Chaired by Ato Betru Reporter--Desta Gebremichael

Is Open grazing an issue in the country? YES Because open grazing is a challenge for Sustainable land management, Biodiversity, Climate change resiliency, and so

Problems Related to Open Grazing Unsustainable NRM (SWC and Reforestation) Destruction of SWC structures and Out Planted seedlings Forced to continues maintenance and replanting Destroy Biodiversity due to increasing destocking rate (Above Carrying Capacity) Aggravate soil erosion and soil moisture stress, and poor soil fertility and poor vegetation cover that result in land degradation Low grass production Expansion of invasive weed species in pastoral areas

Problems Related to Open Grazing Cont’d Wetland Degradation Dryness of the wet grazing lands disappearance of grass species Energy Loss (weight loss) of the livestock while they are walking for grazing Emphasis on quantity of livestock rather than on quality in terms of productivity as well as market value

Collective Actions Area enclosures Hillside enclosures (communal land Enclosures) Farmland enclosures (Some experiences) Hillside enclosures are successful almost throughout the country although there have been still some constraints in governance, community ownership and sustainability. Farmland enclosure has not yet well adopted by all regions and weredas except good experiences in Adama and some experiences in Tigray

Actions for Sustainable Area enclosures --- Adama Experiences initiated by Ato Betru Targeting some model farmers and spots of land (Less than 2ha) Community Empowerment---Training and Exposure visit for farmers and Das Participatory monitoring and evaluation Close follow up and Commitment of the experts and the target farmers Implementation of quality and acceptable technologies Like SWC bunds, hand dug wells, underground tanker

Adama Experiences– Cont’d Learning of farmers from the outcomes of the project Enhance crop production Reduce crop failure Increase grass production Enhance soil fertility Increase number of water sources and discharge of water springs, ground water wells, and rivers Emerging new plants and wild animals Create Trust by the community

Governance of Area enclosures Good governance and equity in managing the enclosures and resource utilization Community should own and manage the enclosures by establishing by-laws Does by-law alone effective in managing the common resources like area enclosures? No! Defaulters that violet the by-law- using their power in the village or others The community, the Das and the local experts should be aware of the policy, the law and courts.

Governance of Area enclosures– Cont’d Should have effective by-law The local as well as wereda courts should mainstream and consider this by-law to the members of the community within the target village Establishment of the by-lay draft should be commented and mainstream with the policy and law of the country.

Options for Scaling out of the farmland enclosures at country level Applying the good experiences in Adama, in Amhara and in Tigray Adopting the Zero grazing experiences of Harergie Zones Planting perennial crops at farmland (Fruit, chat, forage trees, etc Community Empowerment and ownership Develop alternative availability of livestock feed Creating business/market oriented farmers Livestock fattening Dairy development Income diversification of farmers Need some incentives for Risk Reduction Activities

Options for Scaling out of the farmland enclosures at country level---Cont’d Suitable policy should be designed for sustainable natural resource management Need gradual application of Zero grazing rather than enclosing all areas at ones without empowering the community Should have clear and national and/or regional law supported community by-law for managing the common resources Need to introduce improved plough technologies, like min-tractor, to the farmers to reduce dependency on oxen.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION