SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The province of Shewa is located in the centre of Ethiopia and the national capital, Addis Abeba, is located at its centre. The Shewan Plateau and the higher parts of the Rift Valley in southern Shewa, comprising more than three fourths of the total area of the province, provide suitable conditions for farming. Nearly 96% of the population of Shewa lives in this part of the province. The remainder is inhabited by the nomadic Adal herdsmen. The study deals with the utilisation of land by the people in the cropland area of Shewa. The cropland has been divided into four regions based on natural and human factors, and the present state of subsistence farming has been examined in each region. The results of a questionnaire survey of 255 farmers have been included to explain reasons of the existence of subsistence farming in a province which has high agricultural potential, as has been demonstrated by the commercial farms which have been established very recently. To facilitate comparision with other parts of Ethiopia as well as with studies of other countries the land use classification suggested by the World Land Use Survey of the International Geographical Union has been adopted and modified according to the local needs. The study has been divided into three parts Part One consists of the physical and human background. Part Two discusses the land utilisation in cropland region of Shewa, and Part Three contains conclusions. The tables obtained from the questionnaire survey have been included in Appendices after Part Three.