Abstract:
In Ethiopia, pastoralists reside in semi-arid and arid lowlands. The longestablished
multifaceted isolation compounded with negative effects of climate
change, population growth and environmental degradation has severely
undermined pastoral economic systems, livelihoods and food security. The poor
integration of lowland and highland economic systems into the national
economy has potentially hindered economic growth and livelihood
diversification in pastoral systems.
On the basis of the existing conventional classification, about 61% of Ethiopia’s
land is lowland (below 1,500 meters above sea level), while 39% of it is
highland (1,500 meters and more above sea level). The highland is inhabited by
85% of the human and 75% of the livestock population of the country. The
lowland is climatically arid, semi-arid and sub-humid, while the highland is
predominantly sub-humid and humid. The lowlands are generally characterized
by relatively high temperature, drought, scarce rainfall and fragile arid and semiarid
ecology. The lowland-highland interface is a critical component of the
lowland and highland production systems comprising elevations ranging from
about 1,300 meters to 2,000 meters above sea level (Workneh, 2010). The
interface domain ranges climatically from semi-arid lowland to sub-humid
highland, and serve as platforms for economic and social interactions of
lowlanders and highlanders.
The highland farming system in Ethiopia is oriented mainly towards the
production of cereals and pulses, while the lowland system is engaged primarily
in livestock production. Livestock production in the lowlands occurs in mobile
pastoral and semi-mobile agro-pastoral systems in which both livestock and crop
components are important. The distribution of livestock across lowland and
highland systems in 2008 is shown in Table 1 below. As shown in the table,
pastoralists own about 11 million heads of cattle, 6.5 million sheep, 15.2 million
heads of goats and 2.3 million heads of camels in 2008.
