Drivers, farmers’ responses and landscape consequences of smallholder farming systems changes in southern Ethiopia

Agricultural landscapes in sub-Saharan Africa are dynamic and are shaped by farmers' land use decisions and livelihood strategies over time. Farmers’ decisions are influenced by the opportunities and constraints emanating from different socio-economic, biophysical, and political drivers. Ethiopia is now the second most populated country in Africa with more than 100 million people and an annual population growth rate of 3%. Here, we assess how the on-going expansion of arable land and urban areas is affecting the availability of common resources, such as forest and grazing land, and the availability of biomass for food, feed, and energy. Taking the Hawassa area of Sidama zone, Ethiopia as a study case, this study aims at analysing the drivers of change of farming systems, assessing farmers’ responses to these drivers and appreciating the consequences for the agricultural landscapes’ composition. We found that (i) national level policies, climate and soil fertility changes, population increase, and urban expansion were major drivers of farming systems change in the Hawassa area, (ii) forests and grasslands have been progressively replaced by cropland and urban areas, and (iii) these changes resulted in fragmentation and diversification of local agricultural landscapes with potential consequences for ecosystem service provision. Farmers responded with the following three main livelihood strategies: consolidation (maintaining food crops and livestock), diversification (combining agricultural and off-farm activities) and specialisation (increase in cash crop production). This research contributes to the ongoing debate about the viability of small farms.