This report was produced following a study visit to Kenya and Uganda, 19–30 April 2004. The visit was sponsored by CTA and organised in collaboration with ORREDE and SACDEP–Kenya.

Despite the extensive efforts of rainwater harvesting and management (RWHM) interventions for moisture-stressed areas in Ethiopia, the adoption and wider dissemination of the newly introduced techniques have been generally meager. The objective of this study was, therefore, to develop appropriate RWHM techniques through a participatory planning process in the Central Rift Valley (CRV) dry lands of Ethiopia. To achieve this objective, a combination of literature reviews, focus group discussions, questionnaire surveys, agro-meteorological analyses and field experimentations were undertaken.

The objectives of this study were to describe the production systems, the morphological features, and growth and reproductive performances of Bati (Central Highland ecotype), Borena (Long eared Somali ecotype) and Short-eared Somali indigenous goat populations in their home tract, Ethiopia. The study covered Bati and Kalu districts for Bati goats in Oromiya and South Wollo zones (Amhara Region), respectively; Yabello for Borena goats in Borena zone (Oromia Region); and Shinille and Erer from Siti (the previous Shinille zone, in Somali Region) for Short-Eared Somali goats.

Watershed management involves the integrated management of a multitude of resources such as crop land, pastures, forests and water to each of which a multitude of often conflicting interests relate. These interests arise from stakeholders inside as well as outside the watershed. The identification and negotiation of these interests therefore is an important element in watershed management.

Drought is one of the major climatic hazards impacting on the various sectors including crop and livestock in the West African Sahel. Pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the region are regularly affected by drought, with vulnerability differing with gender, age, wealth status (access to cropland and livestock endowment), geographic location, social networks, and previous exposure to drought. Effective interventions require regular monitoring of vulnerability to drought, for which various quantitative and qualitative approaches exist.