CHARACTERIZATION OF CROP-LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS, AND THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION IN SOUTHWESTERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

This study was undertaken to characterize rural mixed crop-livestock systems and analyze the impact of climate change in livestock production considering that integrates biophysical and socioeconomic understanding of farming systems, the environment, and natural resources at farm level in Gamo Gofa and Dawuro zones in southwestern Ethiopia between February 2014 and December 2016. The study zones were selected purposively based on the diversity in the farming systems and the agroecological conditions. A field survey attended on generic household-level integrated crop-livestock systems; and performed linear mixed effects (LME) model with univariate analysis on socioeconomic and biophysical information gathered. The land cover areas of the farm production data interviewed in the study households classified discretely into different land use types and the dominant component in land use determined in LME model. The overall land cover area determined, 599.86 hectares of mixed crop-livestock systems in the study households, which consisted of the area of annual crops 56%, natural pastureland 17%, perennial crops 15%, vegetables 1%, tree or grass cover 2%, fallow land 5% and others 3%. The area cover of the annual crops was higher significantly (p<0.01) compared to the rest land use type. Overall livestock heads (Tropical Livestock Unit), determined in the study was 2145, which consisted heads of 1854 cattle, 78 sheep, 138 goats and 74 equines in the households wherein the land use systems of each cattle and small ruminants were higher significantly compared to equines (p<0.01). Among four major livelihood strategies identified in the study, annual crops 46%, livestock 40%, perennial crops and natural capital 8%, and off-farm and non-farm (remittance and labour) 6% of the overall gross accounted in the household annual income, which the comparisons were significant (p<0.001). Overall average gross was not significant (p> 0.05) compared to the gross average annual crops, as well as to the livestock in the household income. Comparable equal (p> 0.05) the comparisons between annual crops and livestock gross average. Overall means effect of agricultural production constraints at the farm level exhibited a significant difference (p<0.001) among AEZs. Soil attributes analyses from metadata were also significant at the farm level. The overall climate change impact in livestock production analyzed in terms of biomass feed dry matter supply showed a significant difference (Z=-2.61, p=0.01), which a notable difference was observed for 10 different drought years. The standardized precipitation index analysis showed a number of wet and drought events in space and time in the study kebeles. The study characterized, distinctive six farming systems in different location within and across the AEZ based on socioeconomic and xiii biophysical information. These were wheat/garlic-enset/bamboo -cattle/sheep and wheat/cabbage-enset/bamboo/apple-cattle/sheep in the wet highland kebeles; wheat/maize/tef-enset/bamboo-ruminants in wet upper lowland to sub-humid kebeles; maize/tef/groundnut-coffee-cattle/goat and maize/tef-coffee-cattle/goat in the wet lowland kebeles; and maize intercropping-banana-cattle/goat in the dry lowland kebeles. A study examined the current mixed crop-livestock systems are composed of different components within the main subsystems, and there are levels of interactions and relationships among the system components. Draught animal power day formal developed in the study determined an average of 125 days/year animal power uses to cropland cultivate. In area proportions of livestock feed accounted, agriculture land 33% and communal 67% with 47% and 57% of the annual feed dry matter supply amount respectively, which the overall area extent of the latter larger than the former. The result shows that there is an option to increase productivity efficiency of local ruminant livestock through improved management conditions, which several conditions are crossvalidated the result evidenced in the study. These could be scaled up through emphasis on improved management and re-integration of system components that utilize crops and livestock in a way that they can complement one another through space and time to maximize agriculture productivity and sustainable resource use. In conclusion, farmers are establishing reliance on local resources and adapting the behaviour of the system due to causes of variation that force them, however, several factors (agroecology, landscape, location, climate change, marketing situation, population, farm level operational problems) could influence production, productivity, and the interactive role of resources, assets and labour in the current mixed crop-livestock systems. The policy, in agricultural and rural development, should aim to improve rural smallholder agriculture competitiveness within intrinsic diversity, with linkage to production resources, and the diversification of rural livelihood, which would strengthening the position of farmers within the food production chain, while providing a response to the challenges of food nutritional security, climate change and sustainable resource use.