Department of Agricultural and Resources Economics

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    Impact of War on Physical Soil and Water Conservation Structures, Vegetation Cover, and Community Livelihoods in Raya Azebo District, Tigray, Ethiopia
    (Mekelle University, 2024-11-21) Atakilti Eyasu
    Decades of human pressure on agricultural lands have led to significant environmental degradation, particularly in the Tigray region, where erosion has resulted in an annual loss of 1.5 billion tons of soil. Despite efforts in soil and water conservation (SWC) and landscape rehabilitated, the conflict in Tigray has exacerbated environmental damage, affecting forest cover and conservation structures. This study evaluates the impact of war on soil and water conservation (SWC) structures and vegetation cover in the Raya Azebo district, Southern Tigray, Ethiopia. Data were collected from two conflict-affected kebeles, Hawelti and Ebo, through household surveys, key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FGDs), field observations, and satellite imagery. The study employed satellite data from Landsat 7, 8, and 9 to assess vegetation cover changes between 2000, 2020 and 2022 using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI). 267 households were selected through random sampling method, four focus group discussion purposively selected and five key informant interviews were conducted, and the data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 and ArcGIS 10.8.1. The study shows that male is dominance in land management, and agriculture as the primary livelihood. War has exacerbated socio-economic vulnerabilities, limiting the adoption of sustainable practices. The findings underscore the urgent need for post-conflict rehabilitation to restore SWC structures, promote sustainable land management and improve agricultural productivity. The results show significant war-induced damage to SWC structures, with 46.9% of systems in Ebo and 53.2% in Hawelti partially or fully destroyed. This led to increased soil erosion, reduced agricultural productivity, and heightened food insecurity. Vegetation cover analysis from revealed improvements in Ebo exhibited improvement until 2020, but faced post-war setbacks, while Hawelti showed pre-war progress and post-war challenges. These results stress the need for customized management strategies. Ebo's NDVI values ranged from -0.3 to 0.33 in 2000, peaking at 0.50 in 2020, but dropping to 0.484 in 2022 due to wartime activities. Similarly, EVI rose from 0.387 in 2000 to 0.432 in 2020, declining slightly to 0.412 in 2022