Centre for Sustainable and Resilient Communities (CSRC)

Girma Gedeno is Chairman of Shato PLC, an enterprise in Masha marketing honey.  Development of this trading enterprise has had a big impact on the lives of it's members.  Income generated has been used for schooling and healthcare.  As Ato Girma says ’livelihoods are being changed’.

In the last seven years honey volumes purchased by the PLC have risen from 15,000 to 136,000 kilos. The NTFP- PFM project has supported the enterprise with training on beekeeping, marketing and quality control, enabling them to negotiate an increase in the price per kilo from ET Birr 3 to ET Birr 48.  The PLC now has a strong relationship with an Addis-based honey export company with links to the EU and other markets.  This year they will receive an up-front payment of ET Birr 500,000 for their honey.

Ato Girma and the community see an increased value in the forest for them.  ‘We have realised that unless we manage forest resources on a sustainable basis livelihoods will not be continued.  [We are] now striving to use it sustainably’. 

The creation of a resilient and functional landscape depends on making sustainable land uses economically viable and attractive to communities.  They need to be able to compete with other land management practices.

Honey is one important forest resource. Its value to communities can be increased through value chain development. This includes identifying high value markets for the extremely pure honey from this area and reducing the number of transactions in the chain from producer to consumer.    

A central component of maintaining ecosystem services is the development of institutions which can support appropriate land use and land management activities across the landscape, and co-ordinate community actions from which all will benefit.

Such institutions must be community-based and built from a common understanding of the land management issues faced in developing sustainable and resilient livelihoods.

Engaging Community Members

Ganiti Woreda Forest Management Association (FMA) grew out of the Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP-PFM) project.  Today  the FMA has 47 gots that have forest management agreements with another 12 going through the process.  “There has been a change of culture” says Tekalign Shadeno, FMA Chairman,  “people don’t want to destroy the forest or have agriculture in it”.

SWFLG staff have worked alongside communities and government officials, all taking part in the participatory forest management process to establish forest agreements and management plans for community access to the forest.  Says Tekalign “the government staff have been involved in PFM and better understand the process and communal ownership... and impact on sustainability of the forest”.   

Semi-permanent wetlands are valuable assets for rural communities in South West Ethiopia. They can provide supplementary food in the dry season for farmers and when available on a larger scale, can create opportunities to produce cash crops, such as vegetables and sugar for domestic use and export. 

Sound catchment management is needed to ensure sustainable use of these areas.  This will enhance water storage and control extreme flooding so as to maximise benefits from the ecosystem services.  Environmentally appropriate land use in wetlands is also needed to avoid land degradation which undermines ecosystem services.