amhara

=Africa RISING site in Basona Worena (Amhara)=

Basona Worena has an estimated land area of 1,399 km2 with elevations ranging between 1,980 and 3,000 metres above sea level. Average annual rainfall is 1,100 mm. According to the 2007 population census, the total population is 120,930 people (61,924 men and 59,006 women). In terms of land use, 13.1% of land is under cultivation, 47.3% is under grazing, 8.5% is under forest, shrubs and bush lands and 31.1% has other uses. In this district, Africa RISING is working in two kebeles, Gudo Beret and Goshe Bado.

In general, the district is quite well-connected to roads and markets. Visitors to rural areas will see a landscape suffering from soil erosion, land degradation and deforestation. Feed resources for animals are scarce and crop diseases, especially of faba bean are growing. While the district has high and low areas, Africa RISING efforts focus in the highlands. To address some of these issues, Africa RISING has joined up with a wider ‘integrated watershed management’ initiative of the government to tackle the natural resource management challenges at a wide scale. Along with other partners, Africa RISING is helping to scale best-bet technologies such as soil and water conservation, forage crops, multi-purpose legumes, fodder trees and improved crop varieties. A particular contribution of Africa RISING is to generate and test the evidence base for new and existing technologies that this development project is promoting.

Download a brief on on Africa RISING in Amhara region

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Temesgen Alene t.alene@cgiar.org http://africa-rising.net
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