Assessment of gully erosion and practices for its control in north-western highlands of Ethiopia

Abstract

This paper examines gully erosion and its damage, and existing gully control practices in two rural communities, in the north-western highlands of Ethiopia. Data were gathered from measurement of the dimensions of 26 selected gullies in a farmer-participatory approach. Descriptive statistics and regression were used for data analysis. The study found out that 88% of the measured gullies were wide and damaging. A total of 82,692 tonnes of soil was lost, 4.7 ha of lands were destroyed and the livelihood of over 3% of the population of the study sites was affected by the measured gullies. Farmers used both physical and biological measures for gully rehabilitation and control but vegetative measures were observed to be promising technologies. It is concluded that effective gully rehabilitation and control require integrated application of both structural and vegetative measures with the active engagement of land users in a farmer-participatory planning and implementation process.