Abstract:
Population Pressure and Farm Land are interdependent variables of subsistence farming
community. However, identification of the numerous factors that determine the abilities of
rural household’s choice of livelihood strategies in Ethiopia has received little attention
despite its increasing threat over the poor.
Though the linkages are mediated by many complex and often context-specific factors, there is
strong evidence that dependence on natural resources intensifies when households lose human
and social capital through adult morbidity and mortality, and qualified evidence for the
influence of environmental factors on household decision-making regarding fertility and
migration. Two decades of research on lifecycles and land cover change at the farm level have
yielded a number of insights about how households make use of different land-use and natural
resource management strategies at different stages. Moreover,line running throughout the
review is the importance of managing risk through livelihood diversification, ensuring future
income secur ity, and culture-specific norms regarding appropriate and desirable activities and
demographic responses.
This research was therefore proposed with the aim of generating location specific data on
population pressure and farm land scarcity of subsistence farming community and its
determinants in Dita Woreda of Gamo highland, southern Ethiopia. A two stage stratified
random sampling technique was employed to select 1897 household heads from the total
human population of 15697 in the three sample kebeles(Ganakare, W/daycha and Tsela) and a
sample size of 152 were taken. In percentage, sample population and sample size were 12.08%
and 8% respectively. Data was collected using key informant interview, focus group
discussion and interview schedule.
