CASE STUDIES

Common Property Resource Management in Ethiopia.

CNETRAL TIGRAY

as part of
Triangular Institutional Cooperation between India Ethiopia
& Norway.
by
Ravi Shanker.
Woreda Profile:

Wori leke Woreda

Worie Leke woreda is one of the 35 woredas of the region located in the central zone
surrounded by Ahferom woreda in north, Koua Fembien and Hawzen woreda in the east
and Naedel Adet woreda in the south.
The woreda is characterised by low and midland climates. It has 24 Tabias with 85
Kushets inhabited by 123556 population.
Worie Leke woreda has 34 schools out of which 6 are junior secondary, one is high
school and 27 are primary schools. In addition the woreda has 6 clinics, 2 health posts
and 1 health centre.
Pertaining tap water apart from the tap water installed in Edagarbi, Maikental and
Nebelet towns, REST has developed 70 hand dug wells and 9 springs in rural areas. The
Woreda capital is recently getting connected to the main road by all weather road in
addition to dry weather roads connecting to woreda capital from all villages; constructed
by mobilising people.
In the woreda 5 earth dams are constructed by REST one of which is yet to be finished
in the near future.
In the woreda people participate in SWC works by free mobilisation, where ever adult
member if the community participates for 20 days a year and also by food for work on
selected catchment. Reforestation is also a major activity of the REST and government.
The activity is implemented from seedlings raised in 8 central and 18 community
nurseries. In 1997, 3.5 million seedlings and 2.7 million seedlings were planted in both
communal and private plantation sites.
In the woreda SWC AND ac STARTED IN 1989. However later in 1992 it was
strengthened. The woreda has planned to redistribute degraded open access areas to
the landless in 3 pilot Tabias and one of them is Kolla Geble.
The area closure in each Tabia is implemented based on adoption by laws or in some
cases by discussed and agreed points. Hence some Tabias don’t have written by laws.
In the woreda REST intervenes in SWC, reforestation, dam construction, community
seed banks, farmer trainings, poultry development, rural credits and other projects.

Page1of16
2
CPRs found in the woreda Area closures, Hizaiti, Open access areas and Communal
wood lots, Water bodies, as well as communal plantation sites. Area closures and
Communal plantation sites are taken care of by Development committee of each Tabia.

Page2of16
3
CASE STUDY .I.
Arena Tabia

1. INTRODUCTION & HISTORY:

i.) Profile:
Arena Tabia (village) is found in the eastern part of worlek woreda about 30 km., away
from the woreda capital Edaga Arbi. The Tabia is characterised by low land climate with
medium altitud range of 1600 to 1800 m., above sea level. The Tabia have 4 Kushats
(hamlets) with scattered settlements in which 1250 households (HH) brining the total
population to 5000.
According to key informants the severe forest degradation started to occur since 1949
mainly due to lack of awareness, improper government policies, increased population
pressure, drought re-occurrence etc.
Before 1949 the area was in very good situation that forests and grasses were so
apparent that milk production was there through out the year by private land owners.
People in the study village said that earlier they used to have milk even in dry seasons
but since few decades it has became difficult to get in rainy season also. Since then the
frequency of drought increased from decade to decade and biodiversity of the Tabia
diminished.

Since 1973 the grass production also decreased very much affecting the quality and
quantity of livestock and its production. However still the cattle population of Arena
Tabia is 2608 with another 3864 shoats and 260 pack animals contributing to the huge
livestock population.
TABLE .1.
LIVESTOCK POPULATION

Live stock Number

Oxen 588
Cows 885
Heifer 369
Calf 298
Young ox 486

Page3of16
4
 Goat 1989
Sheep 1875

The Tabia has about 1500 ha., cultivable land, 1650 ha., unclosed common land and
320 ha., is closed area.

Teff being the major crop, Sorghum and Maize occupied second and third positions.
However, Barley, Hanfets as well as Lentil and Millet are also in small quantities.
The economy is largely based on livestock production and dry land farming. There is
also practice of land lease-in and land lease-out, even though there is no clear private
land ownership titles. Like wise crop sharing is experienced on beehives where the bee
owner takes 50% of the produce and the caretaker share the rest.

Even though the society is patriarchal, female household heads are quite in significant
number(42%). Despite this share their representation in the Tabia council and Baito is
10% in both. Most of them are orthodox Christians who respect very many off (holiday)
in a year which might be affecting their agriculture production.

ii.) Qualitative Changes:

There are different mass organisations which embrace different sections of the
community, like the Women association, Youth association, Farmer’s association,
Savings and Credit groups apart from Tabia association and Development committee.
Different programme interventions carried out in Tabia, by Relief Society of Tigray are
Area Closures (AC), reforestation, community seed bank, bull service, rural credit and
saving. Most of the works are implemented in technical collaboration with the Dept. of
Agriculture and Natural Resource Development, as well as close participation in Woreda
and Tabia administration, in developmental activities.

2. COMMON POOL RESOURCES IN ARENA & PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

Common pool resources in Arena are the Area closures, Communal plantations, Hizaiti
and Open grazing lands. Out of this Area closures occupied 320 ha., of the land area

Page4of16
5
and unclosed common lands were in 1650 ha. In addition there are areas occupied by
water bodies like streams, gullies etc. Five of the six streams are stated perennial.

TABLE .2.
MAJOR LAND RESOURCES OF ARENA TABIA (Ha.)
kUSHATS Culti. Per Op. Per Area Per Total Total Perc HH
HH Land HH Clos. HH Clos. HH ent
%
Ira Suru 220 0.8 550 1.9 120 0.4 890 3.1 26% 0.92
Guanda 280 1.3 300 1.4 55 0.3 635 3.0 18% 0.73
Missana 680 1.5 450 1.0 85 0.2 1,21 2.6 35% 0.59
5
Bet Nigus 320 1.2 350 1.3 60 0.2 730 2.6 21% 0.70
Total 1500 1650 320 3,47 100
0 %
Percentage 43% 48% 9% 100
%
Average 1.2 412. 1.4 80.0 0.3 2.8 0.7
5

Per capita 0.30 0.08 0.02 0.70

land holding
In tsimdi 1.21 0.33 0.06 2.80
In m2 3022 831 161 6990

i.) Area Closures and Communal Plantations:

the area closure is a woodland dominated by Acacia and other Trees. The soils in Tabia
are red leptosol, highly degraded with shallow depth and medium to coarse texture. The
area closure (AC) are divided among 4 Kushats and every year more area covered under
A C, based on tabia Baito and peoples decision. According to the informants, the AC

Page5of16
6
have brought about increased wildlife, more woody and shrub vegetation and dense
grass species. In addition it has impact on decreasing erosion of top soils, attracting
rains and improving micro climate.

The area closures were initially meant for environmental rehabilitation but at the same
time usufruct right issues are also coming up. People perceived that environmental
degradation, particularly loss of forests as main cause of drought and famine they
suffered in the last few decades. This seems to have motivated the local people not only
to maintain but also expand the closure areas (AC) from year to year. Fortunately the
conservation measures like stone bunding is taken-up in highly degraded hill sides and
regeneration promoted proved beneficial. The communal plantations (CP) are exercised
in some closed areas as an enrichment planting also came up well.
TABLE .3.
TREE SPECIES IN AREA CLOSURES AND COMMUNAL PLANTATIONS

SCIENTIFIC NAME TIGRINA NAME

Acacia etbaica E
Acacia tortilis E
Acokanthera shimperi D
Albizia amare E
Balanites aegiptica E
Carissa edulis D
Dichrostachys cinera D
Diospyros mespiliformis D
Dodonaea angustifolia E
Euclea schimperi E
Faidherbia albida E
Ficus sur E
Grewia arythraea D
Grewia bicolor D
Grewia species D

Page6of16
7
 Grweia flavescens D
Mimusops kummel D
Ximenia americana D
Ficus vasta E
Ziziphus spina-christi E
Eucalyptus camaldulensis N
Rhamnus prinoides N
Sesbania sesban N
Leucaena leucocephala N

Key, E = Existing; D = Disappeared; N = New.

ii.) Open Grazing and Hizaiti Lands:

Huge portions of the Arena Tabia is under open access forming up to 1650 ha., with
sparse trees. Some portion is also under Hizaiti serves the community as source of
fodder for grazing in the cropping season as well as centre for fuel wood collection
(80%). The open grazing area found in all tabias most of it being adjacent to each other
and intercepted by part of cultivable lands were ever convenient. The area is open
accessed by all the cattle in the Tabia but not for animals from other tabias. This is
mainly to protect the livestock disease getting transferred to the Tabia animals but not
to regulate the resource use. The animals at Kushat level graze in their open access
areas as it is found more convenient. About 93% of fodder demand is met by open
grazing followed by agriculture residues.

3. INSTITUTIONAL ARRIANGEMENTS WITH REFERENCE TO CPRs:

The Development Committee (DC) is in-charge of all CPRs and other developmental
interventions in the Tabia. The DC comprises of Baito deputy chairmen as its Chair, two
members from Women’s association, two members from Youth association, one
extension agent and one member from Farmer’s association. Extension agent is involved
in the committee merely for technical assistance. It is DC which executes the decisions
of general assembly members and also which drafts agenda for discussions by

Page7of16
8
committee. The DC is also responsible to Tabia council and also to the Tabia biato. The
Tabia council has 100 members out of which 10 are women and the rest are men.

Under the DC at Kushat level ‘Abo 30s’ are formed as responsible entities for 30
members each for all extension and execution of all the developmental activities at
Kushat level including the CPR management.

i.) Area Closure initiatives and Status:

In Arena AC started in 1993. According to informants the AC initiated by developing a
land use plan through technical assistance from the Department of Agriculture and
Natural Resources Development. The land use plan was ratified by general assembly
and since then the community recruited paid guard to take care the closures(AC) as well
as the wild life in it at Kushat level. After the ratification the DC delineated the area
closure and overall administration was taken care by it based on Serite (‘By-law’s)

ii.) Benefit sharing:

Initially the Area closure was meant for environmental rehabilitation. However at later
stage the community agreed to harvest grasses by cut and carry system to stall feed the
live stock. Since last 2 years farmers decided to share the grass equitably among
households. When grasses are scarce the community nominates more needy people to
share the available grass from the closure (AC).
In addition farmers cut grass for common purposes like nursery shades, school
construction etc. For this they take up operations in groups.

TABLE .4.
GRASS PRODUTION AND DISTRIBUTION IN 1998.

Total grass AS NURSERY WATCHMEN THACHING

production in FODDER SHADE HOUSE
bundles
(@ 30 kg./bundle)
280 100 160 20 0

Page8of16
9
Some of the respondents said that they are also benefited by hunting birds found
specifically in AC. Ofcourse they said that they hunt when the birds were out of the AC
as hunting in closures is prohibited. With the re-establishment of vegetation honey
production is also increased as bees could collect more nectar from closures and
communal plantations.

4. OUTCOME The Resource Management Situation:

i.) Constraints:

• It is found that there is no rehabilitation measures taken-up in the un-closed open

access areas like grazing lands which are also part of CPRs. This is very much
needed to make the open access lands more productive to meet future demands.

• With the restriction of closure (AC) people and cattle are deprived of tree and fodder
use freely pressurising the unclosed areas proportionally.

• Even though it is executed in phased manner (ACs), with out any improvement
measures in open access areas, it would be difficult to meet the increasing fodder
and fuel demand.

• Arena Tabia however restricted the entry of cattle from other tabias to check on
decease transfer among the Tabia livestock. But with in Tabia the disease transfer or
at Kushat level livestock disease incident may raise in open grazing lands in future.
This problem is already reported in few Kushats.

• High rate of erosion in open access areas as they were not treated, decreasing
productivity of fodder and fuel is also observed as a challenge in managing the new
CPR situation.

ii.) Positive Outcomes:

Page9of 10
16
• In the Area closure trees and bushes are regenerating
• Grasses are increasingly growing from year to year
• Wild life including those which were disappeared are again inhabiting in ACs.
• Erosion of top soils substantially decreased.
• Local people also traced a positive relation between regeneration and increasing
rainfall.
• People perceived the re occurrence of drought decreased mainly because of ACs.
• There is increased availability of fruits.

iii.) Development Options;

a. Closed areas

• Plantation of fodder trees in communal plantation areas and enriching ACs by the
same is important.

• Incorporation of livestock management plan along with expanding the area closures
as they will pressurise open access areas

• Giving more emphasis for expansion of private woodlots to fulfil fuel wood, timber
and farm implements and NTFP needs of the community.

• Area closures need integration with more appropriate physical conservation

measures in areas where the rate of revival is low.

• With the increasing productivity of ACs there needs a comprehensive usufruct rights
at biato level.

b. Open access areas:

Page10of 11
16
To increase the productivity of grazing lands measures should be adopted to cope the
changing land use patterns. Over sowing of grass seeds and land improvement
measures may help to meet increasing fodder demand.

• More fodder crop trees could be encouraged on some of the grazing lands.

c. Institutional and Resource management

• Women involvement in CPR management can be strengthened

• Serits can incorporate long term benefit sharing mechanisms like timber harvest in
future.

• Strict live stock protection from wildlife and mechanisms to guard them in future to
reduce possible conflicts arising out of it.

• Providing clear usufruct rights to the community over Area closures

• Adoption of integrated SWC works for total treatment of the micro environment
CASE STUDY: KOLLA GEBLE

1. Village Characteristics.

Kola Geble Tabia is located in the Wori-leke woreda falling under the central region of
Tigray. The Tabia is about 10 Km North East of Edaga Arbi, the woreda head quarters.
The Tabia is in the middle altitude range with an average altitude of about 2000 m.a.s.l.
The Tabia has four Kushets; namely Hibret, Serdi, Hayelom and Wuhdet with scattered
settlements.

Demography: The Tabia consists of 1175 households with a population of 5115. Out of
the total households 495 are female headed. As per the small (n=15) household survey

Page11of 12
16
conducted for the study, the Tabia had a literacy rate of 34% and a sex ratio of 112.
The population is predominantly consists of people who are orthodox Christians.

The major occupation of the households in the Tabia is agriculture. A few households
also reported pursuing some non-farm occupation like pottery, masonory and area
closure watchmen. At the same time most of the households also reported food for work
programme as an important source of income and employment particularly during lean
season. Working on others farm for wage is also prevalent among some households.
The average landsize as per the sample survey is about 1.7 tsimdi (0.4 hectare). The
practice of land leasing on share cropping basis could be observed among the
households.

Occupations Percentage of
households
Agriculture 100%
Agricultural labourer 20%
Non-farm 27%
Others including food for work 93%

The important livestock owned by the household in the Tabia are oxen, cow, sheep,
goats, and donkeys. At the same time households also rear poultry birds and beehives
(see table). While the oxen is maintained for draft purposes; the other livestock like
goats, cows and poultry birds, are reared for meeting both food and cash needs of the
households.

Livestock Average per household

Oxen 1.5
Cows 0.8
Goats 2.8
Poultry 1.7

Page12of 13
16
Fodder and fuel sources: The fodder needs of the livestock are met from crop residues,
fodder trees, open grazing on common and private lands and share of grass from the
controlled grazing land. Some of the households also purchase fodder from other
households in the village. Own trees on fields and backyard and cowdung are the major
sources of fuel for the household.

2. Common Pool Resources:

The resource mapping done with the villagers (see map) revealed the existence of the
following common pool resources in the Tabia: the enclosed area (Deni), the community
plating area (Dagme gereba), controlled grazing land(Hizati), open grazing land, and a
rivulet called May Macheba. These CPRs are found in all the four Kushets of the Tabia.
The rivulet however, only passes through two Kushets (Serdi and Wuhdet).

The area under enclosure is the delineated open access land which is brought under
community's protection for regeneration. The community plantation area is again the
land under community's protection being treated with enrichment planting. The open
access area is the grazing land with year round access for the livestock. In the controlled
grazing land the community protects for about four months in a year and harvests the
grass with a provision for open access grazing during the rest of the year.

The land use classification of the Tabia is given in the following table.

Land type Area (ha) Percentage

Area enclosure 65.5 15.0
Community planting 71.5 16.0
Controlled grazing 15.0 3.0
Open grazing 15.0 3.0
Cultivable land 267 62.0
Total area 434 100

Page13of 14
16
The cultivable land with 62 percent of the total area constitute the major land use
category followed by community plantation (16%), Area enclosure (15 %) and Open
and Controlled grazing (6 %).

Forests:

The village forests as recalled by the local people were quite dense in the past with
diverse flora and fauna. The different tree species exiting in the past were Kileow,
Tambok, Agam, Kebkeb, Aulie, Atat, Chiendog, Atkaro, Chea, Gka, Lehay, Mengi and
Bewak.

The forests, however got degraded over the years for many reasons. As attributed by
the people, growing population pressure led to clearing of forest land and trees for
cultivation, building houses and meeting fuel wood needs. The lack of awareness among
people about the need for protecting forests, absence of conducive leadership and policy
and war conditions in the past led to neglect and destruction of forests. The land
distribution (1976-93) further resulted in temporary lack of security of land ownership
leading to both large scale felling of trees on private lands and reduced incentive to
plant new trees. In addition, the regime of open access to common lands characterised
by lack of clear regulations led to overuse and fast depletion of trees.

The forest degradation according to the people brought in its wake problems like
reduced rains (from four to two months in a year), droughts and soil erosion. The village
rivulet which was perennial in the past became seasonal in the process forcing people to
go to far-off places to fetch drinking water.

The people now feel that the environmental and forest conditions are changing for the
better since the initiation of the Area Enclosure programme in 1993. They are now able
to visualise changes like increased regeneration, improved rainfall, reduced soil erosion
and revival of the rivulet.

Page14of 15
16
3. Organisation, Institutions and Decision Making:

The Tabia Baito is the main decision making body in the Tabia for all matters including
the Area Enclosure programme. The Baito by ensuring participation of the people has
been playing a major role in the implementation of area enclosures. The Biato mainly
functions through various committees. The development committee headed by the
deputy chairman of the Biato is in charge of executing all decisions of the Biato
regarding area enclosure. The extension agent from the woreda who is also a member
of the Biato's executive committee helps the Biato by providing all the needed technical
help and advice.

The clear cut land delineation and demarcation in 1993 of the earlier open access area
was the first major step taken by the Biato towards the implementation of the area
enclosure programme. The demarcation of open access land for the purpose of
protection and grazing has been done mainly by taking into consideration the needs of
the people in terms of meeting their fodder requirement of their livestock. The strategy
is to expand area enclosure in a phased manner. The Biato has also framed a by-law for
the purpose of protection and conservation under the enclosed and community planting
area. The by-law as approved by the general assembly of the Tabia, mainly deals with
the fines and penalties to be imposed on people for causing any damage to the trees in
the protected area. The Biato has also appointed a watchman who is paid by the REST
for the purpose of keeping vigil over forest. The households are allowed to cut trees
either in the protected area or on their own farm only after obtaining permission from
the Biato and by establishing the genuiness of the need for wood. People in general are
also expected to keep a vigil on their own and bring to the notice of the Biato any case
of the violation of the by-law.

Afforestation: In the enclosed area the afforestation is being attempted mainly

through natural regeneration. There is complete protection of the area from the forays
of people and livestock for fuel and fodder respectively. In the community plantation
area the villagers have taken up enrichment planting with local and new species like,

Page15of 16
Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Acacia saligna, Leucaena leucocephala, and Sesbania sesban.
The local nursery being supported by REST is the main source of different species
planted in the area. In both the enclosed and community plating area extensive soil and
water conservation measures have been taken up by way of stone bunding and
terracing. The soil and water conservation work is being undertaken by both food for
work programme as well as voluntary contribution of labour by all households in the
Kushet.

At the same time encouragement is being given to agroforestry by the Biato. The main
aim is to promote tree growing on private fields so that the households are able to meet
the requirements of the fuel wood and timber from their own lands there by reduce the
pressure on the protected area.

The rivulet which is facing the problem of serious of soil erosion due to the runoff from
the catchment also has received the attention of the Biato. The Biato worried over the
problem has attempted prevention of erosion by gully plugging and plantation. At the
same time the Biato has distributed the gully areas of the rivulet in small plots to the
land-less house holds with the hope that they would take up conservation measures and
help in preventing soil erosion in the rivulet.

4. Outcome

The area enclosure with its main focus on rehabilitation of degraded environment
through conservation, protection and regeneration seems to have brought about many
perceptible changes. The entire policy has been perceived quite positively by the local
people. The people feel that the leadership of TPLF has created a new awareness
among them about the need for protection and regeneration of the forest. For them
now cutting a tree is equal to killing a human being. Such an attitudinal change has
helped in ensuring wholehearted participation of the people in the programme of area
enclosure. At the same time the programme being a highly decentralised in nature has
given a major role and say for the people and their grass roots representatives in all
aspects of its implementation.

Page16of 17
16
As a result of the area enclosures people are visualising quite a few positive changes in
the local environment. They feel that the forests are regaining their past status. Not only
new species of trees have come up as a result of plantation, but also many of the past
trees are being regenerated. These include Tahises, Keliaw, Chendog, Kabkab, Meng,
Chea, Tambuk, Gaka. The regeneration has brought in new greenery, fresh air, and
many fauna to the area.

The increased wild life has now provided them scope for hunting for meeting their food
needs. There is now more forage available for their bees. The trees are attracting more
rains. The duration of rainfall, which had got reduced to 2 months, has now reached a
total of 4 months. The rivulet now flows for a longer period, helping farmers along its
course to raise even a second crop. A new spring has also come up in one of the
Kushets easing the acute water problem of the house holds; they even mentioned the
availability of enough water now to prepare the threshing ground.

The new management of commons and grazing land has increased the grass production
in the Tabia. In 1998, as per the extension agent, 257 bundles of grass could be
produced from the enclosed area alone. The agroforestry also seems to have produced
encouraging results, the farmers are able to raise a wide variety of trees and shrubs like,
Eucalyptus camaldulesis, Croton mycrostachys, Opuntia ficus, Cordia aficana, and
Becium grandiflorum (Tebeb). The agroforestry has helped them greatly in meeting their
needs of fuel wood, fodder and timber, and reducing the pressure on the protected
area.

While the people in general are satisfied with the present progress and management of
the area enclosure programme, they also want the area under enclosure to be expanded
further. One major constraint in the expansion is the limited area available from the
open access in the Tabia. Any plan of expansion for enclosure is at the expense of open
access area available for grazing and collecting fuel wood. At the same time the
production of grass even from the existing area is found inadequate to meet the
demand. The management and distribution of grass has even been found to be

Page17of 18
16
unsatisfactory at least by households in two of the Kushets. In Serdi Kushet the grass
from the controlled grazing area could not be harvested in time as the people could not
arrive at a mutually convenient date. The issue of inequitable distribution of grass
among house holds in Hayelom Kushet, also came up from the house hold survey. The
people interviewed stated that the grass was shared among a few rich farmers and the
site guard.

Certain issues of future concern regarding the management of the enclosed area also
could be discerned. While people feel for the further strengthening the programme in
terms of proper protection and soil and water conservation measures; many households
expected that their needs for timber could be met in future once the trees mature.
However, the present species selection for plating does not fully match with the
preference of the local people and their needs. In addition the need to increase fodder
and fuel has to get adequate attention as the present management and situation find
these two items competing for space with the area enclosure.

The Tabia leadership seems to be well aware of some of the above concerns. The
overall developmental strategy is to bring about self reliance among the households by
increased production of food and bio-mass and there by reducing their dependence on
relief measures. As regards area enclosures the aim is to provide more benefits to the
people in terms of employment and income by pursuing forest based activities like
woodcutting and bee-keeping. Though the present by-law mainly deals with
conservation and protection, the leadership is of the view that they would amend their
by-law appropriately to take car of such future needs of the community.

----0---

Page18of 19
16