3.3.1. Geography
Adaa woreda is one of the 15 woredas located within the Becho-Adaa Teff and Chickpea livelihood zone (FEG, 2008a). It is part of the Oromia regional state and is located 50 km south-east of Addis Ababa, on the highway to Awassa. It covers an area of 1,750 square km, and is characterized by three agro-ecological zones (Campbell, 2005; ILRI, 2005):
1. The Rift Valley zone which has an altitude that ranges from 1,500-1,800 meter above sea level (asl). It covers about 600 square km area of land and represents 34 percent of the Ada woreda.
2. The highland zone has an elevation of 1,800–2,000 m asl. It covers about 1000 square km of land and represents 57 percent of the study area.
3. The mountain zone is located over 2,000 m asl and covers 150 square km of land and accounts for 9 percent of the Ada woreda.
Such variation in agro-ecological zonation makes the Adaa woreda suited for production of a wide range of crops and diverse agricultural practices. Furthermore, there are seven crater lakes and nine rivers in the area that are being used for irrigation purposes (IWMI, 2006).
Debre Zeit is the major city of the Adaa woreda and is one of the study sites where the displaced household survey data were collected. It is characterized by a bimodal rainfall pattern. The short rainy season runs from March to April and the long rainy season occurs from June to September (ILRI, 2005). The average annual rainfall is 866 mm, with 74 percent falling between June and September (IWMI, 2006).
The average annual minimum and maximum temperature is 7.9 and 28 degrees Celsius, respectively, while the mean annual temperature is 18.9 Celsius (ILRI, 2005; IWMI, 2006). The soils in Adaa region area are predominantly black clay soil, commonly known as vertisol (ILRI, 2005) and locally referred to as Koticha.
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3.3.2. Population
Adaa wereda is moderately populated (FEG, 2008a). It has 27 kebeles with a population of 310,059 people, of which 51.7 percent are male and 48.3 percent are female (CSA, 2008). The population of the two study sites is 9,792. Qalittii Kebele (No. 20 on the map Fig.3.2) has 5,442 households of which 52.9 percent are male and 47.1 percent are female. Ude kebele (No. 23: Fig 23) has 4,350 households of which 51.7 percent are male and 48.3 percent are female (ibid). The average household size for the woreda is 5.6 (ibid), and size is positively correlated to wealth (FEG, 2008a).
3.3.2. Production System
The livelihood zone in Adaa woreda is referred to as a Teff-Chickpea livelihood zone (FEG, 2008a), where the production system comprises of both crops and livestock. This area is nationally known for its best quality teff (Eragrotis tef) production, and hence, teff production dominates the production system (FEG, 2008a). The yield of teff ranges from 1.2 tonnes/ha for the local variety to 2 tonnes/ha for improved varieties (Fufa, 2011). Short season crops like chickpeas (Cicer arietinum) are grown in the low land on residual moisture, and farmers also grow wheat (Triticum aestivum) and lentils (Lens culinaris) in sizeable quantities (ILRI, 2005; FEG, 2008a).
The average farm size per household is around 1.6 hectares (CSA, 2006), but ranges from 0 to 4 hectares (FEG, 2008a) showing significant variation among different wealth groups. Many farmers have access to irrigation water (IWMI, 2006), produce vegetables and have multiple harvests within a year (Alemayehu et al., 2010). Farmers in this woreda spend relatively more time in the field, because teff, which is the dominant crop, is labour intensive, as land preparation requires repeated cultivation and pulverization of soil before sowing and demands thorough removal of weeds (Tiruneh et al., 2001)
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Figure 3. 2: Location of Adaa Woreda (Debre Zeit)
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Livestock play an important role in the crop-livestock production system in Adaa woreda. According to the 2008 CSA estimate, there were 191,380 livestock (including cattle, sheep, goat, equines and poultry) in the region (CSA, 2008). Oxen are the most important species in this livelihood zone. They are the main draft animals used for ploughing land and threshing (Duncan, 2010). However, not all wealth groups have oxen for traction. Poor households that do not have oxen exchange labour for ox ploughing (FEG, 2008a).
Ownership of milking cows by the wealthy farmers is common. Cows are kept for milk (mainly for home consumption) and calf production for replacement of oxen (Duncan, 2010). Almost all wealth groups own sheeps, goats, hens and equines (FEG, 2008a). In the past, the majority of livestock grazed on communal pastoral lands. However, these lands are now reduced because of urban expansion, large scale flower and vegetable farms, and are also heavily stocked and overgrazed (Duncan, 2010). For these reasons, the better-off farmers in the area keep their cattle in simply-built circular sheds within their compounds and rely heavily on crop residue and concentrate from the market for feeding their livestock (ibid). The farmers in this region have several challenges. Shortages of farm land (ILRI, 2005), labour unavailability during the peak farming season (Asfaw et al., 2010), lack of input supply for livestock (Tegegne et al., 2010), unavailability and high price of inputs used in crop production (Fufa, 2011), and limited access to credit markets (Admasu and Paul, 2010) have been reported as determinants of this crop-livestock production system. Thus, the number of livestock and the size of arable land owned are the major determinants of wealth (FEG, 2008a).
3.3.3. Trade
Debre Zeit is the major business town in Adaa liben woreda situated just 50 km south east of Addis Ababa. It is located on the major trade route and well linked to markets in Adama and Addis Ababa. Thus, farmers have good opportunities to sell their produce. In addition to the main market in Debre Zeit town, there are about nine major open market places in the woreda (Shiferaw and Hailemariam, 2007). Farmers have the opportunity to sell their produce (teff, wheat, chickpeas, maize and livestock) directly to customers or wholesalers within two hours’ walking distance (Gebremedhin and Hoekstra, 2008).
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However, the market for vegetable crops such as onions and tomatoes is still a challenge (Alemayehu et al., 2010). For the most part, farmers rely on brokers to sell these products. Sale of the crop starts right after the harvest. Harvest season for teff and wheat is October and November, for chickpeas it is December and sales of livestock reach a peak level from July to September (FEG, 2008a). Many farmers use improved seeds, fertilizers and agro-chemicals; these inputs are supplied mostly on a cash basis from the market or through cooperatives (Fufa, 2011).
3.3.4. Food security situation
Teff, wheat, maize and chickpea are the main food crops in the study area. The better-off and middle class consume mainly teff and wheat, of which more than 80 percent of their food comes from own production (FEG, 2008a). The poor rely on wheat, maize and chickpea. The latter group does not have the luxury of eating teff, and obtain about 60 percent of their annual food requirements from own production (ibid). The consumption of livestock products such as meat, milk, and egg increases with wealth, thus the poor are prone to malnutrition and undernourishment (Melesse and Beyene, 2009). To meet their annual food requirement, all groups depend on the market (FEG, 2008a).
About 85 percent of households’ annual cash income is generated through the sale of cereal crops, mainly Teff and wheat (ibid). Therefore, teff and wheat are not only important food crops, but are also major sources of cash income. About 42-80 percent of Teff produced is sold and the proportion sold increases with the decrease in the size of land covered with Teff (Gebremedhin and Hoekstra, 2008). On the other hand, 47 percent of wheat produced is sold to generate cash income (ibid).
The contribution of livestock products, mainly milk, butter, eggs and cheese, to household income is very small; they are mostly used for home consumption (FEG, 2008a). However, Melesse and Beyene (2009) reported that farmers living close to town sell most of their animal products because of their higher demand for cash, and thus, proximity to the cities affects animal protein consumption patterns.
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