Soil resources and land use

Ethiopia has had centuries of successful agriculture, predating the 2,000-year-old Aksum civilisation. Small farming communities dotted much of the landscape of northern Ethiopia about 4,000 years ago.1 Well-established systems of cultivation involving the use of oxen-drawn ploughs, ‘wood-hafted sickles,’ and the practices of ‘piedmont flow irrigation from cisterns’ and crop rotation were seen 2,000 years ago.2 Increased agricultural productivity yielded an increase in population and, in turn, induced the cultivation of more land. As a consequence, human activities have profoundly transformed the landscape of much of Ethiopia’s highlands. Woody vegetation, which once covered much of the highlands, has been cleared for agriculture and grazing. Mountain forests have been relentlessly removed for fuel and construction. The loss of vegetation cover and continuous cultivation of the land over the centuries have led to the diminishment and deterioration of the fertile soil.