ERMIAS Teferi

Addis Ababa University | AAU · Center for Environment and Development Studies

Knowledge-based evidence about potential and existing rainfed cropping is crucial for decision-making for sustainable land use and food security. Using multi-criteria spatial analysis techniques, this study assessed the current status of cropland availability and projected impacts on future crop production in Ethiopia. The study primarily defined t...

Analysis of grain production performance can provide reference information to explore multiple cropping options and further improve the resource use efficiency of farming methods. This study investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of grain production performance and efficiency of major crop production systems (CPS) in the Ethiopia’s Blue Nile Basi...

During the last two decades, smallholder farmers in north-western Ethiopia have expanded eucalyptus fields into large areas of croplands until they recently started to reverse that trend. This study assessed the extent, drivers, and impacts of cropland to eucalyptus plantation changes during the 2000–2023 period and the recent land use reversal euc...

During the last two decades, smallholder farmers in northwestern Ethiopia have expanded eucalyptus fields into large areas of croplands until they recently started to reverse that trend. This study assessed the extent, drivers, and impacts of cropland to eucalyptus plantation changes during the 2000-2023 period and the recent land use reversal euca...

Although enriched biodiversity and ecological services, most of Ethiopia’s protected areas currently operate at minimum functionality status with terrible biodiversity loss due to anthropogenic‑driven land use change(LUC) and degradation. Despite efforts made to quantify a few aspects, there is no full information regarding the entire LUC patterns...

With water scarcity and climate change threatening water security in multiple ways, accurate information can help us understand risks and formulate responses. Improved data and understanding are required to ensure that decision-making is effective and equitable. In the following case studies, the authors show how rigorous research methods and a...

The state of hydrometric monitoring networks in the Abbay basin indicated the need for urgent action to address the challenges and to ensure continued availability of reliable river flow data. Proper SWOT analysis was done to generate useful evidence for action. The strengths include the existing infrastructure and trained staff, while weakne...

Catchments are self-organizing systems whose hydrologic behavior result from adaptive geomophological processes and there are discernible patterns that form the foundations for understanding their hydrological nature. •The hypsometric curve, an empirical cumulative distribution function of elevations in a catchment, allows one to asses the similari...

The importance of community-based watershed management for food security and rural development is increasingly recognized. However, the comprehensive nature of the strategy is not well understood. The study examined the perspectives of different stakeholders and their level of coordination in implementing the watershed approach. Data was collected...

The Ethiopian Database of Hydrometric Indices (EDHI) describe a catchments hydrological behaviour; they characterize the magnitudes, timings, frequencies, and rates of changes in river flow. Currently, the database includes 122 gauging stations located in the Abbay basin The EDHI database contains quality-controlled river flow / lake level data, ca...

Abstract: Exploring vegetation responses to human and climate-induced change and its feedback is crucial for understanding the terrestrial ecosystem dynamics and sustainable development. The study's main objective is to quantify the relative contribution of climate and human-induced Net Primary Productivity (NPP) and its implications on agriculture...

Amidst the ongoing global climate change crisis, characterized by unpredictable weather patterns and increasing environmental shocks, farming communities are among the most vulnerable. This vulnerability is particularly evident in Tigray, Ethiopia. This study, which investigates the incidence of climate change and its variability in relation to ris...

This study examined land use land cover change and its determinants in Tigray, Ethiopia and its livelihood zones. We used socioeconomic panel, and satellite data, and applied a mixed-effects model to analyse the factors influencing land allocation among different uses, and transition matrix to analyse land cover dynamics. The results revealed that;...

Daily gridded rainfall dataset with 0.04 ◦ spatial resolution, which is gauge-satellite merged product, for the period 1983–2018 was used to evaluate changes in the spatiotemporal behavior of rainfall amount, precipitation concentration index (PCI) and extreme event indices over central Ethiopia that shares common water system challenges, and th...

Natural resource bases are the basic foundations of food security. However, they are facing problems both in quantity and quality, leading to decreased land productivity and societal issues. Watershed management is the most effective technique for managing and utilising these resources while improving food security. The study evaluated the effectiv...

CAMELS-Eth draws together in-situ and remotely sensed hydrometeorological and geospatial datasets to provide a unified database that will enable better water resource management in the agriculturally important Abbay basin • The existing in-situ hydrometeorological monitoring network in Ethiopia is spatially inadequate and declining (Figure 1) • In...

Spatiotemporal climate variability is a leading environmental constraint to the rain-fed agricultural productivity and food security of communities in the Abbay basin and elsewhere in Ethiopia. The previous one-size-fits-all approach to soil and water management technology targeting did not effectively address climate-induced risks to rain-fed agri...

Remotely sensed soil moisture products potentially provide a valuable resource for monitoring agricultural drought and assessing food security. The agriculture dominated countries of Eastern Africa experience high inter-annual variability of rainfall, but the monitoring and assessment of the predominantly rainfed agriculture systems is hindered by...

Spatiotemporal climate variability is a leading environmental constraint to the rain-fed agricultural productivity and food security of communities in the Abbay basin and elsewhere in Ethiopia. The previous one-size-fits-all approach to soil and water management technology targeting did not effectively address climate-induced risks to rain-fed agri...

This study integrated eleven factors of land degradation to assess extent and distribution of land degradation over Ethiopia. The performances of the MEDALUS approach and Fuzzy SMCE approach in mapping composite land degradation were evaluated. Fuzzy SMCE approach appears to perform better based on six binary classification accuracy assessment...

For the past forty years, Ethiopia has been promoting sustainable land management activities to enhance agricultural productivity. This study was intended to identify the factors determining farmers' adoption and continued use of soil bund measures in the Handosha watershed, Omo-Gibe river basin. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 3...

Fast coppicing plantations like Eucalyptus are becoming an ever increasingly important land use system globally, including the Eucalyptus hotspot highlands of Northwestern Ethiopia. However, comprehensive information regarding species composition is essential for proper planning and policy decisions. The current study mapped the spatial distributio...

Background : Indigenous Knowledge-based (IK) prediction of weather is an activity as old as humanity. The objective of this study is to examine indigenous knowledge-based seasonal weather indicating features of astronomic stars. Methods : This study is based on primary data that were generated through using focus group discussion, key informant int...

Forests provide multiple ecosystem services ranging from local livelihoods and socio-economic benefits to global ecological services. Despite these benefits, human activities have put immense strain on forest resources, resulting in forest degradation, impoverishment of the environment, and loss of livelihoods. Hence, monitoring forest cover change...

The availability of sufficient water resources is critical for sustainable social and economic development globally. However, recurrent drought has been a precursor to inadequate water supply in the case of Borkena Catchment, Awash River Basin, Ethiopia. To support the conjunctive use and management of surface water and groundwater in Borkena Catch...

The effects of climate change have been observed in the Murrumbidgee River basin, which is one of the main river basins in the southeast region of Australia. The study area is the largest and most important agricultural production area within the Murray Darling Basin (MDB). It produces more than AUD 1.9 billion of agricultural products annually and...

The current study analyzed the impact of Land Use Land Cover (LULC) change on streamflow and surface water availability in the Akaki catchment of the Awash Basin, Ethiopia. Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and Climatic Water Balance (CWB) models were used. The SWAT model calibrated and validated the daily streamflow. The results indicated that...

This study aimed to map and analyze the patterns of environmentally vulnerable regions to land degradation in the Omo-Gibe River Basin. The study used GIS techniques to map land sensitivity to degradation. The multifactorial approach-MEDALUS method, which used three quality indicators-soil, climate, and vegetation and nine parameters were used. Abo...

In this study, detailed investigations of changes in ecosystem service values in response to past, present and future changes in land use and land cover (LULC) were undertaken for the first time in the Borana areas of southern Ethiopia. LULC of 2034 was simulated based on LULC maps of 1986, 2002 and 2018 using integrated Cellular Automata-Markov Ch...

Economic sustainability is particularly important in agriculture. It is related to the basic economic goal of farmers and the reason for their economic activities. Household-level adaptation and mitigation measures reflect the relative importance of economic goals for sustainability. Researchers collected data via a questionnaire designed to includ...

Understanding the spatiotemporal changes of climate extremes is essential for managing climatic risk. In the present study, trends of annual and seasonal climate variables along with extreme temperature and precipitation were examined in eight climatic stations of Meki watershed, the Central Rift Valley Basin, Ethiopia during the period 1981 to 202...

Indigenous knowledge is still widely used by communities around the world to overcome social-ecological challenges. Borana Oromo pastoralists of Southern Ethiopia have been searching for future weather phenomena using their indigenous knowledge. This study examines indigenous knowledge-based seasonal weather forecasts through using observable physi...

The main objective of this study was to examine the implications of watershed management (WSM) on hydrological parameters in the Aba Gerima watershed in the Upper Blue Nile Basin. The Hydrus 1D model simulations were conducted in control sites and sites under WSM to estimate various components of the hydrologic cycle, using different soil physical...

Climate induced water security risks on agriculture are assessed in the Abbay river basin by reviewing journal articles, book chapters and research reports. The intent of the review is to understand the state of water security issues in the agricultural sector in relation to climate variability and climate change, existing agricultural water manage...

The northwestern highlands of Ethiopia are characterized by severe land degradation and apparently low agricultural productivity. This situation is continuously threatening the livelihoods of smallholder farmers who mainly sustain their living from the cultivation of annual crops. In recent years, however, smallholder farmers have started convertin...

Today, evaluating ecological wellbeing and ecosystem services is becoming a great concern towards conserving the natural resource base. Healthy functioning ecosystems have fundamental roles for aiding humankind to lead a healthy life and ensure an improved social welfare. Estimating the non-market benefits of ecosystem services can help experts and...

The increase in the intensity and frequency of climate extremes threatens socio-economic development. This study examines the variability of mean and extreme climate, farmers’ perception of the changes, and impacts in the Awash River Basin. Daily rainfall and temperature data were used to analyze 23 extreme climate indices. The Mann–Kendall test wa...

Over the last two decades, several data sets have been developed to assess flood risk at the global scale. In recent years, some of these data sets have become detailed enough to be informative at national scales. The use of these data sets nationally could have enormous benefits in areas lacking existing flood risk information and allow better flo...

Over a century, farmers in the Iyanda watershed, have globally recognized and successful Indigenous land management practices (ILMP). However, due to various factors, the sustainable application of these practices has been declined over the last four decades. Despite the description of the problem, the basic factors are not yet utterly analyzed. Th...

Eucalyptus wood products contribute significantly to the income of smallholder growers in many parts of Ethiopia. This has incentivized smallholders to convert arable lands to Eucalyptus plantation. Given the limited attention and availability of empirical evidence, this study examined the Eucalyptus wood products value chain in terms of the actors...

LULC studies have produced many methodological approaches that quantify and describe LULC change patterns and drivers. This study was conducted to quantify the major LULC transition and its drivers through the combination of a spatial statistical model with surveying the local understanding of possible drivers of LULC changes driving forces in the...

The aim of this working paper was to characterize the magnitude and spatial distribution of aboveground carbon contained in woody vegetation in Ethiopia. A first spatially-explicit map of aboveground biomass and carbon stocks of forests along with other woody vegetation at 30 m spatial resolution was produced for the entire Ethiopia. The map provi...

Land use and land cover (LULC) change is a global concern because it could lead to the loss of biodiversity and negatively impact ecosystem services and functions, and has an important contribution to climate change. LULC change dynamics and their driving factors are not uniform globally and locally which makes decision making uncertain. This study...

Sustainable land management (SLM) is a leading policy issue in Ethiopia. However, the adoption and continuous use of SLM technologies remain low. This study investigates the interrelationship of adopted SLM technologies and key factors of farmers’ decisions to use SLM technologies in the North Gojjam sub-basin of the Upper Blue Nile. The study was...

Land Surface Temperature (LST) plays an essential role in regulating the temperature and surface processes of land features. Advancement in remote sensing has paved the way for the use of satellite data to estimate land surface temperature. The objective of this study was to estimate changes in vegetation and LST from Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) o...

Mapping and quantifying land degradation status is important for identifying vulnerable areas and to design sustainable landscape management. This study maps and quantifies land degradation status in the north Gojjam sub-basin of the Upper Blue Nile River (Abbay) using GIS and remote sensing integrated with multicriteria analysis (MCA). This is acc...

The headwaters of the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia contain fragile mountain ecosystems and are highly susceptible to land degradation that impacts water quality and flow dynamics in a major transboundary river system. This study evaluates the status of land use/cover (LULC) change and key drivers of change over the past 31 years through a combinatio...

This study examines the response of hydrological processes to different climate change scenarios in the Jemma sub-basin of the Blue Nile Basin. Future near-term (2021-2050) and long-term (2071-2100) climate scenarios were developed from six statistically bias corrected Regional Climate Models (RCMs) under two Representative Concentration Pathways (...

Study region Jemma sub-basin, Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia. Study focus This study develops watershed management alternatives which can ensure optimal climate change adaptation benefits under different climate scenarios. The climate scenarios were developed using the statistically bias corrected, multi-model ensemble mean and the RCP 4.5 and RC...

Understanding how topography-soil-disturbance drives spatial distribution of vegetation is the interest of ecologists. This study was, conducted to investigate the topography-soil-disturbance and vegetation relationships in Abune Yosef mountain range, Ethiopia. A total of 85 nested sample plots measuring 400 m², 25 m² and 1 m² were established for...

This study evaluates bias correction methods and develops future climate scenarios using the output of a better bias correction technique at the Jemma sub-basin. The performance of different bias correction techniques was evaluated using several statistical metrics. The bias correction methods performance under climate condition different from the...

The aim of this research is to investigate the patterns of vascular plant species richness, diversity, and distribution along an elevation gradient in the Abune Yosef mountain range, Ethiopia. Preferential systematic sampling was employed to collect vegetation and environmental data along the elevation gradient. We found that plant species richness...

e study aims to analyze climate variability and farmers' perception in Southern Ethiopia. Gridded annual temperature and precipitation data were obtained from the National Meteorological Agency (NMA) of Ethiopia for the period between 1983 and 2014. Using a multistage sampling technique, 403 farm households were surveyed to substantiate farmers' pe...

Climate change is the most pressing environmental challenge facing the world today (IAEA, 2015). The reality of climate change is increasingly gaining recognition in scientific and political arenas (Dube & Phiri, 2013). Various studies have shown changes in the occurrence and severity of climate extreme events, along with the variability of weather...

Climate variability has been a threat to the socio-economic development of Ethiopia. This paper examined the changes in rainfall, minimum, and maximum temperature extremes of Jemma Sub-Basin of the Upper Blue Nile Basin for the period of 1981 to 2014. The nonparametric Mann-Kendall, seasonal Mann-Kendall, and Sen’s slope estimator were used to esti...

These are the statistical procedures and trend analysis techniques used in the study of “Trends in Extreme Climate Events over Three Agroecological Zones of Southern Ethiopia.”The supplementary material comprises three sections. Section A describes the Mann–Kendall test. Section B highlights on Sen’s slope estimator test, and finally, Section C sum...

The study aims to assess trends in extremes of surface temperature and precipitation through the application of the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) on datasets representing three agroecological zones in Southern Ethiopia. The indices are applied to daily temperature and precipit...

The study aims to assess trends in extremes of surface temperature and precipitation through the application of the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) on datasets representing three agroecological zones in Southern Ethiopia. The indices are applied to daily temperature and precipit...

This study analysed the costs and benefits of investing in ecosystem rehabilitation, including the reduced costs of humanitarian aid, in selected sub-basins in the Bale Eco-Region (BER), Southeast Ethiopia. It also determined trends in extreme weather events between 1983 and 2013, and the impacts of catchment rehabilitation on hydrology. Results re...