The escalating prices of protein concentrate supplements and increasing demand for dairy products in Ethiopia call for preservation of surplus forage during the growing season, to be fed to dairy cows at time of feed shortage. The objective of this on-farm study was to evaluate the nutritive quality of Napier and Desho grass silages with tree legume (sesbania) and herbaceous legumes (alfalfa, lablab, and faba bean) as legume components. Napier or Desho grasses were ensiled in bags with each legume at 0, 20, 30 and 40% inclusion levels (fresh weight). Replicates included nine and six farms in Mecha and Ad’aa districts, respectively. Silage bags were opened after 60 days, samples were taken for chemical analyses and evaluated for physical features. Data were analyzed using a completely randomized design in SPSS and differences among means separated using Duncan’s. Silages were firm at Mecha and fairly firm at Ada’a. No mold appeared. pH values varied from 3.94 to 4.5 and increased ( p < 0.001) with increasing levels of legume inclusion. The crude protein values followed a similar pattern to that of the pH. The fiber contents, NDF ( p < 0.001) and ADF ( p < 0.05/ p < 0.01) declined while that of ADL increased ( p < 0.001) with increasing legume inclusion levels. The different legume-based silages were assessed as highly palatable and revealed that the use of tree and herbaceous legumes can improve the nutritive quality of grasses.

The threat of bush encroachment on community livelihoods and economy in range lands of Fentale district in Ethiopia is not well known. So, this study was conducted to evaluate the impact of bush encroachment and its stress on livestock daily milk yield and pastoral livestock production of the district. The data of household livestock holding and its production, household income sources, expenditure, etc. was obtained from district pastoral and agro-pastoral office and the respective pastoral communities. The data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussion and key informant interviews. The data was analyzed through descriptive statistics and regression analysis using Minitab Software. The result revealed that there was an alarming rate increasing of bush encroachment coverage and positive association (P < 0.05) with camel and goat population than cattle and sheep population (P > 0.05) in the study district. Results of current study also revealed that a positive correlation between increasing coverage of bush encroachment and mean daily milk yield of livestock (i.e. cattle, goat and camel) in the study areas. Pastoral producers also perceived the impact of bush encroachment on livestock population trend and milk production in all study sites and applied different adaptation strategies (like feed supplementation and mobility). It is recommended that appropriate intervention options (like bush thinning) of government and other stakeholders is needed to alleviate the current economic bush related challenges of pastoral producers and save the loosing natural resources, even by amendment of pastoral production related policies and its implementation

This paper aimed to assess the vegetation structures and diversities in grazing land of the Abijata Shalla Lake National Park in Ethiopia. The stratification was done before sampling based on grazing intensity and the random sampling techniques were used. The two grazing intensities* 12 sampling site* five plots per sample site=120 samples were used. The 10m*10m, 5m*5m and 1m*1m plot size were used for trees, shrubs and herbaceous respectively. The indivudal abundance, density and important value index of each plant species were estimated. The height of woody vegetation was estimated by clinometers and the DBH at 1.3m and 0.3m by caliper for tree and shrubs respectively. The proportions of desirable and undesirable species, richness and diversity with the life form of herbaceous were determined. Then, the fresh weight of biomass was clipped and sub-sample were oven dried at 105 o C for 24hr to determine the dry matter. A total of 64 species, that belonged into 27 families were identified, whereas 24 were woody and 40 were herbaceous. The height of woody vegetation ranges from 2m to 25m and classified into five classes as (2-5m, 5.1-10m, 10.1-15m,15.1-20m and 20.1-25m). The DBH also classified into six as (<10 cm, 10-20cm, 20-30cm, 30-40cm, 40-50cm and >50cm). The high proportions of (45.35%) woody species found in (10-20cm) DBH classes in the heavy grazed area and (38.78%) in the low grazed area. The densities of woody trees decrease as the height and the DBH increases. Furthermore, the herbaceous species have a significant variation (P<0.05) of species richness, diversity and evenness with grazing intensities. Generally, the high grazing intensity has negative impacts on the vegetation structure, diversity and vegetation biomasses. Therefore, the sustainable management and intervention of community based conservation was suggested to improve the ecosystem and abundances of vegetations.

In the lowlands of arid and semiarid rangelands woody plants plays an important role in soil fertility maintenance, providing food, medicine, cosmetics, fodder, fuel wood and pesticides. A better understanding of the interaction of woody plants on their immediate environment is needed to guide optimum management of native vegetation in the production landscapes. However, the response of herbaceous vegetation to woody plant species remains poorly understood. This study evaluates the impact of two dominant woody plant species (Acacia senegal and Balanite aegyptica) on herbaceous vegetation in rangelands of eastern Ethiopia. Eighteen trees of relatively the same diameter at breast height were selected to study the effect of the tree on herbaceous vegetation. Vegetation sample data were collected from under canopy and open areas, and analysed for herbaceous vegetation parameters using two ways ANOVA. The herbaceous vegetation parameters under both woody plant species was significantly higher especially with regard to dry matter (101.3±0.97g/m2), basal cover (65.02±0.7%) and species richness (6.9±0.1211 no. species/m2) than the open grassland with dry matter (74.2±0.72g/m2), basal cover (50.53±0.67%) and species richness (5.3±0.11 no. species/m2). The species composition of herbaceous species also showed significant improvements under woody plant canopy with regard to percentage composition of perennial grasses (0.40%) than the open grassland with percentage composition of perennial grasses (0.27%). The positive effect woody plant presence can be also ascribed to some understory species such as Cenchrus ciliaris, Panicum maximum and Eragrostis papposa which have a good pastoral value, grow better under woody plants. Presence of woody plants facilitates the establishment of more palatable herbaceous vegetation under unfavorable climatic conditions that characterize these environments. Therefore, this tree has a significant effect on herbaceous vegetation improvement in resource poor rangelands and as a result, it is important to retain scattered A. senegal and B. aegyptica plants in the rangelands of eastern Ethiopia.

Water hyacinth was officially reported in Ethiopia in 1956 at Koka Dam and Awash River and it is considered as a constraint to the development of the country. Thus, this study was undertaken to determine Water hyacinth and associated land cover/use changes, and capture perceptions regarding community-based management to enhance its proper control/eradication in Lume and Boa districts, east Shoa zone, Ethiopia using integrated approach. The method of study included Water hyacinth and associated land use/cover change analyses, focus group discussions, discussions with experts at the district, zone and region levels and undertaking consultative workshop. The land use/land cover change analyses revealed increased area coverage by Water hyacinth from about 145.53 ha in 1986 to 2319.48 ha in 2015 with decline in the area of water bodies and wetlands. The annual rate of increase in the area of the weed was about 51.51% while water bodies and wetlands declined by about 0.49% and 1.16%, respectively. Of the 10 group discussions undertaken in the study districts with the communities, 9 of them reported water hyacinth to increase in terms of area coverage since its appearance in their areas which concurs the results obtained from satellite image analyses and they reported the weed to be very harmful to their livelihood. Furthermore, the nine group discussants disclosed water hyacinth to be of no use to them. Recommendations included developing comprehensive management strategies and action plans, analysis and defining roles of each stakeholder, awareness creation, training, institutional linkages, co-management and reduction of nutrient load in water bodies.

Traditional area enclosures are widely used by pastoralists in East Africa. However, the response of basic soil properties to the establishment of traditional enclosure management remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of area enclosure on soil organic carbon and total nitrogen stock in the Bordade rangelands, eastern Ethiopia. The soil samples were collected from twelve area enclosures and openly grazed areas at a depth of 0 to 15 and 15 to 30 cm. The samples were analyzed for soil organic carbon, total nitrogen and bulk density. Establishment of area enclosure had significantly more 27.5% soil organic carbon and 27.5% total nitrogen stock compared with the area outside area enclosure. Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen stock were significantly higher in the top 0 to 15 cm soil layer compared with 15 to 30 cm subsoil. Overall, the study showed that establishment of rangeland enclosures and the short-term resting period followed by dry season grazing at light stocking rate has the potential to improve soil organic carbon and total nitrogen stock, which is an option for realizing positive vegetation changes that support the local pastoral economy in the semiarid rangelands of eastern Ethiopia. Key words: Carbon sequestration, enclosures, sequestration, total nitrogen stock.

In the lowlands of arid and semiarid rangelands woody plants plays an important role in soil fertility maintenance, providing food, medicine, cosmetics, fodder, fuel wood and pesticides. A better understanding of the interaction of woody plants on their immediate environment is needed to guide optimum management of native vegetation in the production landscapes. However, the impact of woody plant species on soil properties remains poorly understood. This study evaluates the impact of two dominant woody plant species (A. senegal and B. aegyptica) on soil physico-chemical properties along grazing gradients in rangelands of eastern Ethiopia. Six trees of each species were selected from light, moderate and heavy grazing sites. Soil sample data at two depths (0-15 and 16-30 cm) were collected from under and open areas of A. senegal and B. aegyptica from each grazing sites, and analysed for nutrient contents. The nutrient status of soil under both woody species was significantly higher especially with regard to soil organic matter (4.37%), total nitrogen (0.313%), and available phosphorus (11.62) than the open grassland with soil organic matter (3.82%), total nitrogen (0.246%), and available phosphorus (10.94 mg/Kg soil) for A. Senegal. The soil organic matter (3.93%), total nitrogen (0.285%), available phosphorus (11.66 mg/Kg soil) were significantly higher than open grassland with soil organic matter (3.52%), total nitrogen (0.218%), available phosphorus (10.73 mg/Kg soil) for B. aegyptica. This was more pronounced in the top 15 cm of soil under A. senegal woody plant species and on the light and moderate grazing site. Therefore, this tree has a significant effect on soil fertility improvement in resource poor rangelands and as a result, it is important to retain scattered A. senegal and B. aegyptica plants in the lowlands of eastern Ethiopia.

The study was carried out in Meta Robi district, West Shewa Zone, Oromia Regional State to identify the types of livestock feed resources and estimate annual feed produced, maintenance requirement and annual feed balance. Secondary data sources and field observations, key informants discussions and semi-structured questionnaire interview were employed to generate data. The district was stratified into upper, mid and lower altitudes and a total of 90 respondents (upper=30, mid=30 and lower=30) were randomly selected and interviewed individually. The results of the study indicated that the major feed resources were grazing of natural pasture (58.9%), wheat straw (42.4%), barley straw (30%) and hay (21.1%). During the dry season, 90% of the respondents feed their animals crop residues, hay (55.6%) and stubble grazing (35.6%). Natural pasture was the major feed source during the wet season. The total maintenance DM of feed requirement of the animals in the district was 388,859.8 tons while the actual DM of feed production was 212,047.15 tons. The total DM of feed produced per year fulfilled the maintenance requirement of the animals only for 6.54 months of the year in the district. According to the opinion of the sampled households, in the rest of the year, animals suffer from feed shortage which resulted in weight loses, mortality and milk reduction.

Free grazing/browsing Arsi-Bale kids in dry season were supplemented with different levels of dried pigeon pea (Cajanus cajun) leaves to study its effect on weight gain. Kids browsed freely (PP0), and/or supplemented with 66 g (PP66), 99 g (PP99) and 132 g (PP132 PP) of sun dried pigeon pea leaves. Supplementation significantly (P<0.05) increased average daily gain of kids but there was no significant (P<0.05) difference between kids supplemented with PP99 and PP132 g in terms of total weight gain. There was a significance difference among treatments for net profit and the highest net profit was obtained for PP99. Therefore, supplementing kid with PP99 dried pigeon pea leaves was found to be the most profitable level for rift valley kid under farmer condition in dry season. Key words: Cajanus cajun, kids, weight gain.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, rangeland is increasingly converted to cropland, creating diverse crop-livestock practices in different environments. As these practices lead to highly adapted livestock production systems using resources that vary locally and seasonally, not much is known about their similarities and differences. We assessed different crop-livestock systems through 60 semistructured interviews in lowlands (<1700 m.a.s.l), mid-altitude ranges (~2000 masl), and highlands (>2400 m.a.s.l) around the Rift Valley, Ethiopia. Average livestock numbers per household were higher in lowlands (43) and highlands (18), where access to communal grazing lands was possible. Cattle dominated at all sites, draught oxen numbers increased with available cropping land per household. All sites used crop residues as supplemental feed. Dung was used as manure in most households, as fuel is used only in higher regions. Our study showed that crop-livestock practices and livestock numbers can be explained by altitude but also by the availability of private and communally used land. Further practices should include growing fodder legumes, crop rotations, and intercropping, which might support a reduced-tillage system and reduce numbers of environmentally costly draught oxen.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, rangeland is increasingly converted to cropland, creating diverse crop-livestock practices in different environments. As these practices lead to highly adapted livestock production systems using resources that vary locally and seasonally, not much is known about their similarities and differences. We assessed different crop structured interviews in lowlands (<1700 m masl), and highlands (>2400 m.a.s.l) around the Rift Valley, Ethiopia. Average livestock numbers per household were higher in lowlands (43) and highlands (18), where access to communal grazing lands was possible. Cattle dominated at all sites, draught oxen numbers increased with available household. All sites used crop residues as supplemental feed. Dung was used as manure in most households, as fuel showed that crop-livestock practices and livestock numbers can be explained by altitude but also by the availability of private and communally used land. Further practices should include growing fodder legumes, crop rotations, and intercropping, which might support a reduced numbers of environmentally costly draught oxen.

The aim of this study was to identify potential browsespeciesin the midRift Valley of Ethiopia andtoassesstheir nutritive value .A total o f 120 householdfrom four districts inthe midRiftValley of Ethiopia were interviewedto identify locally important browse species .Herbarium samples werecollectedforidentification and/or confirmation of thescientific name s. Sampleswere also takenforchemical composition analysis .A total of18different browsespecies were identified ,whichareregarded as being important for different classes oflivestock. The CPvalue of the edible componentranged between 8.95-20.9%,theNDF valuesrangedfrom30.41-78.55%,theADF valuesrangedfrom19.4247.5%.,and the ADL valuesranged from7.16to 24.68.Generally t he differencesin chemical composition between different browse species were significant.These results indicate that there isa number of promisi ng browse species in the indigenous flora. However, apart from chemical composition, theyneed to be characterized further in terms of palatability, digestibility, feed intake, animal response trials and anti -nutritional factors, in order to be able to enh ance

Tree play crucial role in arid and semi arid rangeland and pastoralists depend heavily on woody plants for multiple uses. However, there is limited information regarding to woody plants in Rayitu rangeland of South East Ethiopia. The objectives of the study were to document traditional use of woody plants, assess woody plant structure and examine relationship between woody plants density with rangeland condition parameters, bare ground cover, and biomass production. A structured questionnaire (90 households), focused group discussions and field observations were used to gathered data. Data on woody plant composition, density, frequency, canopy cover, plant height, desirability and browsing effect was gathered from 72 belt transects (50mx4m) laid across three grazing types and two elevation zones. The most dominant use of woody plants was for construction (91%), followed by browse (68%) and medicinal purposes (25%). About 80% of the respondents replied the woody plant vegetation cover has declined. Drought (52.8%), deforestation for the expansion of farmland (39.2%) and construction purposes (26.8%) were the major causes. A total of 45 woody species were identified in the grazing area. The mean density of woody species (plants/ha) were (p 2–5 m regardless of grazing type and altitude belt. Emphasis on conservation of desirable plants and control of bush encroachment through selective thinning are recommended.

This study was conducted with the objective to identify untapped herbaceous flora that were used as livestock feed and to determine their chemical composition in wet season. Twelve peasant associations (PAs) and a total of 120 households were selected for the study. Key informants were also used for vernacular name identification and utilization. Samples were also taken from their edible parts for analysis of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), total ash, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), cellulose and lignin. A total of 17 different herbs and forbs were identified which have a feed value for different livestock species. The CP values of species ranged between 10.9 to 27.86% with the highest value being recorded in Sida ovata Forssk. while the lowest value was recorded in Gutenbergia rueppellii Sch.Bip. The NDF value ranged from 26.1 to 53.16%. The highest NDF value was recorded in G. rueppellii Sch.Bip. and the lowest was recorded in Achyranthus aspera L. Generally, the differences within species and among different species in terms of chemical composition of these browses was significant. Some of them contain crude protein content of more than 190 g/kg DM, which has a capacity of supplementing poor quality roughages.