Gamo Highlands Research Articles

Agronomic performances, yield and nutritional values of lupin grain varieties at Gircha research center, Gamo Highlands

Agronomic performances, yield and nutritional values of lupin grain varieties at Gircha research center, Gamo Highlands

Landslide vulnerability mapping using multi-criteria decision-making approaches: in Gacho Babba District, Gamo Highlands Southern Ethiopia

The landslide has been a life-threatening natural disaster in most districts of Gamo Highlands. This study was conducted to assess the status of landslide vulnerability in the Gacho Baba district of the Gamo zone in southern Ethiopia. The Geographic Information System Analytical Hierarchy Process and Weighted Linear Combination multi-criteria decision-making approaches were applied. Eight causative factors of landslide, namely, slope, elevation, aspect, distance from the stream, drainage density, soil type, distance from the road, and land use/cover were considered. The weight values of each causative factor were determined by previous studies, field observations, and experts’ judgment. The calculated weight of each causative factor is the slope (23%), elevation (21%), aspect (8%), stream distance and drainage density each (12%), soil type and road length each (9%), and land use/cover (6%). Moreover, the Consistency Index (0.13) and Consistency Ratio (0.08%) were calculated with acceptable values for comparison to weighted overlay analysis to produce a landslide vulnerability map of the study area. The result shows that the vast majority of the study district (86.6%) falls within a very high to moderate landslide susceptibility class and only (13.4%) falls within a very low and low susceptibility. This indicates that almost all the 11 villages in the district, are found within the high to moderate landslide vulnerability class which alerts responsible community and zonal disaster risk prevention and related offices to take action on the identified causative factors to reduce the occurrences of landslide hazard in the study district.

The Landslide Threat Evaluation and Zoning in The Birbir Mariam District, Gamo Highlands, Ethiopia Great Rift Valley Escarpment Using Slope Susceptibility Analysis and Geospatial Techniques

The current research focuses on landslide assessment and hazard zonation in the Birbir Mariam district of the Gamo Highlands. The study examined landslide causative factors and used the slope susceptibility evaluation parameter to create a landslide hazard zonation covering an area of 110 square kilometers. The landslide hazard zonation was classified using facet-wise observation. As a result, the intrinsic and external causal parameters of score schemes have been held responsible for slope instability. Inherent causative elements consist of slope geometry, slope material (rock or soil), structural discontinuities, land use or land cover, and groundwater conditions. Rainfall and human interest have seemed like external elements. The intrinsic and external triggering elements for every facet (a total of 106) were rated for their contribution to slope instability. Finally, an evaluated landslide hazard value was calculated and classified into three landslide hazard classes. According to the findings, the area has a high hazard zone of 18.87 percent (20.76 km2), a moderate hazard zone of 54.72 percent (60.19 km2), and a low hazard zone of 26.41 percent (29.05 km2). The methodology employed in this investigation, as well as the resulting landslip susceptibility zonation map, were both reliable and applicable to other places with similar geology and topographic circumstances. 
 Keywords: Landslide evaluation, Slope stability, Landslide, Hazard zonation, Ethiopia

Linking indigenous with scientific knowledge about enset (Ensete ventricosum) disease management in Gamo highlands of Ethiopia: Evidence from local people response, soil physicochemical and microbial dynamics

CONTEXTEnset (Ensete ventricosum) is a staple food for millions in Ethiopia and characterized by climate resilient crop, but enset bacterial wilt (EBW) disease caused by Xanthomonas is the major threat to enset growing regions in the country that puts the food security of smallholder farmers at risk. Enset is a drought tolerant plant used for nutritional, medicinal and cultural activities for over 20 million people in Ethiopia. However, enset bacterial wilt (EBW) disease is a serious challenge. Although there is a good EBW disease management system from local people, the link between indigenous and scientific knowledge is not explored. OBJECTIVEThis study aimed to assess indigenous-scientific knowledge nexus about enset (Ensete ventricosum) disease management in Gamo highlands of Ethiopia using data generated from local people response, soil physicochemical and microbial dynamics. METHODSSamples (soil and plant) were collected from different farm sites (with no enset, with enset and with enset-medicinal) at three districts for physicochemical, antibacterial and microbial analysis. We considered various physicochemical parameters (moisture, temperature, pH, macro- and micro-nutrients); extracted phytochemical compounds from medicinal plant leaves using different solvents (water, ethanol, methanol and n-hexane); and 16S rRNA gene sequence using Illumina sequencing technique. RESULTS And CONCLUSIONSWe found that farmers have no knowledge gap in classifying healthy enset from sick/infected one. However, farmers were unable to classify the different stages of infected enset. Farmers were able to recognize that farm tool > animals > plant debris > air as a means of disease transmission. Nearly all respondents (97.3%) did not use chemicals to control EBW, rather they remove infected enset by uprooting. We found that farm tool cleaning, crop rotation, wrapping, bone smoking, and inter-planting medicinal plants were the main local EBW disease management practices employed by farmers. Medicinal plant extracts (E. abyssinica > D. afromontana > P. fruticosus) showed promising antibacterial activity (1.33 ± 0.28–8.81 ± 0.32 mm) against Xanthomonas. Planting medicinal plants with enset also significantly enhanced some soil physicochemical parameters and shifted the soil bacterial abundance from Proteobacteria to Firmicutes. Although indigenous practice enhanced soil physicochemical parameters and non-pathogenic microbial community in the soil, integrating it with modern knowledge (applying chemicals) were recommended as an effective EBW management strategy. SIGNIFICANTSoil physicochemical and microbial shift due to inter-planting medicinal plants with enset indicates that medicinal plants may have means of protection against EBW disease through optimizing soil physicochemical and microbial dynamics in the Gamo highlands. Additionally, the inhibition of medicinal plants against Xanthomonas suggests the inclusive influence of medicinal plants on the EBW causing bacteria.

Physical and Economic Valuation for Nontimber Forest Products (NTFPs) of Surra Government Plantation in the Upper Hare-Baso Rivers Catchment, Southwestern Ethiopia

The study aimed to estimate the physical and monetary values for nontimber forest products (NTFP) of the Surra government plantation in the upper Hare-Baso rivers catchment of Gamo highlands, southwestern Ethiopia. The Surra government plantation was established in the mid-1980s and consisted of C. lusitanica, E. globulus, and P. radiata tree species, which were planted side by side. Because of food insecurity, forest proximity communities/inhabitants relied on extracting NTFP such as litter and fodder for income and livestock feed despite none of them being physically and monetarily accounted for. The plot method and stock change approach were applied to determine sample plots and collect litter data, respectively, while the active market price was used to account for monetary correspondences. Fodder data were acquired via integration of animal unit month (AUM), livestock carrying capacity, animal unit equivalent (AUE/TLU), quality of pasture (poor), and proper use factor (30%). Its monetary price data were collected from the local market. The gross total production of litter and grass/fodder was 158,614.90 kg and 284,076 kg per/year, respectively, while the corresponding monetary values were ETB 206,169.40 and ETB 255,669, respectively. However, the “proper use factor”-based physical value of fodder/grass was 85,224 kg per/year, and its corresponding monetary value was ETB 76,701. The average physical value (volume) of grass production/year during the wet and dry seasons was 56.67 kg and 96.67 kg, and its mean monetary price/kg was ETB 1.4 and 1.2, respectively. It was concluded that the fodder/grass data collected via the integrated approach reduced the accounting errors, and the data were more precise. Accounting for the economic values of litter and fodder embedded in the market price upscaled the accounting quality and was more indicative of ground facts. Therefore, this study contributed a fresh accounting approach to the field of NTFP accounting.

Late-Holocene Sediment Storage in Upland Valley Systems in the Gamo Highlands of Southern Ethiopia

Part of the eroded soil material from the hillslopes is temporarily stored on hillslopes and in river valleys as colluvial and alluvial storage, respectively. This storage component of a catchment’s sediment budget is an important archive reflecting past erosion and sediment delivery processes in relation to both natural and anthropogenic environmental changes. Information on long-term sediment dynamics (i.e., centennial to millennial timescales) is generally lacking for tropical mountain environments. Here, we quantify long-term floodplain sediment storage and sedimentation dynamics in the Gamo highlands of the southern Ethiopia Rift Valley. In two upstream catchments (Chencha and Dembelle), a detailed survey of the floodplain sediment archive was conducted through hand augering of 37 cross-valley transects. Sediment thicknesses vary between 4 and 8 m and total storage equals 0.03 Mt ha−1 floodplain area for the Chencha area and 0.05 Mt ha−1 floodplain area for the Dembelle area. Radiocarbon dating of organic material retrieved from the sediment archives provided a temporal framework for interpretation of sedimentation processes dynamic. The mean sedimentation rate in the Chencha floodplain is ~3.22 ± 0.33 kt ha−1 catchment area, whereas it is ~3.76 ± 0.22 kt ha−1 catchment area for the Dembelle floodplain. Up to 70% of the total sediment mass is stored in the floodplains within the most recent 2000 years. Cumulative probability function plots of radiocarbon dates show that sedimentation started to increase from ca 2000 to ca 1600 cal BP, roughly coincident with an increase in human presence, as is indicated through archaeological data.

Temporal and spatial variability of suspended sediment rating curves for rivers draining into the Ethiopian Rift Valley

AbstractQuantification of suspended sediment dynamics is a proxy for the intensity of soil erosion processes in a catchment. However, direct measurement of suspended sediments is difficult. Long‐term‐based discharge‐suspended sediment relationships often fail to provide sufficiently accurate results due to the temporal variations in sediment supply. This study evaluates temporal variations in suspended sediment‐discharge relations for six stations in two selected catchments within the Gamo Highlands in the southern Ethiopian Rift Valley. During a three‐year period (2018–2020), discharge was monitored at a 10‐min interval using a TD‐diver, while 1938 samples of suspended sediment concentration were taken at specific events. Observed suspended sediment concentration varied between 0.04 and 130 kg m−3 for discharge ranging between quasi‐zeros to 339 m3 s−1. The results show that pooled annual datasets lead to unsatisfying sediment rating curves and large errors in estimated sediment load. However, stratification of the data into three rainy season periods strongly improved the performance of the sediment rating curves. The development of a vegetative cover throughout the rainy season largely controls sediment supply from hillslopes to the river channel and hence the shape of the sediment rating curves. Furthermore, localized bank erosion and gully head dynamics also lead to important interannual changes in sediment rating curves within one river system, as well as between different rivers. Thus, attention should be given to possible errors due to high temporal and spatial variability while using discharge‐suspended sediment relations to quantify sediment load.

Estimation of biomass and carbon sequestration capacity of the Surra mountain plantation forest in Gamo Highlands, Southern Ethiopia

AbstractThis study was aimed at estimating the carbon sequestration potential of the Surra planted forest on Gughe massive of the Gamo highlands in Southern Ethiopia based on tree species type. The plantation was established on degrading pasture land in the mid‐1980s during the golden era of plantation forest expansion history in Ethiopia. The Surra plantation forest was stratified upon three tree species namely E. globulus, C. lusitanica, and P. radiata. The data were collected from 32 sample plots (20 E. globulus, 10 C.lusitanica, and 2 P. radiata plots, each having 10 m*10 m in size), and were laid at random at the inner part of the plantation. The Species‐specific allometric equations and the pan‐tropical allometric model were used to estimate the aboveground biomass and carbon stock of the forest. The average “tree height,” “diameter at breast height,” and “tree stand density” per hectare were the highest for C. lusitanica and the lowest for E. globulus (except the wood density). The wood‐specific density/g/cm3 was the largest for E. globulus. The average carbon sequestered in C. lusitanica (53.9 ton/ha) was significantly larger than E. globulus (35.6 ton/ha) and P. radiata (43.8 ton/ha). The estimated average carbon stock/ha of eucalyptus was the lowest due to its low stand density caused by illegal encroachment for construction, energy, and cash income purposes. The total dry biomass and carbon sequestrated are determined by area proportion; hence, eucalyptus covered an extensive area accounting for slightly less than two‐thirds of the total Surra plantation forest followed by Cupressus. The mean carbon stock (40.3 ton/ha) of the Surra plantation is lower compared with many plantation forest stock values under better management. The findings revealed that the significant variation in carbon stock with other forests despite the similarities in age, climate, location, and aspect was the result of encroachment, illegal cutting, frequent grazing, and limited protection, and call for policy attention from the Ethiopian government.

Beer and Feasts in the Gamo Highlands of Southern Ethiopia

Feasting and the drinking of beer by the Gamo Boreda, who live in the highlands of southern Ethiopia, represent status and seniority and have a long tradition of connecting the living with their ancestors. This paper focuses on the archaeological site of Ochollo Mulato (AD 1270–1950), incorporating oral traditions in association with ceramic ethnoarchaeological and archaeological research documenting the importance of beer and feasting to the Gamo Boreda. Elders recount, from their oral tradition, that Ochollo Mulato is the oldest and most senior of the nine original settlements encompassing the Gamo highlands. Oral tradition and archaeological and ethnoarchaeological ceramic analyses suggest that large-scale ritual feasting of beer and other foods were part of the activities that occurred at Ochollo Mulato over the last eight centuries.

Evaluation of late maturing food barley varieties in Gamo highlands of southern Ethiopia

The field experiment was conducted on thirteen improved food barley varieties and one local check at Chencha district of Gamo highland during 2015 main cropping season. The main objective of the study was to identify, select and recommend well adaptable and high yielding variety for targeted area. The experiment was laid in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications in the net plot size of 1.2 m x 2.5 m. Days to 50% heading (DH), days to 50% maturity (DM), plant height (PH), panicle length (PL), tiller number (TN) and grain yield (GY) were collected as agronomic traits. Significant variations were recorded among the tested varieties for the measured traits over the locations except for tiller number. The highest average grain yield (2427.8 kg/ha, 2077.8 kg/ha and 1972.2kg/ha) were obtained from varieties HB1307, Shege and EH1493 without significant differences between them respectively and the lowest grain yield was obtained from local check (1166.7kg). Based on the results obtained under these study HB1307, Shege and EH1493 could be used for demonstration, popularization and pre-scaling up in Chencha district and in the farming communities of similar agro-ecologies.

The Role of Barley and Wheat Landraces after Introduction of Triticale, the Gamo Highlands in Southern Ethiopia

The Role of Barley and Wheat Landraces after Introduction of Triticale, the Gamo Highlands in Southern Ethiopia

Food Insecurity and Indigenization of an Alien Cereal Crop: Experiences of Smallholders in the Gamo Highlands

Food Insecurity and Indigenization of an Alien Cereal Crop: Experiences of Smallholders in the Gamo Highlands

Microbial community shifts association with physicochemical parameters: Visualizing enset bacterial wilt from different states of enset health

Bacterial wilt of enset caused by Xanthomonas campestris is a devastating disease in Ethiopia, where enset is domesticated and served as a staple food for about 20 million people in the country. While enset is infected by bacteria, it shows different wilting stages. However, the microbial community shifts at the different stages of enset infection and associated physicochemical parameter changes remain poorly understood. This study was aimed to visualize the proportion of enset wilt bacterium from other microbial community and its association with physicochemical parameter at different states of enset health. Soil and enset (zero, first, second and third stages) samples were collected from three districts in Gamo Highlands for physicochemical and biological (culture dependent and16S rRNA gene sequence) analysis. The results of culture dependent analysis which has been complemented by 16S rRNA gene sequence confirmed that increasing trends were observed for Xanthomonadaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, Lactobacillaceae and Flavobacteriaceae, while Bacillaceae and Enterobacteriaceae showed progressive decrease from zero to the third stage. Particularly, the 16S rRNA data showed that Xanthomonadaceae increased significantly from zero to different (2.5 × 102 times at the onset of disease and 1.0–2.0 × 104 times at the second and third) stages of enset infection. Most physicochemical results showed that a decreasing trends from zero to third stage, while few parameters are showing an increasing trend. Moisture content (R2 ≥ 0.951, P ≤ 0.049) of the soil and plant samples positively influenced Xanthomonas abundance, while this bacterium showed a strongly negative significant correlation with pH (R2 ≥ −0.962, P ≤ 0.038), temperature (R2 ≥ −0.958, P ≤ 0.042), OM (R2 ≥ −0.952, P ≤ 0.048), and TN (R2 ≥ −0.951, P ≤ 0.049). A strongly negative significant correlation (R2 ≥ −0.948, P ≤ 0.050) was also observed between Xanthomonas and nutrients (K, Mg, Ca, and Cu). Overall, this study implies that different environmental factors found a key driving force of Xanthomonas proportional increment from low abundance at zero stage to higher abundance at the last stage of enset infection suggesting that considering these factors help to design an effective enset disease management strategy, for which further studies will be needed.

Genetic Variability, Heritability, and Genetic Advance Estimates in Garlic (Allium sativum) from the Gamo Highlands of Southern Ethiopia

Genetic variability is the fundamental requirement for any plant breeding program to develop a superior cultivar. This study aimed to estimate the genetic variability and determine the correlation between the various quantitative characteristics of garlic accessions. The experiment was carried out in the Ezo-Otte area of the Chencha district in the Gamo highlands of southern Ethiopia and 28 garlic accessions were evaluated in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replicates. Various morphological descriptors were measured to evaluate the variability and correlation coefficients. The analysis of variance showed a highly significant variation for all characters, which indicates greater variability in the accession. High and moderate heritability in broad sense estimates were obtained for the majority of the traits examined. Days to maturity (28.09), bulb weight (22.33), and bulb diameter (equatorial) (21.33) showed higher genetic advance. The maximum value of the genetic progress as a percentage of the mean was observed in bulb yield, clove weight, bulb diameter (equatorial), and number of leaves. In addition, bulb diameter (equatorial), clove weight, bulb weight, and plant height were observed to be highly hereditary coupled with high genetic advance as a percentage of the mean, suggesting that they can be improved by direct selection. Coefficient analysis has shown that maximum attention should be paid to bulb diameter (equatorial), the number of cloves, bulb diameter (equatorial), bulb weight, plant height, and leaf length, as these traits also correlate positively and significantly with bulb yield.

Analyzing Precipitation Climatology; and Past and Future Variation Trends in Precipitation and Temperature of Arba Minch and Chencha Districts, Gamo Highlands, Ethiopia (for the period 1981-2100)

Global climate is changing significantly causing changes in the climatic variables especially, precipitation and temperature. This study was conducted to analyze the change in precipitation and temperature in two Arba minch and Chencha districts, Southern Ethiopia. Daily observed rainfall, maximum and minimum temperature data were collected from the Ethiopian National Meteorological Agency for the years 1981 to 2018. The data from the Climate Hazards Center Infrared precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) was used to fill the missing data. REMO2009, a regional climate model (RCM), was used to extract daily rainfall and temperature data for the period 1981-2100, two representative concentration pathways: RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 were used for the projection. The model data was corrected according to the observation prior to analysis. The results revealed that the study area has bimodal rainfall characteristics with the peaks in April and October of the first and second main rainy seasons respectively. In a decadal time period, there is a shift in the peak of precipitation during the first main rainy season, indicating seasonal shift. The total rainfall received over a decadal time period also varies significantly. In terms of future projections, seasonal rainfall peaks will remain similar on average, but total rainfall will continue to be highly variable. The projection also show that the second main rainy season for both stations will vanish completely by the end of the century, resulting in mono-modal rainfall characteristics. Keywords: Climate Change, Regional Climate Models, representative concentration pathways DOI: 10.7176/JEES/11-7-03 Publication date: July 31 st 2021

Conservational tree growing by smallholder farm households: evidence from Gamo highlands of Southern Ethiopia

Deforestation and environmental degradation were identified among the leading factors worsening risk exposure in developing countries. Conservational tree growing was found a permissible option and an awake up policy direction to curve down the problem in Ethiopia. However, the uptake of this practice is far from complete and the art has not been made to a level that could make households self-reliant at least in tree resources, particularly in the highlands. The objective of this study was to identify the decisive factors that influence conservational tree growing behavior of smallholder farm households in Gamo highlands of Southern Ethiopia. The study was based on survey data collected from 11 villages in 2011/2012. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 335 farm households. Structured interview questionnaires and observations were used to collect primary data. Descriptive and inferential statistics and logistic regression model were used to analyze the data. The key findings showed that a host of factors significantly influenced smallholders’ decision to practice conservational tree growing. The study found that tree growing experience, farm size, and availability of suitable land area for tree growing and cash income from sales of trees were the significant factors explaining the variation in conservational tree growing behavior of households. We also observed old-aged trees in traditionally protected areas. Among others, funeral and mystical sites host large number of long-lived indigenous tree species than private farms in Gamo highlands of southern Ethiopia. Based on the findings, the study concluded that intra-farmer experience sharing, and support to efficient indigenous institutions and rural tree markets as potential entry points for mitigating deforestation and developing environmentally sustainable agriculture.

Altitude and management affect soil fertility, leaf nutrient status and Xanthomonas wilt prevalence in enset gardens

Abstract. Enset (Ensete ventricosum) is a productive, drought-tolerant and multipurpose food security crop grown in the densely populated Ethiopian highlands. It is a so-called orphan crop, and its production suffers from a lack of information on proper soil fertility management and its interaction with bacterial wilt disease caused by the pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum. The aim of this study was therefore to assess soil–plant nutrient variation within enset home gardens at three altitudes (ranging from 2000 to 3000 m above sea level – a.s.l.) in the Gamo highlands and investigate whether this variation affects disease prevalence. Altitude in the rift valley covaries with soil leaching, and plant available P, Ca and Mg in soils significantly raised with decreasing altitude. Soil carbon and most nutrients reached very high levels in the gardens, whereas the more distant outfields were severely nutrient deprived. Differences in management intensity within the garden caused soil pH, conductivity, total organic carbon, total N and available P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn and Fe levels to significantly decline with distance from the house; yet, this decrease in soil nutrients was not mirrored in a response of foliar nutrient content, except for N. Hence, over-fertilization is likely, and establishing evidence-based nutrient recommendations for enset would benefit soil quality and productivity both in the gardens and in the outfields. Disease prevalence was high in the study area, with one-third of the farms affected in the recent past. Although more experimental work is needed to exclude confounding factors, our data indicate that the effects of altitude, P fertilization, micronutrients and K-Ca-Mg balance are promising avenues for further investigation into Xanthomonas wilt disease susceptibility.

Land Fragmentation, Technical Efficiency, and Adaptation to Climate Change by Farmers in the Gamo Highlands of Ethiopia

Although barley production is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, households in the Gamo Highlands of Ethiopia rely on barley for their diet and allocate most of their highly-fragmented land to barley production. Moreover, farmers alter land management practices as a strategy to adjust to climate change and variability. However, to what extent land fragmentation and land management jointly influence the technical efficiency of barley production is unknown. In addition, it is unidentified whether technical efficiency is uniform across multiple separated plots. In this study, we adapted two stochastic frontier panel models on plot-level cross-sectional data to investigate this. The model results indicate that fragmentation influences the effect of land management practices on efficiency. The study found that efficiency was not uniform across different plots and for different farmers and showed the existence of large yield gaps. To close these gaps, policies designed to address the specific components of inefficiency need to be implemented.

Land Use/Land Cover Dynamics and its Environmental Impacts in Kulfo Watershed, Gamo Highlands, South Western Ethiopia

Gamo highland have experienced drastic cover dynamics of land resource resulted from historic settlement, heavy concentration of human and livestock population, and obsolete farming practices. The aim of this study was to examine the dynamics of the land use/land cover and its consequent environmental impacts in Kulfo watershed located in South Western Ethiopia. Historic spatial and socio-economic data were used in GIS and Remote Sensing environment to analyze and map the research data. The result of this study revealed that the Land use/ cover change analysis conducted in three periods (1986, 1999 and 2017) showed a remarkable dynamics and modification over varying cover types. In 1986 the dominant land use land covers were cultivated land (42%) followed by pasture land (23%) and forest land (18.3%). After 32 years (2017), cultivated land (71%), shrub land (7.5%) and bare lands (6.2%) were the three dominant land uses/cover types in the study area. During the study period, cultivation encroached to marginal steep slopes (with gradient more than 60%) and mountain grasslands where once used as a place of celebrating traditional festivals and grazing lands. Such a dramatic change in three-decade period has further increased degraded lands and raised erosion vulnerable areas to 97.2%, the resultant effects of which has greatly threatened the livelihood of communities in the watershed. The land use in the study watershed is not as of the land capability, excess forest, shrub and grasslands were unnecessarily brought under agriculture. Therefore, it is recommended that land has to be used as per its capability and conservation measures shall give attention to erosion prone areas.

The effect of production decline of Qoltso on food security in Gamo Highlands, South-west Ethiopia

Qoltso is a seasonal crop that grows as weedy root crop where the land is cultivated for other cerials. The production and productivity of Qoltso is rapidly declining which resulted in food shortage in specific months in the Gamo Highland. The main objective of this research was to assess the impact of Qoltso production decline on food security of rural households in the Gamo Highland. Data were collected from 153 randomly selected rural households in the four sample sites using participatory rural appraisal, in-depth interview and questionnaire. The result indicate that Qoltso productivity declined primarily because agricultural extension workers discourage farmers who produce Qoltso. Secondly, farm households inappropriately manage Qoltso production. Thirdly, of manure/organic fertilizer were becoming scarce. Fourthly, framers were rather encouraged to focus on newly introduced crop varieties (improved seeds). Traditional management practices such as properly cutting and burring the root-top while harvesting the product, collecting and evenly burring small Qoltso (mare), and applying only homemade livestock manure were found to be the major mechanisms to enhance its productivity. However, the result indicated that 75.8% of the studied households faced food shortage between June to September due to the decline of Qoltso production and productivity. This period in fact was the harvest period for Qoltso and households were expected to safely pass the period if Qualso production were not declining. It was recommended that indigenous soil fertility management practices should be implemented to inhance the productivity of the crop. Attention should also be given to the crop by the agricultural extention workers.