Ethiopia, located in the Horn of Africa, is an ecologically, politically, and culturally diverse nation. It is home to one of the largest and fastest-growing human populations in the world, placing tremendous strains on natural resources and the environment. Today, forest covers only 6.8% of land in Ethiopia, a figure that continues to decline as demand for forest resources and ecosystem services increases. Given the country’s rich natural resources yet profound poverty and socioeconomic instability, Ethiopia represents a unique context in which to explore opportunities to enhance environmental, economic, and social goals simultaneously.
This report follows the broad theme “Missing Players in Environmental Governance in Rural Ethiopia,” highlighting some of the relatively under-studied drivers (and victims) of environmental degradation in rural communities today. Through a series of five chapters, the report explores topics ranging from the roles of traditional institutions in national forest policy, to questions of land and wildlife management, ecotourism development, and non-timber forest products production and commercialization, to the myriad roles of women in shaping both negative and positive environmental outcomes.
The first chapter examines forest policy and management in the Gurage Zone, an administrative zone located within the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR). Forests play essential economic and ecological roles in rural Ethiopian communities, but in the presence of increasing population pressures compounded by high ethnic and linguisitic diversity (making policy delineation and enforcement difficult) forests all across the country have dramatically declined in recent decades. To understand forest management challenges and opportunities in the Gurage Zone, this study uses Landsat satellite data to quantify changes in forest cover between 1995 and 2011. It then considers how national, regional, and local forest-related institutions interact to drive or stem forest loss.
The second chapter explores the effects of land use and land cover change on the migration of the white-eared kob, an iconic Ethiopian antelope, in the Gambella Region of Ethiopia. The Gambella Region boasts an ecologically rich landscape comprised of diverse ecosystems, wildlife, and human populations. This research uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based on satellite imagery and manually coded aerial photographs of land cover and land uses to explore the extent and type of land use and land cover change in the Gambella Region since 1984. Analyses further highlight the potential effects of land cover changes and other anthropogenic factors on the migration of the white-eared kob.
The third chapter examines opportunities and barriers to developing ecotourism destinations in the Gambella Region. Ecotourism is a form of sustainable development that considers the social, environmental, and economic impacts of tourism; in its ideal form, ecotourism has the potential to provide a means for alleviating poverty, while simultaneously generating funding to protect the rich natural resources of the Gambella Region. A combination of publicly available data sources, Soviet-era declassified land survey maps, aerial photographs, and Google Earth and Bing Maps imagery provide valuable data upon which ecotourism planning – incorporating both ecological concerns and actively considering impacts on human communities – might proceed.
The fourth chapter studies the economic and environmental implications of shea butter production in Ethiopia. The nut of the shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) is a non-timber forest product of great environmental, economic, and social value to rural communities in Sub Saharan Africa; however, data suggest it remains an underdeveloped resource in East Africa. This study uses a combination of literature review, GIS, and analysis of primary survey data collected in a shea-producing village in the summer of 2013 to explore the potential for expanding shea production and increasing domestic and international marketing opportunities for shea producers in the Gambella Region.
The fifth and final chapter explores the complex relationships between rural women in Ethiopia and the environment. Drawing on interviews with Ethiopian scholars and women’s rights advocates this study examines women’s dependence on forest resources, the impact of women on the environment, and the roles of women as both victims and causes of deforestation and land degradation in rural Ethiopia.
The goal of this report is to provide practical policy recommendations, informed by thorough data analyses and existing literature, to support ongoing environmental efforts in Ethiopia today. Ultimately, we hope to spark renewed interest and advance discussion surrounding important environmental problems and policies in Ethiopia and beyond.