Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and its population of more than 70 million people lives mostly in the highlands. The food security of these people is threatened by land degradation and droughts that cause declining and highly variable land productivity. Changes in the global climate may also have caused an increase in the incidence of drought that has occurred recently in areas that were not affected by the earlier droughts.

Under the regimes of Idi Amin (1971–79) and Milton Obote (1980–85), Uganda’s economy plunged into a prolonged crisis with negative real growth rates of GDP (Baffoe 2000). In 1987, under Yoweri Musevini, the Ugandan government introduced an economic recovery program in cooperation with the IMF and the World Bank, aiming at market liberalization, privatization, and de-centralization.

Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa suffer from problems related to poverty, natural resource degradation, and the complex interactions between these phenomena (Cleaver and Schreiber 1994). In the northern Ethiopian highlands of Tigray region, problems of poverty and degradation are extremely severe: population density is very high, rainfall is scarce and erratic, and soil fertility is low. Under such conditions, farmers need to rely on external inputs and soil conservation practices in order to stabilize or increase yields.

This chapter focuses on the management of agricultural land by smallholder households in the highlands of Kenya. It draws mainly from several recent studies from the central highland areas near to the south and west of Mt. Kenya and the western highland areas to the north and west of Kisumu, which were led by the authors. The chapter also draws from a set of studies under the KAMPAP project.1 See the appendix for a description of the key papers used in this synthesis.

Livestock have diverse functions for the livelihood of farmers in mixed croplivestock systems in the highlands of East Africa. Livestock provide food in the form of meat and milk, nonfood items such as draft power, manure, and transport services as inputs into food crop production, and fuel for cooking. Livestock are also a source of cash income through sale of the above items, animals, hides, and skins. Furthermore, they act as a store of wealth and determine social status within the community.

Participants in this workshop reviewed and discussed findings from the research project‚ Policies for Sustainable Land Management in the Highlands of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, begun in January 1998, and from other related research being conducted in the highlands of Tigray by Mekelle University and its collaborators.

Land degradation is a severe problem in the densely populated highlands of East Africa and elsewhere on the African continent. Soil erosion resulting from cultivation on steeply sloping terrain, mining of soil fertility due to continuous cultivation with limited application of inorganic or organic sources of soil nutrients, and deforestation and overgrazing of rangelands are among the key factors causing low agricultural productivity, widespread poverty, and food insecurity in the region.

This book includes a series of studies of income strategies, land use, and agricultural dynamics and their impacts on welfare and natural resources in the highlands of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. There are several reasons for focusing on the highlands. First, the complex problems of severe poverty, low productivity, and poor natural resource management seem to be the rule rather than the exception. This is critical because the highlands support the majority of rural populations in the region. Second, within the highlands are some of the most densely populated areas in all of Africa.

In the recent past, the image of agricultural and environmental crises in Sub- Saharan Africa (SSA) has become increasingly common. Soil erosion and soil fertility loss are considered to be negatively affecting the productive capacity of the agricultural systems (Giller et al. 1997; Sanchez et al. 1997; Smaling, Nandwa, and Janssen 1997).

Low agricultural productivity, poverty, and land degradation are critical and closely related problems in the Ethiopian highlands. These problems are particularly severe in the highlands of Tigray in northern Ethiopia. Cereal yields average less than 1 ton per hectare in this region, and over half of the area of the Tigray highlands has been characterized as severely degraded, according to one study (Hurni 1988).1 The average farm size is only 1 hectare, and most households subsist on incomes of less than $1 per day (based on results of the survey discussed in this chapter).

This 2014–2015 Global Food Policy Report is the fourth in an annual series that provides a comprehensive overview of major food policy developments and events. In this report, distinguished researchers, policymakers, and practitioners review what happened in food policy in 2014 at the global, regional, and national levels, and—supported by the latest knowledge and research—explain why. This year’s report is the first to also look forward a year, offering analysis of the potential opportunities and challenges that we will face in achieving food and nutrition security in 2015.

This 2012 Global Food Policy Report is the second in an annual series that provides an in-depth look at major food policy developments and events. Initiated in response to resurgent interest in food security, the series offers a yearly overview of the food policy developments that have contributed to or hindered progress in food and nutrition security. It reviews what happened in food policy and why, examines key challenges and opportunities, shares new evidence and knowledge, and highlights emerging issues.