Abstract:
At a time when there was little documented knowledge on 'why' and
'how' things worked, indigenous knowledge and practices (IKP) were
passed by fathers and mothers to sons and daughters and in places have
accomplished feats that modern man has not yet duplicated. For
instance, drawing upon wild stock, those with IKP have developed the
major food plants and domesticated animals that are in use today. Their
IKP on inherently poor soils that had received little improved inputs
such as fertilizes have also provided the means for survival. All told,
they had to work under a setting where agriculture has been a gamble in
rainfall if only to keep body and soul together. This in itself is a great
feat! (61)
Now, however, the old and the new have met under the umbrella of
accelerated and environmentally-friendly sustainable development for
improved quality of life. Therefore, fast-track steps are being taken to
remove the prominent stumble??stumbling?? blocks through holistic
approach. Among these is definitive assessment of natural resources
including soils. Specific attention is als6 given to the glaring acute
deficiency of knowledge on the threatened but very extensive acidic soils
that constitute close to forty percent of the country. These are of great
importance to the subsistence sector that depends on native fertility for
mixed crop-livestock production.
On the other hand, at no time has agriculture in Ethiopia faced greater
challenges as today. Among others, it has a decisive role in the
attainment of food security where both excesses and shortfalls during
critical stages of crop growth have meant the difference between bounty
and stark starvation. It must even go beyond food security to usher
plenty at the face of staggering population growth. Then, not only has
the country to reverse this state of affair but also conquer new frontiers
through sustained management and utilization of resources. This would
allow market-oriented development to flourish and in the process
under-grid socio-economic growth. Further, at no time has agriculture
offered great opportunities and touched the lives of so many as it did
today to meet the gigantic increasing demand of its people. Again, at no
time has Ethiopia been so closely connected with world agriculture as it
is now to excel in quality products.
