Mohammed Assen

• Professor at Addis Ababa University

Land surface phenology (LSP) is a crucial indicator of climate change and its impact on ecosystems. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess the spatiotemporal variations in LSP and its response to climate change across the agroecological zones (AEZs) of the upper Gelana watershed in the northeastern highlands of Ethiopia. The LSP metrics we...

Soil erosion poses a significant challenge in the sub-humid Ethiopian highlands, yet research on the long-term effectiveness of soil and water conservation (SWC) practices in this region using pre- and post-conservation approaches remains limited. This study addresses this knowledge gap by evaluating the impact of SWC practices on water balance and...

Ethiopia's sub-humid highlands face a critical challenge in balancing agricultural productivity with land degradation. This study explores the effectiveness of soil and water conservation practices (SWCPs) in addressing this challenge. We investigated the interaction effects of types of SWCPs, landscape positions, and location on Teff (Eragrostis t...

Land degradation often results in poor soil quality in many parts of Ethiopia, including the study area. To address this issue and promote sustainable land management practices, various land use and management methods (LUMMs) have been implemented. However, little information is available regarding how these management practices influence overall s...

Watershed-scale management practices (WMPs) aimed at mitigating land degradation from soil erosion have been implemented across Ethiopia, including in the study area, yet their effect remains under-evaluated. A useful method to assess the effect of WMPs involves comparing soil characteristics between micro-watersheds subjected to different treatmen...

Up-to-date digital soil resource information and its comprehensive understanding are crucial to supporting crop production and sustainable agricultural development. Generating such information through conventional approaches consumes time and resources, and is difficult for developing countries. In Ethiopia, the soil resource map that was in use is...

Several studies have assessed the dynamics of soil quality induced by soil and water conservation (SWC), but many showed disagreement over the efficacy of SWC interventions in the Ethiopian highlands. This study used a before and after soil and water conservation practices (SWCP) comparison approach to evaluate the effect of SWCP on soil quality dy...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of CHIRPS and TAMSAT satellite rainfall data over the Upper Gelana watershed, where gauged meteorological data to understand the nature of the climate are scarce. In addition, variability and trends in rainfall and temperature were examined from 1983 to 2021. To evaluate satellite rainfall, cate...

In Ethiopia, large-scale agricultural investment (LAI) is promoted to foster adaptation to climate change among smallholder farmers by improving farming conditions and productivity. However, little has been known about this condition so far. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to study the implications of LAI for the capacity for climate change ada...

Analysing the drivers and implications of land use and cover (LULC) dynamics in land leased areas is essential for sustainable land use planning and environmental management interventions. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between large-scale agricultural investment and the socioecological implications of land use change in west...

This paper explores factors influencing smallholder farmers’ attitudes towards integrated soil fertility management (ISFM). ISFM is paramount to improve soil fertility for sustainable agricultural productivity, especially in contexts where smallholder agriculture is an important local livelihood and economic activity, as in many countries of the Gl...

This study analyzed the patterns and drivers of LULC dynamics in relation to the expansion of large-scale irrigated agriculture in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia from 1972 to 2016. Aerial photographs (1972), Landsat images (1980, 2000) and SPOT5 satellite images (2016) were analyzed using GIS tools to reveal LULC changes, and documentation, ke...

This study assesses land use and land cover (LULC) dynamics and their impacts in the Alwero watershed, in western Ethiopia. LULC datasets were created from Landsat imagery from 1973, 1987, 2002, and 2020 using ArcGIS 10.7® software. Results show that forest cover decreased from 52 to 30% between 1973 and 2020, mainly due to the expansion of cultiva...

Soil quality degrades when natural forests are converted to human-managed ecosystems. Limited empirical evidence of such soil quality changes has been observed in tropical sub-humid ecosystems. This study aimed to analyze the impact of land use change on soil quality dynamics in a tropical sub-humid ecosystem in western Ethiopia. To analyze some im...

Soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) stock are key indicators of soil quality in tropical regions; however, their status is often degraded, especially due to massive deforestation in natural forest areas associated with extensive agricultural land use. The aim of this study was to investigate the dynamics of SOC and TN stock in differe...

Ethiopia has diverse soil resources. Natural conditions, such as parent materialParent material, climateClimate, topography, biotic and land use/land cover changes are largely responsible for creating regional and local differences in soil typesSoil types and characteristics. In Ethiopia, the history of soil studies can go back as early as the 1920...

The study sought to understand the spatio-temporal variation of land use and land cover (LULC) and its drivers under watershed management activities in Becho district, in Ethiopia’s Central Highlands. To gain a better comprehension of the subject, two micro watersheds were chosen to test the effectiveness of watershed management activities (treated...

Quantifying the recent LULC changes and associated impacts on pastoral and agro-pastoral livelihood systems is important since the effects of LULC changes on environmental resources and human livelihood are not fully understood in our study area. This paper analysed the trend of land use/land cover (LULC) dynamics and its implications on natural re...

This study presents and integrates field, petrological, and whole-rock geochemical (major and trace elements) data of the volcanic rocks from the Lake Hayk area to understand their petrogenesis. The study area's major lithological components include lower and upper basalt, rhyolitic lava, rhyolitic tuff, rhyolitic ignimbrite, and unwelded tuff. Pet...

Land degradation is an increasing problem in many parts of the world. Success in fighting land degradation requires an improved understanding of its causes, impact, degree and acquaintance with climate, soil, water, land cover and socio-economic factors. The present study aimed to assess the advanced of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Informatio...

Irrigation is one way of utilizing the land resources to enhance agricultural production. Irrigation crop production is crucial in the present study area due to its arid and semi-arid climatic characteristics. However, little is known about the influence of different cropping and land management practices on soil quality (SQ). This study aimed to d...

Abstract. Up-to-date digital soil resources information, and its comprehensive understanding, is crucial to support crop production and sustainable agricultural development. Generating such information through conventional approaches consumes time and resources, which is difficult for developing countries. In Ethiopia, the soil resource map that wa...

The objective of this paper is to provide up-to-date empirical information on the expansion of P. juliflora, its environmental and livelihood impacts, and the performance of past and current management strategies in the Middle Awash Valley (MAV), Ethiopia. This study was based on data collected using focus group discussion, key informant interviews...

Land degradation is an increasing problem in many parts of the world. Success in fighting land degradation requires an improved understanding of its causes, impact, degree and acquaintance with climate, soil, water, land cover and socioeconomic factors. The present study aimed to assess the advanced of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information...

Maize-soybean crop rotation system has positive impacts on the key indicators chosen for ecology, food and nutrition, and socioeconomic conditions of smallholder farmers. The study was conducted at Omonada, and Bedele districts of south west Ethiopia during 2017 and 2018 cropping season. Forty-nine farmers were selected in two districts with the la...

Owing to its unique nature and contribution to household food security, grass pea is among important legumes grown widely in many areas of the world, including Ethiopia. Nevertheless, it has severe consequences on human health (e.g. lathyrism) if consumed in large quantities over an extended period. In this context, this study analyzed the driving...

This study was aimed at assessing farmers’ perception and knowledge of soil quality (SQ) change, in light of scientifically measured SQ indicators in the Wanka watershed, northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. Household survey, participatory SQ status assessment, key informant interview and laboratory analysis of selected SQ indicators were used as da...

Small-scale agriculture is an important livelihood in sub-Saharan Africa. In the face of land degradation, identifying the constraints to smallholder farmers in improving soil quality is important to inform institutional interventions. While previous policies and studies have concentrated on structural land management practices, less attention has...

Climate analysis at relevant time scales is important for water resources management, agricultural planning, flood risk assessment, ecological modeling and climate change adaptation. This study analyses spatiotemporal variability and trends in rainfall and temperature in Alwero watershed, western Ethiopia. Our analysis is focused on describing spat...

Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) is widely cultivated and consumed in Ethiopia, where its overconsumption has caused cases of lathyrism. Despite this fact, there are limited empirical studies carried out in Ethiopia on the factors driving household decision to grow grass pea and intensity of land allocation to its production. Therefore, this study was...

Participatory pre-extension demonstration was taken in Dedo and Bedele woreda, in Jimma and Buno Bedele zone in two kebeles each in 2018 main cropping season. Data were collected 100 plants from the demonstration plots. From this study, the performance of three improved fababean and one local variety collected from the areas serves as a check were...

Background Climate analysis at relevant time scales is important for water resources management, agricultural planning, flood risk assessment, ecological modeling and climate change adaptation. This study analyses spatiotemporal variability and trends in rainfall and temperature in Alwero watershed, western Ethiopia. The study is based on gridded m...

Background: Climate analysis at relevant time scales is important for water resources management, agricultural planning, flood risk assessment, ecological modeling and climate change adaptation. This study analyses spatiotemporal variability and trends in rainfall and temperature in Alwero watershed, western Ethiopia. The study is based on gridded...

This paper uses the concept of ecosystem disservices to explore and understand how rapid environmental change associated with an invasive plant species is framed and understood by different stakeholders. Through a focus on narratives, the paper explores how socially-differentiated populations understand the causes and consequences of a plant invasi...

This study evaluated land cover change and slope gradient on selected soil quality parameters in the Gumara watershed, northwestern Ethiopia. 36 soil samples were collected from 0- to 20-cm depth under four land cover types across three slope gradients. The collected soil samples were analyzed for selected soil quality parameters. Result indicated...

Since the 1970s, the Government of Ethiopia has implemented villagization, whereby nomadic pastoralist groups are supported to develop (more) sedentary lifestyles and livelihoods. Villagization has been officially promoted to encourage diversification from livestock herding to agricultural cultivation, and to fulfil basic needs through infrastructu...

Long -term land use and land cover (LULC) dynamics information is essential to understand the trends and make necessary land management interventions, such as in the highlands of Ethiopia. This study analyzed six decades of LULC dynamics of Wanka watershed, Northwestern Ethiopian highlands. Two sets of aerial photographs (1957 and 2017), SPOT 5 and...

Soil quality (SQ) dynamics assessment vis-à-vis land use/land cover (LULC) and elevation variations in Ethiopia is desirable as elevation impact on land use is highly pronounced. This study examined SQ indicators dynamics across LULC and elevation variations. For this, surface soil samples (0−20 cm) were collected from the recognized LULC categorie...

Purpose: Famines and food shortages are one of the most common long time histories of Ethiopia. Hence, malnutrition has been persisted at alarming raters in the country. Moreover, it is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Afar National Regional State of Ethiopia. Specifically, in Amibara and Awash Fentale districts. The anthropometric data...

Background: Drought is a serious issue which might be caused by climate change that could create famine and health problems. Drought reduces air quality, increases fungal infestation, reduces people hand washing, affects mental health, leads to malnutrition by decreasing agricultural production, and increases diseases transmitted by insects. This...

In Highland Ethiopia, soil erosion is one of the main forms of land degradation which has a wide range of undesirable on-site and off-site impacts. It is therefore essential to mitigate soil erosion through site-specific and problem-oriented management practices. The research employed Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE2) model to identify...

Background Assessment of soil loss rates is crucial to sustainably enhance the benefits of land resources and diminish the adverse impacts of land degradation thereby areas requiring immediate soil erosion management practices can be identified. The study aimed to examine the impacts of land cover dynamics on the spatiotemporal patterns of erosion...

The study examined the expansion of sugarcane monoculture over the period 1957–2010 and its implications for land degradation and land management measures in the semi-arid northern Main Ethiopian Rift Valley. It used multi-scale and multi-temporal imageries aided by qualitative surveying to investigate the dynamics of land use and cover changes. Th...

Background The demand for meeting local food production has caused farmlands to expand at the cost of natural forests and grasslands in the Ethiopian highlands. However, empirical evidences on rate and patterns of LULC dynamics, and major driving forces in highlands of Ethiopia at catchment level were rare to contribute to design effective land man...

Sugarcane cultivation has been practiced over decades in a semi-arid area of the Ethiopian Rift Valley. This study evaluated the effect of sugarcane cultivation on soil C and N storages. We measured the differences in soil C and N along chronosequence fields. We estimated soil C and N losses associated with land conversion and the rate of changes o...

Background This study was aimed at examining land use/cover changes over 48 years and its causative factors in the Gumara watershed of Lake Tana basin, Northwestern Ethiopia. Two sets of aerial photograph (1957 and 1985) and a multispectral Spot5 image (2005) were used as inputs to produce three GIS-based land cover maps of the study area. Socio-ec...

This study assessed land cover change and topographic elevation on selected soil quality parameters in the Kasso catchment, southeastern Ethiopia. Twenty-seven soil samples collected from 0–30cm depth under four land cover types across three elevation gradients were analysed for selected soil quality parameters. Results indicated that soil particle...

In Ethiopia, soil erosion is a major contributor to the prevailing food insecurity. As a result, the soil becomes unable to support intensive food production to satisfy the rapidly growing demands of people. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the farmers 'perception on indicators, causes and consequences of soil erosion in Soro Distric...

Land use/land cover changes in a lake drainage basin reflect changes in the magnitude of the water balance components and rate of sediment deposition in a lake as a reflection of the fundamental linkage between what happens in a lake considered against what is happening in the drainage basin of the lake. The objective of this study was to quantify...

Biophysical and socio-economic constraints and sub-optimal utilization of soil and water resources have resulted in progressive reduction of land productivity in Ethiopia. This study investigated the suitability of land mapping units of the Gerado catchment for subsistence rainfed cultivation of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), maize (Zea mays L.) and...

This study aimed to determine the spatial variation of topsoil properties as influenced by slope aspects and vegetation types. Three vegetation types and two slope aspects were considered. Disturbed and undisturbed samples were taken from the top soils. A two-way analysis of variance was used to test significant mean differences (alpha = 0.05). Res...

This study analysed long-term land use/land cover (LULC) dynamics and their underlying causes and implications for land resources management in a dryland watershed of Hirmi and its adjacent agro-ecosystem, northern highlands of Ethiopia. Two sets of aerial photographs (1964 and 1994) and 2006 Spot 5 satellite images were utilised in the study. Thes...

The generation of scientific information for improved understating of the physical dynamics of a lake is fundamental for guiding lake stakeholders and managers at the local level to implement best management practices and help design effective management strategies and policies at higher levels. Multitemporal bathymetric information on lakes is ver...

The study aimed to determine the effects of slope gradient and land use/cover changes on the spatial variability of selected topsoil characteristics, and to assess their value for sustainable soil management. Disturbed and undisturbed samples were taken from the top 20 cm soils of three different slope gradients and four distinctive land use/cover...

This study aims to identify the driving forces and implications of the temporal and spatial dynamics of land use and land cover in the Kasso catchment, Bale Mountains (Southeastern Ethiopia). Aerial photographs (1965 and 1973) and satellite image (SPOT5 2007) were interpreted and analyzed using GIS tools. Socioeconomic surveys, focus group discussi...

Lake Hardibo is a remarkable feature in the northeast Ethiopian highlands, with a rich endowment of resource values that need a series of scientific studies. This study adds multi‐temporal bathymetric information on the lake, which is of paramount importance, to indicate environmental changes and understand the effect of land processes on hydrology...

This paper analyses the land use/cover dynamics of land degradation through the interpretation of aerial photographs (1958 and 1980) and 2006 SPOT-5 satellite image of the Gerado catchment. Other, non-visual data were gathered from personal interview and focus group discussions conducted in 2010 and 2011 with local elders, farmers and development (...

The Simen Mountains National Park (smnp) is found in the Simen Mountains (North Gonder). Detailed soil survey (scale 1:25 000) was conducted to classify, characterise and determine status of the soils of the plateau of smnp. Umbric Andosols, Luvic Andosols and Mollic-Lithic Leptosols were found to be the major soil types. Land use and topographic a...

A land use/land cover dynamics and its implication since the 1960's was studied in two selected districts of the Borana rangelands (South Ethiopia). The objectives were to examine the spatiotemporal patterns of land use/cover dynamics and quantify the rate and direction of these dynamics. Remotely sensed data including aerial photographs of 1967 an...

This study analyzed land use/cover dynamics in the mountain landscape of Tara Gedam and adjacent agro-ecosystem of northwest Ethiopia over a period of 46 years (1957-2003). The changes were measured through interpretation of aerial photographs taken in 1957 and 1980, and Land-sat satellite image of 2003 using Arc GIS 9.2 software, supported by foca...

: Keywords: Land Cover; Dynamic; Expansion; Exposed Land; Reduction Two periods of panchromatic aerial photographs taken in 1966 and 1996 were analyzed to determine spatial and temporal land cover changes occurring in Chirokella micro-watershed, Southeastern Ethiopia. Theresults of the analysis were digitized with Arc View GIS 3.3 software to produ...