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Sustainable Agriculture Extension Manual
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Participatory land-use planning
Many tropical countries suffer from severe land degradation. As increasing population has put more pressure on land, fallow periods have been shortened and continuous cultivation is becoming more normal. Extensive deforestation and the use of animal dung for fuel and crop residues for fodder have drastically reduced the nutrient cycle. Severe soil erosion is evident, as over-cropping and grazing on steep and unprotected slopes continue. In many areas, rainfall is becoming scarcer and less reliable. Traditional farming systems are no longer able to meet farmers' subsistence needs. This means that families have less reliable sources of food.
Local people can begin to reverse this decline by planning their land-use as a community. The approach described here was developed by SOS Sahel's Wollo Agricultural Support Project in Meket district, northern Ethiopia (see Strengthening user rights).
Advantages
- Through participatory land-use planning, local people come to feel ownership of the plans. This means there is a chance that they will implement them willingly, and that the activities and impacts will be sustainable.
- The involvement of both outsiders and knowledgeable local experts means that realistic technical solutions to the problems can be decided on.
Disadvantages
- Implementing land-use plans involves a lot of work but typically yields benefits only in the long term. Ways must be found of providing short-term as well as long-term benefits.
- Poor management by village committees may make it difficult for them to follow their own plans. Additional follow-up may be necessary to assist such committees.
- It may be difficult to involve women in the decision-making processes.
Procedure
1. Collect and review useful materials, such as government policy and strategy guidelines, photomosaics, and slide films.
2. Hold a strategy workshop with key partners (eg, government
ministries and local authorities) to agree on the general framework of
the approach.
3. Form a team of 4-6 people to work in the field, and orient the team to the task.
4. Hold an initial meeting with all village or sub-catchment representatives and other stakeholders to explore their interest, explain the process, agree on planning units, and make appointments for the actual field work.
5. Hold meetings in each village or sub-catchment, field and farm visits. Work with the local people to produce an action plan in each place. It will take 3-4 days in each village or sub-catchment to complete the plan.
6. Form a district-level land-use committee to co-ordinate the plans and to resolve conflicts between villages or sub-catchments.
7. Train extension workers and farmers selected by each village.
8. Provide tools and materials which the farmers do not already have so they can implement the activities.
9. Assist the farmers to perform the work.
10. Monitor and evaluate the process.
Land-use planning in Meket district, Ethiopia
Meket district is located in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia.
It has very rugged terrain, ranging from 200 to 3400 m, and is subject
to severe soil erosion and resource degradation. The area is very isolated,
with only one all-weather road. The area is structurally food-insecure;
most of its population are subsistence farmers relying on rainfed agriculture
and livestock for survival.
SOS Sahel's Wollo Agricultural Support Project is working with staff of the zonal and district Ministry of Agriculture and the district administration to promote a farmer-led catchment protection approach. This participatory land-use planning and implementation approach is currently being practised in 3 kebeles (smaller administrative divisions within the district).
Planning
During a joint problem-analysis exercise carried out with villagers during participatory action planning, farmers said that natural resource degradation was a priority that they wanted to address. A strategic workshop in October 1996 involving SOS Sahel and officials from various levels of government designed and developed an appropriate methodology for community-based natural resource management. The workshop participants agreed that:
- Natural resource management and agricultural extension must go hand in hand if agricultural development was to be sustainable.
- Land-use plans should be designed by the farmers themselves in partnership with technical experts. They should be generated through joint analysis of problems and alternative solutions by combining indigenous and technical contributions.
- The final plans should be the responsibility and the ownership of farmers, and not the experts.
- The planning should be followed by immediate action.
At first, one kebele was chosen for a pilot study. Representatives from all the villages in the kebele were invited to an initial planning and orientation meeting. Aerial photo-mosaics at a scale of 1:5000 were used to identify the boundaries of individual catchments. This scale enabled farmers to recognize individual farms and houses. After some simple orientation, they were able to use the photo-mosaics with great confidence. They divided up the kebele into five main sub-catchments, and identified eight planning sub-groups that suited the local social boundaries.
Organization
The kebele farmers decided to establish village development committees to compile the village land-use plan, decide on bye-laws to implement soil- and water-conservation work, organize work groups and allocate tasks, and resolve conflicts among local groups.
All of the farmers in the kebele organized themselves into working groups through their village development committees. This involved a total of 1,665 farmers: 1,207 men and 458 women. Each working group was given particular responsibilities, and regular work schedules were drawn up. Communities were able to plan to work on their own catchment plans for at least 8 working days a month.
One representative from each village was elected to the kebele-level land-use co-ordinating committee. This committee is responsible for the co-ordination between villages and with neighbouring kebeles. Without outside encouragement, it has met regularly to appraise village plans and to discuss issues and resolve conflicts. The committee checks the village-level plans, returns them to the village committees if necessary with advice on how to improve them, and forwards them to the higher-level district authorities.
Results 
- Farmers in the kebele provided a total of 18,639 unpaid person days in the 6 months from February to July 1997. They built stone and soil bunds on 73 ha of land, constructed 2.7 km of check-dams, produced over 86,000 seedlings (and planted over 52,000), and protected two springs. Some 23 farmer-extensionists have been trained, a 1.2-ha site to demonstrate improved pastures established, and over 2,000 micro-basins have been dug.
- 72 farmers implemented integrated management plans on their own farms; this included contour bunding; planting of grass strips, forage materials and multi-purpose trees; composting; and crop diversification.
- The kebele farmers worked for nearly 6,000 person-days to build 4 km of road over very difficult terrain. For this work, they were paid 4 birr per day.
These results are notably higher than the work targets set in the same area by the government's Office of Agriculture. —For more information, contact Shitarek Tenna, SOS Sahel, Ethiopia.
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