News

Article in ScienceDirect: The impact of soil and water conservation practices in Ethiopia

Published: 01 November 2023

A review of 120 publications on soil erosion in the Ethiopian Highlands is made to evaluate the effectiveness of soil and water conservation practices to identify possible research gaps.

SLU researchers Jennie Barron and Louise Malmquist at the Department of Soil and Environment recently published an article in ScienceDirect together with colleagues from Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Accra, Ghana, Alliance of Biodiversity International and CIAT, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.

Highlights from the article:

  • Soil and Water Conservation Practices (SWCPs) reduce short-term soil loss.
  • The long-term effect of many SWCPs is questionable, especially in humid regions.
  • Forestation is effective; gully sediment losses negate upstream SWCP benefits.
  • Watershed simulations of SWCP overestimate the decrease in offsite soil loss.
  • SWCPs should also be evaluated by long-term experiments in catchments.

Read the full article:
A critical analysis of soil (and water) conservation practices in the Ethiopian Highlands: Implications for future research and modeling - ScienceDirect

 


Contact

Jennie Barron
Professor at the Department of Soil and Environment
jennie.barron@slu.se

Louise Malmquist
Doctoral Student at the Department of Soil and Environment; Agricultural water management
louise.malmquist@slu.se