climate change

2.5.3. The climate system and the carbon cycle

2.5.4. Causes for global climate change

tilled and fertilized, and/or grazed by animals.

2.5.5. Adapting and mitigating climate change

Ecosystem-based adaptation support: Increasing the resilience of ecosystems empowers

Analysis of emissions reduction opportunities Deployment of clean technologies in developing

3. MAJOR CAUSES AND IMPACTS OF LAND DEGRADATION

Page | 14 MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

Natural and human induced forest fire

3.2. Soil erosion

Page | 15 MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

3.2.1. Water erosion

3.2.2. Wind erosion

Page | 16 MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

3.4. Land use mismanagement

3.5. Population pressure and urbanization

Page | 17 MOHAMMED KASIM (MSc), September 2024

By the year 2150, almost five times.