The crop-livestock mixed farming system of the highlands of Degem: the case of Genda Sheno and Anno Kerie areas

A participatory rural appraisal (PRA) was conducted by a multidisciplinary team of researchers in two peasant associations (PAS), Genda Sheno and Anno Kerie, in the highlands of Northwest Shewa, Degem Woreda. The objectives of the study were to understand the production environment, identify and prioritize production constraints and suggest solutions together with farmers. The study showed that land, labor, oxen and other livestock are the major farm resources that determine rural livelihoods and social differentation. On the base of these resource endowments, households of the study area have been grouped into four wealth categories namely, rich, medium, poor and very poor. Informal land markets are developed in order to efficiently utilize land, oxen, labor and other resources of the study area. Mutual support networks such as idir, mehabir, debbo and wonfel play a crucial role as a means of sharing information, poolint resources, acquiring credit opportunities and setting disputes. Crops could be grown both in the short rainy seasons, belg, wheat, cultivated oat, faba bean, linseed, field pea and lentil. Barley is the most important cereal crop covering about half of the total cultivated land followed by wheat. A number of improved varieties of wheat and barley have been introduced to the area among which a few are currently under production. Livestock production is an integral part of the farming system of the study area. Among others, dairy production has become the most important enterprise due to the introduction of crossbred/high-grade dairy cows resulting in the creation of market oriented dairy production enterprise.Natural constraints in the study area include unreliable rainfall, water logging, frost, dry wind and poor soil fertility. Overtime, farmers have developed techniques and management strategies to optimise resource use and to mitigate the effects of these constraints. These generally include selecting the most appropriate land use (cropping or grazing); selecting crops and/or varieties; and selecting cropping seasons and topo-locations with a low incidence of frost. Besides these broad crop and livestock management strategies a number of season and crop specific management practices have been evolved over time. Farmers use several of the practices both in the belg and meher seasons so as to efficiently utilize scare land resources, minimize risk and stabilize grain production.