Walia Special Edition on the Bale Mountains (2011) - Zoologische ...

Discussion
This study employed market value methods to estimate direct benefits accruing to rural communities
of the Bale Mountains Eco-region. Using market prices a lower-limit estimate of the total value of
environmental contributors to production are observed and consequentially, our value estimates
are conservative. This is beneficial in light of two key study limitations; the assumption that the
opportunity costs of labour are negligible and the omission of negative environmental externalities;
the costs of environmental degradation resulting from livelihood activities. Even with no employment
prospects, an individual would have to fulfil no other useful household tasks to say that no output
is forgone in engaging in productive activity. However, with extremely limited job opportunities
preventing an accurate measure of the minimum wage rate, the assumption that labour costs approach
zero is justified. The omission of environmental externalities, in particular negative externalities,
may mean that the direct consumptive value, though an underestimate from a private perspective,
may be an overestimate from a social perspective. Negative externalities from crop cultivation and
livestock rearing are already observed in the Bale Mountains Eco-region as the destruction of natural
forest for arable and grazing land, with effects such as soil erosion, changes in vegetation, and
the disappearance of wildlife (OARDB 2007). The harvest of forest products may also necessitate
destruction of natural areas and within the National Park commercial extraction of bamboo poles and
unregulated forest coffee extraction affects natural habitats (personal observation). The sustainability
of these principal livelihood strategies has implications for future resource management. With the
Ethiopian government influencing the land use decisions of rural households through incentives,
laws, infrastructure and institutional arrangements, this gap between private and social costs should
be addressed. Despite limitations this study sufficiently allows the investigation of present resource
use from which we can infer the impact of declining benefits or restrictions on use.
Principal direct consumptive use values
Environmental conditions in the Bale Mountains are favourable for crop cultivation with multiple
crop types meeting household needs. The mean direct consumptive use value derived from crop
production is US$1157 ± 73 and differs significantly between kebeles with those at higher altitudes
deriving higher value. Topographic variability of the Bale Mountains Eco-region climatically
constrains the type of crops that can be grown by households with maize, tef and fruits grown
at lower altitudes and, barley and root crops at higher altitudes. Government development and
poverty alleviation schemes continue to promote agricultural intensification and recommendations
focus on better soil management and the use of fertiliser and improved crop varieties (Pender and
Gebremedhin 2006). While intensification might reduce the encroachment of cropland into natural
landscapes, the negative long-term environmental impacts should be assessed before fully endorsed.
Livestock rearing is a common livelihood strategy in the Bale Mountains. In contrast to
previous findings livestock were not reported as being used for insurance, investment or social capital.
Household income from livestock sales amount to US$228 ± 16 annually, but with livestock value
in other studies comprising 57% from draught power alone (Scoones 1990), and value derived yearon-year
from animal reproduction and milk, this study underestimates the private direct use value
<strong>Walia</strong>-<strong>Special</strong> <strong>Edition</strong> on the Bale Mountains 192