A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY, SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES ARBA MINCH UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR DEGREE OF MASTERS OF SCIENCE IN BIOLOGY

Abstract

he distinctive contribution of agroforestry practices is to obtain products from farm, which are tree, crop and livestock products in increased and substantial manner. There is limited scientific research on traditional agroforestry practices in Mareka District. A study of indigenous agroforestry knowledge and practices in Mareka Woreda, Dawuro Zone, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Regional State, Ethiopia, was carried out from December 1/2017 to March 29/2018. The objective of this study was to investigate agroforestry practices in Mareka Woreda focusing on diversity of plant species of the agroforestry systems, management practices and associated knowledge of Mareka Woreda so as to bring better understanding to the systems and contribution to its conservation. The study district was purposefully selected and 180 household heads were used as representatives of the community. Interviewed and observed data on traditional knowledge of agroforestry practices were analyzed using Statistical Packaging for Social Sciences version 16.0. Shannon’s diversity index was calculated for plant species data and traditional agroforestry data were analyzed using direct matrix ranking, preference ranking and pair-wise ranking. The results revealed 57 useful plant species which belong to 51genera and 33 families. It was noted that planting, pruning, lopping, coppicing and thinning were some of traditional plant management practices of study area. Farmland shortage, poor land usage, animal damage on plants and lack of transports were the major constraints of agroforestry practice of Mareka Woreda. Also age is an important factor that can affect traditional agroforestry knowledge and practices in study area. Cordia africana was the best preferred tree species of the study area. Eventually, community of study area should be encouraged and promoted to enhance the traditional knowledge in agroforestry practices and, bring positive attitude on planting indigenous tree species on their agroforestry systems.