| Abstract: | The livelihood of the farming community of Tigray is more challenged with high-population
pressure, highly variable and unreliable rainfall. The steep topography has accelerated the
process of land degradation in the largely unprotected watersheds of the region. The top
fertile soil and part of the subsoil were washed away for so many years and as a result the
water holding capacity of the soil has declined from time to time. Rapid deterioration of land
quality has reduced the already insufficient food production of the region. The rainfall pattern
is erratic, unreliable and with short duration, which in most cases was not sufficient to grow
the crop to the required level. Due to these reasons, farmers living in the region in general
and the watershed community of the study area in particular were suffering from food &
fodder shortage for more than half of the year. In order to address the problem, Integrated
Watershed Development and Management Approach (IWDMA) was introduced as a
development approach and has been implemented in GerbShelela watershed, located in
Hintalo Wajrat woreda, South Eastern Zone of Tigray. Earlier traditional Soil and Water
Conservation (SWC) measures were used with integration of other development activities in
the watershed.
This study was designed to assess (1) the contribution of Integrated Watershed Development
and Management Approach in improving the livelihood of the rural community in the
watershed, (2) the role of watershed management practices in rehabilitating and protecting
the environment, and (3) the changes in income and livelihoods of the community as a result
of the intervention. In addition, the evaluation includes the contribution of the community in
improvement of their income due to watershed development interventions other than the
direct food support obtained for the scheme implementation. Primary and secondary data
were collected through interviews, focus group discussion, and field observation and
literature review and office reports. With a sample size of 5.8% of the total households, 50%
from intervention area and 50% from non-intervention households (treatment group and
x
control group) were selected through stratified simple random sampling method. To analyze
the collected data SPSS 12 version was applied.
The result had shown that the ongoing watershed development programme with the aid of
MERET project has contributed highly to improve the economic condition of the community
in the study area through diversified livelihood activities. It has also played meaningful role
in improving the vegetative coverage through tree planting and grassland development due to
bio-physical conservation activities. Gullies were also stabilized. IWDMA has also enhanced
the capacity of the community through access to information and networking among them.
Natural environment of the degraded highlands of Tigray in general and the GerbShelela
watershed in particular has began to be rehabilitated and as a result the livelihood of the
community improved. |
