PhD halftime seminar by Getachew Gemtesa Tiruneh: "Trajectories in environmental sustainability under land-use intensification"

Pedagogic reviewer: Hanna Sjulgård

Chairperson : Lukas Hallberg

Register to attend via Zoom by filling out the form below. 

Abstract

Farmers in the Awi zone of northwestern Ethiopia have developed an agroforestry system based on short-term rotation of Acacia mearnsii, a species native to Australia. After harvest, the wood is used to produce charcoal. The charcoal is produced on site and sold to the capital, Addis Ababa, and other cities. The charcoal value chain has notably contributed to poverty alleviation in the area. The change in cropping system has also resulted in a considerable land-use change from crop cultivation to forestry over the last two decades. The rapid land-use change may have both positive and negative impacts on social and environmental sustainability and this is investigated in the research project that I am involved in.

My research aims to identify and describe the positive and negative trajectories for soil fertility, carbon sequestration and hydrology driven by the land-use change.

In this half-time seminar, I will present preliminary findings on the extent of land-use change and its impact on carbon dynamics in soil and biomass. Furthermore, I will discuss changes in soil properties related to the land-use change and outline the planned activities for the remaining part of my PhD.