Mitiku Haile

Soil and water conservation in Tigray (Northern Ethiopia): the traditional dagat technique and its integration with introduced techniques

Between the cultivated fields in the highlands of Tigray, one finds, besides the recently introduced stone bunds, many lynchets, with a height ranging from 0·3–3 m. Grasses occupy the riser and a more or less large strip on the shoulder. n n n nTraditionally, farmers established an untilled strip of about 2 m wide at the lower plot limit. This grass strip reduced runoff velocity, allowed for water to infiltrate and trapped sediment. Year after year, these lynchets, locally called dagat, continued to grow. In this study, the dagat technique is characterized and its evolution and reasons for partial destruction are outlined. Stereoscopic aerial photo analysis shows for the study area near Hagere Selam (13 °39′N, 39 °10′E, 2650 m a.s.l.) that 20·7 per cent of the major dagats (more than 1 metre high) have disappeared between 1974 and 1994. These lynchets, however, remain an important linear element in the landscape (22·7 m ha−1, i.e. their density on cultivated fields is much higher). Of the smaller lynchets, a great proportion has been levelled in order to increase plot surfaces and spread fertile soil over the field. Famines and impoverishment caused the farmers to increase short-term agricultural production in this way. n n n nSince the 1980s, the farmers built stone bunds on most of the cultivated land. Their average length equals 56·1 m ha−1 in the study area. The establishment of stone bunds results in the development of small terraces. Especially during recent years, there is a tendency to integrate the traditional knowledge of dagat with the building of stone bunds. n n n nA quantitative assessment of the effectiveness of both techniques must be made. Copyright