Revitalizing Key Conditions and Integrated Watershed Management to Mitigate Land Degradation and Sustain Water Availability for Agriculture in Semi-Arid Regions: A Case Study of Ethiopia

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Land, the source of 97% of global food, remains threatened by progressive soil erosion-induced land degradation, such as, in the semi-arid regions. To address this problem, soil and water conservation interventions have been implemented in watersheds across Ethiopia. Despite witnessing successful and positive impacts in some watersheds, the broader promotion of watershed-based interventions faces obstacles. Soil and water deteriorations persist in many of the watersheds in Ethiopia, leading to water shortages and related challenges in sustaining agriculture. The objectives of this research are thus to i) identify the main challenges and constraints hindering the promotion of watershed-based interventions in Ethiopia, and ii) identify key conditions for revitalizing the Integrated Watershed Management (IWSM) approach to mitigate soil erosion-induced land degradation, rehabilitate and sustainably manage watershed resources. A systematic review of over 60 published articles, extracted from the internet database using various search engines such as Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Academia.edu, and ResearchGate, was conducted. Additionally, valuable comments from 65 peer-reviewers worldwide were collected through the Qeios platform during a posting period for more than two months, and these comments were utilized to update the first preprint version of this article. Based on the review, identified challenges and limitations include poor institutional support, lack of participation, inadequate planning of soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies, absence of research and development linkages, and insufficient capacity building. To address these challenges and limitations, recommendations for revitalizing the integrated watershed management (IWSM) approach and key conditions are discussed. The identified key conditions for revitalizing watershed-based interventions in Ethiopia include: i) ensuring institutional support and community participation, ii) strengthening the watershed-based intervention, and iii) establishing a watershed-based platform for scientific tools, research-based innovation, and capacity building to sustain water availability for agriculture in Ethiopia, serving as an experience for other semi-arid regions.