Protection of Awassa Lake through Sustainable Management of Surrounding Area

Aims of the project: 

Unsustainable land management, erosion, soil degradation, and landscape pollution are among the main problems Ethiopia is facing recently. As a result of poor landscape management, mainly due to deforestation, stripping of slopes by grazing, and subsequent erosion, the overall damage to the environment is alarming. Therefore, the project aims to improve the environmental conditions of the Awassa lake and its surrounding through the implementation of sustainable landscape management, reduction of water pollution, and clogging of the lake.  

Outputs of the project: 

• Spatial planning adopted by officials and communities
• Built-in functional protection oftheAwassa lake 
• Newly established and revitalized urban greenery 
• Rehabilitation of degraded areas and their subsequent sustainable management
• Improving land management by introducing innovations in agriculture and forestry

At the end of the project, people of 11 kebeles will be able to manage their land in a sustainable way respecting the landscape. At least 370 ha of the land will be rehabilitated, reducing the percentage of degraded land around the lake by a minimum of 50%. Four kilometers of protection zone will prevent soil and waste from being flushed in the lake. The final group of beneficiaries consists of about 340 directly + 5,500 indirectly affected households, counting for at least 27,500 inhabitants, including children.  

Contacts: 

Zbyněk Polesný, innovations for sustainable agriculture and local food systems (polesny@ftz.czu.cz) 

Anna Maňourová, domestication, crop diversification and agroforestry (manourova@ftz.czu.cz)