EFFECT OF LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGE ON SOIL EROSION: THE CASE OF LOMATE-WATERSHED, SNNPR, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Land use and land cover change constitute serious problem in many part of Ethiopia. So, Lomate Water Shed is not exceptional to this type of problems. Agricultural practices, grazing, deforestations and steep slope cultivation are responsible factors for land use and land cover in the study area. Thus, this study aimed to assessing the effect of land use and land cover change on soil erosion. The study area covered around 16,677 ha and can be typical of a large part of the district in terms of topography, climate, vegetation, and socioeconomic conditions.The problem of soil erosion is a difficulty of Uba-Debretsehay district since destruction of the environment, reduction of agricultural productivity which related to income and livelihoods are realistic. However, the cumulative effect of soil erosion in the watershed created volatile living status for the rural commu nity.Therefore the objectives of this study were to assess the Effect of Soil Erosion on Rural Livelihoods of farmers in the Lomate Watershed, Uba-Debretsehay Woreda, Ethiopia. The methodologies to study the assessment were both primary and secondary data was utilized.Observations, Interviews Focus Group Discussions (FGDs),Document Review and Analysis and an attempt was made to identify soil erosion effect on livelihoods, for which the change of environment was evaluated in deep. Since, the land use land cover of 1995 G.C to 2015 G.C were examined by applying GIS and ERDAS imagine Software’s to see the change of the watershed over the past 21 years.The results shows that during the last 21 years, forest cover from 371 ha almost decreased by 15.43 ha per annum that is 324 ha in twenty first year. The Communal land cover was 3136 ha, but it decrease annually almost41.7 ha, and totally in twenty first year it decreased to 876 ha, and the shrub land also decreased almost 91.14 ha, annually and in twenty first years it goes down to 1914 ha,. Oppositely the bare land by 816 ha, in the twenty first years. Then this indicates that the large hectare of forest land, communal land and the shrub land converted to farm land. Shrub-grassland is the most converted cover type during the entire study period. In the21 years, the original grassland cover was existed at the base year but cultivation land increased starting from the first year of study, but agricultural product decline in all 21 years. Limited availability and extinction of some tree/shrub species is also reported and research is required to quantify changes and understand the real impacts brought about.