There is a limited effort in Ethiopia to study scientifically the ecological features of traditional coffee-based agroforestry systems. This study was initiated to determine the structure, composition, and carbon stock of woody species along an elevation gradient of a traditional coffee-based agroforestry system in Yirgacheffe district, southern Ethiopia. Woody plants’ inventory was conducted in thirty-eight sampling quadrats (20 20 m) along five elevation contours and eight transects. Thirty-eight soil samples were taken from randomly selected subplots at 0–30 cm soil depths. In this study 32, woody plant species representing 23 families were recorded. Species richness ranged from 13–17 along the elevation gradient. Woody plant diversity indices appear to have a slight variation with increasing elevation gradient. Shade tree and coffee shrub density, DBH, and height showed significant variations along the elevation gradient. Total aboveground woody biomass carbon stock along elevation gradient ranged from 11.07 to 27.48 Mg·ha⁻¹. Soil organic carbon stock was slightly different across elevation gradients with a mean range of 83.91 to 89.29 Mg·ha⁻¹. These indicate that the agroforestry system has significant potential of storing and enhancing ecosystem carbon stocks across all the elevation gradients. The findings generally show that agroforestry systems in the study area are diverse, structurally complex with significant carbon storage in the soil and woody biomass.

In many developing countries, fuelwood is the main energy source because it’s cheap for cooking, lighting, and heating. A review of 72 papers published after the year 2000 were used to examined fuelwood and other energy sources for cooking and lighting, and identified firewood and charcoal plant species in Ethiopia. The review thoroughly searched in Google Scholar, Research4life, Scopus/Elsevier, Research Gate, EMBASE, and PubMed using various keywords. The records noted each paper’s title, abstract, keywords, authors, year, location, fuel type, energy use, plant species, and fuel consumption by biogas users and non-users. The data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26, R studio and Excel 2019. Electricity is the most preferred lighting source in Ethiopia, followed by kerosene, dry cells, and candles. Fuel consumption for lighting differed significantly between fuel types, but there was no significant difference in fuel source preferences for lighting between rural and urban areas. Firewood is the most popular fuel for cooking in Ethiopia, followed by charcoal, animal dung, and electricity. The study found that fuel consumption for cooking varies significantly between different fuel types, but there was no significant difference in fuel source preferences for cooking between rural and urban areas. The review compared fuel consumption between households using biogas and those not using biogas. Non-biogas users consumed significantly more firewood and charcoal per household than biogas users. Significant differences in fuel consumption were observed for both biogas users and non-biogas users. A wide variety of plant species are used for firewood and charcoal production across Ethiopia, with the central region exhibiting the highest diversity. The study found that electricity is the preferred lighting source in Ethiopia, while firewood remains the dominant fuel for cooking. To mitigate the negative environmental, economic, and health impacts associated with traditional fuel sources, the study recommends promoting modern and environmentally friendly alternatives, such as electricity and biogas.

The researcher conducted a review of 83 articles published between 2011 and 2021 to determine the nontimber forest products (NTFPs) income contribution and usage types based on spatial and temporal patterns. The study used a search, synthesis, appraisal, and analysis framework for review. The review included articles that only focused on the contributions of NTFPs for livelihood income and NTFPs usage type, while others not related to these two topics were excluded. For its literature search, more than half of the articles used Google Scholar, followed by Research4life, Scopus/Elsevier, EMBASE, and PubMed, respectively. In this study, excluding papers that (i) did not provide evidence on the income contribution of NTFPs, (ii) did not include articles that did not clearly explain the NTFPs use types, and (iii) were published before 2011, the reviewer was able to reduce the number of included articles (eligibility criteria or inclusion and exclusion criteria). 83 article papers were reviewed for the current review. The majority of the research for this review was carried out in India (19%), Ethiopia (13%), and Nigeria (11%). India was the first of the 17 both Asian and African countries to do research on the NTFPs’ contribution to rural household income and type of use. NTFPs contribute significantly to rural household revenue in 17 countries, ranging from a minimum of 9.5% in Zambia to a maximum of 40.19% in Myanmar. The average percentage of revenue from NTFPs across the 17 nations was 23.56%. Wild fruit, wild vegetables, medicinal plants, firewood, and crafts were the five NTFP usage types that were used by people in every country studied. Despite the fact that different countries utilize different types of NTFPs, the most commonly used types of NTFPs do not differ statistically ( ). To prevent overexploitation, those top five NTFPs must be conserved as they gather across the regions. NTFP collection is a significant source of revenue for rural poor and people who live in and around the forest. There are many types of NTFPs in both Asian and African countries. So, this study shows that the rural people depend on the forest product and get many benefits from the forest especially in the NTFP usage type. In order to secure livelihood stability in this global biodiversity hotspot and to preserve plant and animal diversity, the cultivation and scientific harvesting of NTFPs are urgently required. It is necessary to increase capacity by teaching NTFP users how, when, and how much to harvest.

Smallholder farmers in the northwestern Ethiopian Highlands are highly engaged in small-scale forest management. Participation in this activity can provide a key source of income for the farmers as well as wider benefits to the environment. To gain a better understanding of how spatial and socio-ecological factors determine farmers’ engagements in small-scale forest management, we conducted a comparative study in three Districts of northwestern Ethiopia. We used a mixed method approach including both quantitative (n = 375) and qualitative (n = 45) surveys to understand farmers’ motivations and decisions in three Districts of northwestern Ethiopia. We found that there were a number of factors motivating farmers’ decisions to participate, including land degradation and decline in crop productivity (in Fagta Lekoma District); adverse impact of adjacent woodlots (in North Mecha District); and increasing demand of wood products (in Guna Begemidir District). Further analysis on the extent of farmer engagement revealed that their decision to increase or decrease the share of land allocated to woodlots is heavily dependent on the comparative socio-economic benefits of woodlots and distance to markets. Other key (District-specific) determinant factors included wealth status, soil fertility status, gender, adult equivalent value, total land holding size, and annual crop production risk perception. Our findings suggest that to increase the uptake of woodlots, we would need to adopt a demand-driven forestry extension approach, which considers the heterogeneity of farmers and farm characteristics. Further research is required to quantify the optimal level of land allocation for small-scale forest management.

Agroforestry has been recognized as an effective circa citum conservation strategy in Ethiopia. Despite progress in the recent past, there has been very little research characterizing the management strategies of farmers for agroforestry practices (AFP) and quantifying their contribution to biodiversity conservation. We (i) characterized the management strategies of farmers for agroforestry practices and (ii) assessed the floristic composition, diversity, and structure of woody species in agroforestry practices in Northwestern Ethiopia. We interviewed farm owners to gather information on the management strategies of agroforestry practices. We also collected biophysical data using quadrats established in 126 fields selected from homegardens (HG), coffee-based (CS), and Rhamnus prinoides (Locally Gesho)-based practices. A total of 83 trees and shrubs (76 % native and 24 % non-native) from 40 families and 47 genera recorded in the study area. The results indicate that AFPs represent diverse vertical and horizontal management strategies, and plant functions, which vary among AFPs and wealth status. The results suggest the potential of agroforestry practices for supporting livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. Farmers' management practices and strategies affect the species diversity of AFPs. The mean height (m), basal area (m² ha⁻¹), and diameter at breast height (cm) varied among AFPs. The average stem density ha⁻¹ as well as species richness per farm significantly varied among AFPs and wealth status. Richness, Shannon, and Simpson's diversity varied among HGs in the study sites. In the Lay Armachiho district, species richness, Shannon, and Simpson's diversity significantly varied (P < 0.05) among agroforestry practices. Our study suggests management strategies and household wealth status that affect the diversity of woody plants in AFPs should be consider to improve biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes. Since AFPs play a vital role in biodiversity conservation that is part of a bigger conservation strategy, the suggestion of AFPs to apply in Ethiopia is proposed. To advance the overall contribution, further studies on the optimization of technical, socio-economic and environmental (including density and diversity) performance of agroforestry practices is needed.