Long-term monitoring of soil erosion and soil and water conservation in Afdeyu, Eritrea (1984-1998): Soil erosion and soil and water conservation database

Afdeyu is an Eritrean village located about 30 km north of the country’s capital, Asmara, in the highlands of Eritrea. In 1984, CDE established a research station in Afdeyu to study the effects of different traditional and introduced soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies on soil erosion. The initial approach focused on the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). Later on it was adapted according to the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). For over 20 years, CDE has been running the Afdeyu research station together with the Ministry of Agriculture. Collaboration continued with the Eritrean Ministry of Agriculture after the country became independent in 1991. At present, CDE is still supporting the research unit based on a comprehensive backstopping mandate. Several parameters, mainly biophysical, have been measured continuously ever since the research station came into operation. Part I of this report presents an overview of the research approach and methodology used, and describes how experiments were implemented. In addition, it traces programme adjustments through time and gives a problem-oriented critical review of the general social, political and economic conditions. Part II lists the collected data, indicating their availability status and problems encountered during collection and encoding. Information is structured in the following chapters: Soils; Climate; Land use and crop production; Soil erosion and water conservation on different plot levels; Social and economic data. Each chapter offers general analyses and results (mainly based on annual and monthly means) for all recorded parameters

Land Management in the Central Highlands of Eritrea: A Participatory Appraisal of Conservation Measures and Soils in Afdeyu and its Vicinity

A comprehensive inventory of local and introduced soil and water conservation (SWC) measures presented in standardized fact sheets and completed with a special focus on the underlying reasons (problems) of acceptance / rejection. Different approaches are analysed and measures identified which are adapted to the specific local context. Second part of the study: soil assessment resulting in a consistent local classification of soil types and soil fertility, comparison with scientific classifications. Different topical maps show the spatial distribution of SWC measures, their condition, degradation hotspots, soil types, soil fertility and interrelations between these parameters. Based on the conclusions and the outcome of a stakeholder workshop recommendations are given for further activities in research and implementation of SWC in the Central Highlands of Eritrea

E204 ESAPP Project Report 2004

Annual project report. Project description, budget, impact, achievement of objectives and outputs, and appraisal by Management Team

Sustainable land management: A new approach to soil and water conservation in Ethiopia

Many efforts have been made in Ethiopia to mitigate land degradation, particularly soil erosion, through both local and newly introduced soil and water conservation (SWC) practices. However, the strict focus on soil erosion and conservation does not necessarily lead to satisfactory results. If SWC is effective in reducing erosion but is at the same time too costly and unacceptable to land users, sooner or later it will disappear and its positive effects will also be lost. This book therefore suggests to follow the broader approach of Sustainable Land Management (SLM), which aims at ecological soundness, economic viability and social acceptability, and thus places SWC in a more holistic framework that is closer to farmers’ reality

Amadir: Livelihood and Resource Management in an Eritrean Highland Community: A development baseline

This publication presents the results of a study conducted in 2003 in Amadir, a village in the Central Highlands of Eritrea. It gives an overview of the natural resource base, livelihoods, farm management, and institutions that are important to the local community. The report concludes with a chapter on options for development as discussed with the village community and local administration. This report supports Eritrea's efforts to promote rural development. It contains an extensive summary in Tigrinya, as well as a large-scale satellite image and a large-scale land use map of the study area. The appendix presents a summary of the methods used in the study

Identification and classification of structural soil conservation measures based on very high resolution stereo satellite data

Land degradation affects large areas of land around the globe, with grave consequences for those living off the land. Major efforts are being made to implement soil and water conservation measures that counteract soil erosion and help secure vital ecosystem services. However, where and to what extent such measures have been implemented is often not well documented. Knowledge about this could help to identify areas where soil and water conservation measures are successfully supporting sustainable land management, as well as areas requiring urgent rehabilitation of conservation structures such as terraces and bunds. This study explores the potential of the latest satellite-based remote sensing technology for use in assessing and monitoring the extent of existing soil and water conservation structures. We used a set of very high resolution stereo Geoeye-1 satellite data, from which we derived a detailed digital surface model as well as a set of other spectral, terrain, texture, and filtered information layers. We developed and applied an object-based classification approach, working on two segmentation levels. On the coarser level, the aim was to delimit certain landscape zones. Information about these landscape zones is useful in distinguishing different types of soil and water conservation structures, as each zone contains certain specific types of structures. On the finer level, the goal was to extract and identify different types of linear soil and water conservation structures. The classification rules were based mainly on spectral, textural, shape, and topographic properties, and included object relationships. This approach enabled us to identify and separate from other classes the majority (78.5%) of terraces and bunds, as well as most hillside terraces (81.25%). Omission and commission errors are similar to those obtained by the few existing studies focusing on the same research objective but using different types of remotely sensed data. Based on our results, we estimate that the construction of the conservation structures in our study area in Eritrea required over 300,000 person-days of work, which underlines the huge efforts involved in soil and water conservation