Interdependency of Livelihood Strategies on Natural Resource in Bale- Eco Region "

ABSTRACT   Natural resources in developing countries are under great threat partly due to a lack of alternatives and strategies of the livelihood of people in the way they use these resources. During the last few decades, Ethiopia has experienced massive environmental degradation due to natural factors, unwise use of its natural resources, unsound ecological practices and population pressure. The specific objectives of this research was, to identify the existing livelihood strategies pursued by rural inhabitants ;To identify the impact of livelihood strategies on natural resources and To examine the dependency of livelihood strategies on natural resources in three different agro-ecologies of Bale Eco-region. Data was collected from 384 selected sample households of lowland, midland and highland communities of the BER. Data collection was done using semistructured interviews, focus group discussion, key informant interviews, field observation and review of reports from zonal and districts offices. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptively, socio-economic characteristics of household and other variable were analyzed using averages, frequencies and percentages. In inferential statistics chi- square test was employed for nominal and categorical types of data. The study identified two major (livestock and crop production) livelihood strategies and six supplementary/alternative income sources (livestock production, food crop production, beekeeping, horticulture, non-timber forest product harvesting and petty trading). The study revealed that 52.2%, 81.7%and 89.1% of the households were primarily dependent on food crop production whereas 47.8%, 18.3%and 10.9% were dependent on livestock production across lowland, midland and highland zones of the BER, respectively. The other important finding of this study was regarding the interdependency of people’s livelihoods on natural resources. Four types of natural resources (land, forest, water and soil) were identified so as to examine their relationship with the livelihood of the people. Almost all the households in the study area agreed that the aforementioned resources had a direct relationship with the livelihood of the people in one or another way. In addition, the chi-square test confirmed that land, water and forest had a significant relation with the livelihood of the people across the three agro-ecological zones. Based on investigating the interdependency of livelihood strategies and natural resource in the BER, it is suggested to shift from a traditionally- preferred ‘cereal crop-livestock mix’ dominated livelihood strategy to more specialized or diversified cash income-based strategies, such as off-farm business, honey production, poultry, and horticulture