The Impact of the Expansion of Large-Scale Agriculture in Drylands of Ethiopia; Implications for Sustainable Natural Resources Management

Abstract

Dryland areas in Ethiopia encompass pastoral and agro-pastoral areas in the country and have long been regarded as peripheries especially in economic terms. Expansion of large-scale agricultural investments (land grabbing) in these areas is the current government’s focus and resulting in the loss and unsustainable utilization of natural resources. For instance, foreign investment in Ethiopia’s forestry sector is currently limited, but agricultural investments that affect forests largely through forest clearing are common in the country. Therefore, the objective of this review paper looks at the impact of large-scale agricultural investment expansions on natural resources and factors affecting it in drylands of Ethiopia. A literature search was conducted through the use of different search engines to organize this paper. Natural resource degradations such as rangelands fragmentation, soil salinity, water scarcity, deforestation, and seasonal wildlife migrations are the main problems resulting from large agricultural investments in dryland areas of Ethiopia. Government policies, climate variability and the weakening of customary rules are the main factors causing natural resources degradation in dryland Ethiopia. Large agricultural expansion investment in dryland areas of Ethiopia is currently affecting not only natural resources but also cannot improve people’s livelihood by far. Given the key roles forests play in rural livelihoods, new tenure arrangements will have significant implications for communities located at the forest farm interface in its dryland areas. Therefore, development of sound strategic policy that contributes to environmentally more sustainable and socially inclusive large-scale agricultural expansion in dryland areas of Ethiopia should be recommended.

1. Introduction

About 75% of Ethiopia’s landmass is categorized as dryland, experiencing moisture stress during most months of the year [1]. In recent decades, agricultural growth in the country has been progressing with the establishment of large scale investments in dryland areas. However, the growth is not as such increasing land productivity but mainly through the expansion of the cultivated area onto the regions where relatively abundant land is assumed to be available i.e. in dry areas [2].

The Ethiopian government and international bodies have presented the commercialization of land and the shift to large-scale agriculture as being an essential measure for agricultural modernization and improvement of production efficiency which leads to huge food production and economic growth as part of their five-year Growth and Transformation Plan. This plan envisages that Ethiopia will be food secure and a middle-income country by 2025 [3, 4, 5], Since the 1990s, the government formulated a long-term economic development strategy called Agriculture Development Led Industrialization (ADLI) which is the government’s overarching policy response to Ethiopia’s food security and agricultural productivity challenge focuses primarily on the expansion of large-scale commercial farms and improved productivity in smallholdings [6, 7]. The government also promotes large-scale agricultural investment as a way to improve food security at the national level, through foreign exchange revenues from farm outputs, higher crop production in the country, and increased incomes from farm jobs [5, 8].

According to World Bank [3], population growth in developing countries like Ethiopia will lead to increased demand for food products, expanding urbanization, and rising incomes which needs to be met by bringing more land to large investors for farming and thereby improving productivity. In line with this argument, the Ethiopian government confirms that there is plenty of unused land for investors to operate efficiently without posing a threat to the environment and its natural resources as well as the livelihood of smallholder farmers in dryland areas of the country. However, facts on the ground show on the contrary, as sustainable natural resource utilization and rights of smallholder farmers to land have been ignored during investment implementations in dryland regions of the country. This expansion strategy reflects the relative availability and lowers costs of land relative to capital inputs required for agricultural intensification, such as fertilizer, credit, and irrigation etc. without considering natural resource degradations. Therefore, land grabbers cause unsustainable natural resources utilization with little account for agricultural growths [7, 9, 10, 11].

As long as drylands areas are becoming a center of government attention in current Ethiopia for the expansion of large-scale agricultural investments, natural resource degradation caused by its expansion aggravated by climate change and variability are common problems in these regions. Some of its impacts on natural resources include increasing rangeland degradations, soil salinity due to irrigation schemes, water overexploitation, and deforestation that leads to various forms of land degradations in dryland regions of the country [11, 12]. Changing land-use patterns and disturbances to the environment and its natural resources is common. Thus, the livelihoods of many pastoralists are affected in the drylands of Ethiopia. Pastoral and agro-pastoral communities, who live in these emerging areas of investment and who engage in subsistence economies within larger socio-economic networks will continue to be significantly affected by domestic and foreign agricultural investors by resettlement schemes, increasing landholding and land-use changes [13, 14].

Sustainable use of natural resources refers to use patterns that meet the basic human needs of current generations without destroying or degrading the natural environment to the resource needs of future generations can be met [15]. However, many of the current trends in rural dryland areas exert varying pressure on water, soil, forests, ecosystems, and biodiversity, threatening the resilience and sustainability of the complex environmental systems. These rushes to land, water, and other essential natural resources in the region particularly have negative effects on indigenous and local people’s livelihoods and increasing food insecurity. An environmentally sustainable rural transformation is not only a technical challenge but also a political question, because root causes for the degradation of natural resources and the measures to be adopted are mainly policy issues [11]. In locations where irrigated agriculture is viable, mobile pastoralists, sedentary agro-pastoralists, and commercial investors are increasingly competing for land and water resources. Balancing competing land use and livelihood systems while also safeguarding natural resources continue to be important problems for Ethiopia’s development program, which is centered on greater agricultural output. In light of this, the question of whether sustainable resource management can remain a viable strategy in the future and what structural changes are required to increase environmental resilience arises.

The principal objective of this review paper is to investigate the impacts of large-scale agricultural expansion on natural resources and systematically assessing policy and other affecting factors to its sustainable management.

2. Materials and methods

A literature search was conducted through the use of different search engines and options such as the Web of Science (apps.webofknowledge.com), Google Scholar (scholar.google.com), Research Gate (https://www.researchgate.net), altavista.com, and www.freefull.pdf.com, the Science of policy aspects in natural resource management in Ethiopian. The majority of the searched works of literature were published research articles that are highly related with the expansion of large scale agriculture in drylands of Ethiopia and sub-Saharan Africa having a policy focus were retrieved, the author of this review paper focused on those reporting the general descriptions and results on the impact of expanding large scale agricultural investments in dryland natural resources such as rangelands, soils, forests, water, and wildlife. Thus, about21 published scientific papers were used to develop this review paper. Individual articles from the collected literature were grouped for research objectives to the impacts of large-scale agricultural investments on natural resources in drylands. Research objectives were further sub-categorized into articles focusing on rangelands, soils, forests, and water resources.

3. The development of large-scale agricultural investments

Around the mid-1990s, the Ethiopian government developed a development strategy that prioritized small-holder agriculture and agricultural production as the engine of growth for the country’s overall development. The concept relied on small-holder farmers to provide not just a stimulus for development but also a surplus for food self-sufficiency. During this time, domestic and donor aid, resource management methods and improved farming, credit services, and many types of human capacity development programs were provided to small-holder farmers. New technological packages were also offered to some extent. At the time, the land system was skewed in favor of small-holder farmers [16]. The government’s 2001 paper with revised rural development policies and strategies signified the beginning of the shift away from this method [11]. Despite the fact that smallholder farmers continue to play a significant role, the agreement includes an essential role for big scale agricultural firms and foreign investors [17].

“Private investors are already contributing significantly to agricultural growth.” Experiences from developed countries reveal that as an economy grows, some small farmers leave the industry to seek employment in other areas, while others gather enough capital to go big in the sector.

“There appear to be two investment areas in the agricultural industry that appear to be particularly favorable for foreign investment.” The first is to develop previously undeveloped huge area with considerable irrigation potential. The second investment opportunity is to develop high-value agricultural items for export (such as flowers and vegetables).

We can see here that investors who export their products are given more support than those who do not. This suggests that the primary goal of the shift to large-scale agriculture is foreign exchange gains, rather than domestic food security, and that it is causing natural resource degradation in pastoral areas.

3.1 Transfers and distributions of land

Despite the fact that farmland has been allocated to investors since the mid-1990s, up until 2002, those requesting property were primarily local investors, and the land released was mostly modest, no larger than 500 hectares. The growth of foreign investors is inextricably linked to the passage of the investment declaration and the success of the floriculture industry. Between 2003 and 2007, the cut flower sector was expanding, with a growing market to Europe and internationally. Beginning in 2006, foreign investors’ desire for land increased, resulting in a land rush in 2008. The sizes of property requested were no longer minor, with several applicants requesting vast swaths of 10,000 hectares or more. According to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) and government officials, foreign investors are given much bigger land in size with the justification that they are better endowed in capital and technology and are more likely to be successful in their operations. The total land area given for both foreign and domestic investors large scale agriculture in 2008 is 1, 133, 000 hectares. Such large scale land transfers are over 2000 hectares for each investor [11].

4. Result and discussions

4.1 Impacts of large scale agriculture on natural resources

4.1.1 Environmental dynamics in dryland areas of Ethiopia

Changing patterns in the accessibility and availability of natural resources is closely linked to processes of rural transformation by the expansion of large agricultural investments. An expanding rural population relies on natural resources for a living. With rising food demands at the national and worldwide levels, two options for increasing food production emerge: intensifying the utilization of existing natural resources or expanding the area cultivated through large-scale agricultural investments. Both options raise environmental and social risks if context-specific conditions are not sufficiently considered [18].

Furthermore, dryland regions in Ethiopia are characterized by climate uncertainty due to spatially and temporally highly variable rainfall. Under these unpredictable climatic conditions, the broad and opportunistic use of communally held land rangelands and mobile forms of pastoralism is the most fitted land-use system [19, 20]. Pastoralists’ extensive understanding of the sustainable use of animal fodder and water resources is reflected in the careful selection of livestock breeds and the temporally limited usage of rangelands. Besides, functional customary institutions for natural resource management in which collective action and resource sharing (social capital) are of major importance [21].

4.1.2 Rangeland deterioration

Vegetation and soil degradation is a serious issue in the dry and semi-arid lowlands, where various types of savanna, grasslands, and deserts dominate the majority of the area [22, 23]. Rangeland degradation caused by major agricultural investment development in dryland areas results in altered grass species composition and a general loss of biodiversity and vegetation cover, resulting in a permanent decrease in biological and economic productivity. Seasonally flooded plains are the hardest hit, as they provide the best pastures during the dry season while also having the largest irrigation potential for agricultural projects [24]. The main feed source for grazers like cattle and sheep, nutrient-rich palatable grasses, is increasingly being out-competed by invasive plant species (Prosopis juliflora, Parthenium hysterophorus, Lantana camara, Acacia melifera, Acacia nubica) or grassy floodplains are being converted into irrigated farmland. P. juliflora, which was purposely introduced to the lowlands as an ecosystem engineer for soil and water conservation, has infiltrated significant sections of grazing land in Ethiopia’s dryland areas, particularly in the Afar Region [25, 26].

Although irrigation occupies a relatively small quantity of land, there are far-reaching implications and ramifications of siting irrigation projects in direct competition with pastoral grazing needs during the dry season. This is especially evident in the Afar region’s Awash River valley irrigation system. In the Valley, the cost of pastoral output is correspondingly high [27].

4.1.3 Soil degradation and salinity effect

Soil salinity is a major problem for agricultural production in dryland areas of arid and semi-arid parts of Ethiopia where evapotranspiration rates exceed precipitation. According to Azeb and Wolfram [7], since the mid-2000s, the government has awarded thousands of hectares of the Gambella Region’s most fertile lands to foreign companies and some of the world’s wealthiest individuals to export rice, cotton, sesame, and other commodities, often on long-term leases and at low prices. Similarly, salt-affected soils are common in Somali Region’s Awash Valley and the Wabi Shebele River Basin as a result of large-scale irrigated farm operations. In these areas, soil salinity is high due to poor drainage systems and inappropriate water management practices. Increasing salinity is now one of the major reasons for decreasing agricultural productivity on irrigated cotton and sugarcane plantations along the Awash River for small-scale agro-pastoralists cultivating maize and vegetables. Under current conditions of an ongoing expansion of irrigation farming in lowland areas, soil salinity becomes a major problem in the future that can jeopardize sustainable agricultural production and natural resource management [28].

4.1.4 Forest degradation and deforestation

Customary laws in dryland areas of Ethiopia for instance among Afar and Somali people prohibit the cutting of trees. When deemed necessary, branches are collected as feed for animals or lactating cows. This is done in a way that ensures the regenerative capacity of the plants. Within the last decade, deforestation of indigenous trees has increased, especially due to the growth of large scale domestic and foreign agricultural investments as well as charcoal traders in Afar and Somali dryland areas [29, 30].

Foreign investments in the forestry industry differ from agriculture investments that have an impact on forests. Forest clearing for farm enterprises is one of the latter, with a decades-long history fueled by a variety of government policies affecting land use, resettlement, and investment incentives. Forest clearing for agricultural purposes is a frequent practice in Ethiopia’s lowland regions. Most modern forests are cleared with fire, leaving forest products generally unexploited [31]. Clearing dryland deciduous woodlands for cash crops (mainly sugarcane and cotton) occurs often in lowland areas [32]. Forest encroachment for agricultural expansion (including tea and coffee cultivation) by both large scale agricultural investors and rural people generally leads to contemporary highland forest clearing [33, 34].

Land used for large-scale agricultural investment (such as coffee and tea plantations, irrigated farming, and so on) may occasionally contain natural forestlands and woodlands, resulting in substantial conversions of forestland to non-forest land. Regardless of their economic importance, such investments exacerbate deforestation. As an example, that of the Jardaga Jarte District in oromia region, large-scale agriculture investment and expansion is the main cause of deforestation, particularly for commercial sugarcane production [35]. With regard to the underlying drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, the report suggested that commercial agriculture and national policies are the main drivers where other factors are also under consideration. Forest policies, proclamations, related laws, and regulations are poorly implemented for a variety of reasons. Some of the barriers could be a lack of financial and human resources, as well as a lack of institutional capacity; the absence of proper implementation guidelines; and, for a long time, the structuring and restructuring of the forest governance system at the national and regional levels, limiting forest sector representation at the department or expert level.

The expansion of large-scale commercial agriculture and other development activities, such as road networks and megaprojects are the direct causes of deforestation in Ethiopia. The magnitude of such large-scale agricultural expansion on the forest resource of the country is very huge [36].

Unpredictable agricultural investment, which began shortly after 2010, is the most recent phenomenon causing widespread forest cover degradation in the area. According to respondents and key sources, this is the most pressing issue putting a strain on the remaining forests and the environment. According to Othow et al. [37] observations in the field, most farmlands were located near forests, allowing the farm owner access to surrounding forests. This issue is also consistent with Rahmato’s [11] report, which said that land leased to investors is located near national parks, protected regions, and forests. The primary causes of forest cover change in Gog district Gambella region is farm land expansion. It accounted about 33.4% over other causes (such as forest fire, population growth, illegal logging, charcoal and fuel production and poor governance) of forest cover change in this study area [37]. For instance, a recent report by Bekele et al. [38] looked that commercial agriculture as a major driver of deforestation and forest degradation in Ethiopia. Similarly, Getachew et al. [39] found that landscape changes in southwest Ethiopia have been rapid over the last 37 years. These changes included expansion of agricultural areas (including coffee farms, tea and Eucalyptus plantations, and small-scale cultivated lands) and decline of forest cover (Figure 1) [39].

Figure 1.

Rapid forest conversions for commercial tea, agricultures, settlements and infrastructure development in Southwest Ethiopia [39].

4.1.4.1 Biofuel development

According to a biofuel strategy document produced by the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the 24 million hectares of unutilized land suitable for growing bio ethanol and biodiesel can be leased out without interfering with food crop production or undermining the country’s food security goals. Its main goal is to employ indigenous resources to permit adequate biofuel production to replace imported petroleum and export excess goods. As a result, the government’s objective is for foreign and domestic investors to produce bioenergy, with the government providing land, financial incentives, and other assistance [40, 41].

The method utilized to estimate available land for such purposes is unclear, which is an issue. The amounts of land stated to be accessible for biofuels development in several regions were abnormally vast in comparison to the size of the regions. According to Anderson and Belay [40], the stated accessible acreage for production of biofuels crops in Gambela and Benshangul Gumuz was around 88% and 60% of the entire size of the regions, respectively. In such cases, there is the likelihood of allocating fertile lands or preserved forest areas for large-scale cultivation of energy crops.

According to the law, no project can start operation without approval given by the environmental protection authority. It had the responsibility of following up and supervising with the help of its subunits in the regions that contractual obligations were met about environmental considerations. But since 2009, even though the technical and institutional capacity of the ministry of agriculture and rural development to carry out the duties involved is questionable, the responsibility of environmental protection authority was transferred to the ministry of agriculture and rural development [11].

4.1.5 Increasing water resource supply and demand

The naturally limited supply of water resources in dryland regions of Ethiopia is a severe constraint for rural inhabitants. The GTP’s lofty governmental aims for agricultural intensification and hydropower development, with the ambition of becoming a middle-income country and developing a Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE), resulted into the construction of numerous large-scale dams in lowland regions. The increasing agricultural water off-take from a large-scale sugarcane plantation in Tendaho, Afar Region, built in 2009, has resulted in increased water scarcity for local pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, as well as disturbed discharge patterns and floodplain ecology, and has left downstream communities with insufficient water to irrigate their plots [42, 43, 44].

Ethiopia’s government is optimistic about the future excavation of huge aquifers in the lowlands. The lowlands of Amhara, Tigray, Afar, and Somalia are where the majority of unusable groundwater is suspected and somewhat studied. However, it is unclear if long-term aquifer exploitation would be sustainable and financially viable. Groundwater table declines have been documented in the Afar and Somali dryland regions [45].

4.1.6 Increasing water pollution

Water pollution due to pesticides, fertilizers, and insecticides, and the disposal of industrial waste has become a growing concern in dryland areas particularly for those pastoralists who use the river water for human consumption, for watering of their livestock, and irrigation. Most affected by the harmful consequences of this agro-industrial contamination are highly developed by commercialized farms and industries dryland Ethiopia particularly in the Awash central rift valley. The fluoride levels in the waters of the Ethiopian central rift valley are among the highest in the world, putting some 8 million people at risk of developing skeletal or dental fluorosis [46].

4.1.7 Impacts on wildlife

A considerable body of ecological research in arid and semi-arid areas in eastern Africa shows that the extensive land-use practices of pastoralists also have a major bearing on the conservation of savannah wildlife populations and ecosystems [47]. Aspects of sustainability enter the picture here. Pastoralism is crucial not just for conserving forest regions, but also for wildlife populations and the savannah plains they inhabit, due to the overall ecological compatibility of pastoralist livestock and wild large mammals [48]. As an example, the diversified wildlife is Gambella’s most valuable treasure, with over twenty wild animal species, some of which are of international value. Experts estimate the seasonal wildlife migration that occurs between Gambella and South Sudan to be Africa’s second-largest wildlife migration [49, 50].

4.1.8 Underutilization of land that is not covered by irrigation programs

This occurs when a small region along the river is made unavailable for dry season grazing, rendering a much larger area distant from the river worthless. If current development trends continue, the complete exploitation of the Awash Valley’s 200,000 irrigable hectares will leave many millions of hectares of desert and semi-desert unused since the only people or culture capable of using such land will no longer exist [42].

4.2 Factors influencing natural resources degradation

4.2.1 Governmental policies

The Ethiopian government has escalated its efforts to harness the lowlands’ natural riches by expanding large-scale irrigation agriculture and mining. The notion of the lowlands’ ‘untapped resources,’ enormous land resources, minerals, and underutilized irrigation potential, particularly from groundwater aquifers, is a significant rhetorical factor among political stakeholders in this regard. With global food costs rising since 2008 and rising national demands from a growing population, the conversion of communal dry season pastures into agricultural land has gained traction. This resulted in livestock exclusion from prime pastures and subsequent overstocking in less productive locations, resulting in disrupted livestock Spatio-temporal movement patterns [11, 51].

Water-led development is the overarching policy guiding government actions aimed directly at the rural population. It has been in effect in Afar and Somalia since 2010/11. Deep wells and water pipelines have been significant initiatives in this regard. The major strategic entry point for creating incentives for voluntary settlement of pastoralists and their subsequent transformation to agro-pastoralism is better water supplies. Through villagization and the construction of irrigated farmland, it intends to significantly alter land use and settlement patterns in arid and semi-arid regions. The government’s quest for sedentarization is rooted in a prevalent rhetoric among governmental stakeholders that sees pastoralist mobility as a cause of conflict and overgrazing. It is also considered that dryland areas have significant energy resources such as gas, oil, and geothermal sources, as well as minerals such as salt, gold, and potash.

International corporations (Australia, USA) are already mining gold and potash in the northern Afar Region, while Tigrayan investors control salt mining in the Danakil desert. Russian oil explorations in the Middle Awash region are ongoing, with the chance of enormous pasture fields being transformed if oil is discovered. Several oil explorations are also taking place in the Somali region. A Chinese corporation has just begun significant gas investigations in the Somali Region with the goal of addressing China’s expanding energy demands.

Generally, Ethiopia’s ill-designed development policy highly affects its natural resources particularly in dryland areas in which many development projects are established.

4.2.2 Increasing climate variability

Drought and floods are normal phenomena in arid and semi-arid regions of Ethiopia which affect reproduction rates of livestock and agricultural output significantly [52, 53, 54]. The drought in 2016 severely reduced the amount of water in the Awash River, jeopardizing large-scale sugarcane plantations, whose command area had to be reduced from 24,000 ha to 8000 ha, as observed during the field study by Rettberg, et al. [55]. As Fantini et al. [42] note out, “the lack of a systematic strategy to rangeland decision-making has done more to weaken prior levels of rangeland production than cyclical droughts could ever achieve.”

4.2.3 Weakening of customary rules

Pastoralists in the Afar and Somali Region stated that customary institutions which regulate the use of natural resources, for instance prohibitions of cutting of trees is becoming weaker. In Afar, for example, government officials recently restricted the use of Desso, exclusive clan-based grazing areas, to limit grazing intensity and protect access to feed during the dry season. At the same time, elders and clan leaders who are in charge of enforcing the rules are not as revered as they once were, particularly by the younger generation. The government is undercutting clan leaders but cannot replace these culturally ingrained organizations [55].

On the other hand, the increasing fragmentation and privatization of communal rangelands displaces pastoralists from valuable grazing areas onto less productive pastures and limits the mobility of livestock [56]. Under such conditions, uncontrolled, intensive grazing without appropriate rest of the rangelands has increased [41, 51, 57].

5. Conclusion

In general, the Ethiopian government has only vaguely recognized the support of the expansions of large-scale agricultural investments in dryland areas under the current policy of the country resulting in unsustainable natural resource utilization and accounted for a cause for its degradations. It is closely linked to and supported by policies aimed at expanding large-scale agricultural investment in dryland areas to increase production and productivity. The Ethiopian government has not yet accepted such policy support for the expansion of large agricultural investments without considering sustainable natural resource management. Factors accounting for natural resource degradation in these regions other than government policy are also climate variability and weakening of customary rules as well. The degradation and increasing scarcity of critical natural resources such as rangelands, soils, forests, water, and wildlife in dryland areas of Ethiopia is exacerbated due to the expansion of large agricultural investments. For instance, pastoral rangelands continue to be encroached upon by commercial irrigation schemes run by investors and increasing natural resource exploitation particularly in dryland areas of Afar Awash Valley, and at the same time affecting pastoralists’ livelihood. If Ethiopia’s rising population is to be fed and the natural resource base that underpins food production is to be sustained, agriculture must undergo a paradigm shift at all levels of research and development. The status quo is no longer an option. Agriculture, rather than just extending big agricultural investments in the country’s fragile dryland areas, can become part of the solution to sustainable development and natural resource management by transitioning to climate-resilient, low-emitting production systems. An integrated approach for agricultural production is the key to increased production on a sustainable basis. Finally, it is recommended that the development of sound strategic policy that contributes to environmentally more sustainable and socially inclusive large scale agricultural expansion in the drylands of Ethiopia should be operationalized in the current and future plans.