Abstract:
The ever increasing demand of farmland, fuel wood and charcoal production coupled with population
growth has accelerated the rate of forest reduction in Ethiopia. This has resulted in soil erosion and
land degradation. This study was conducted at Arba Minch Zuria Woreda Gamo Gofa Zone, Southern
Nations and Nationalities Peoples’ Region (SNNPR), with the aim of assessing impacts of deforestation
on the livelihood of small holder farmers. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from
primary and secondary data sources. Data on the socio-demographic variables as well as farmers’
perception towards impacts of deforestation, were collected using structured questionnaire from 180
randomly selected households from each study sites. The overall average age of respondents was
46.29, where the highest age was recorded in Mille site as compared to other sites (P<0.001). The
average household (HH) size of each site was 6.62, 5.52 and 4.82, respectively (P<0.001). About 89.4% of
the respondents from all study sites indicated the existence of unwise utilization of forest resources
which led to environmental degradation of the area. The result indicated that 27.2% of the forest
resources are common woodland, while 72.8% was open access. All the respondents (100%, N= 180)
across the study sites reported that the increased trends of degradation of forest resources. Generally,
the results of the study indicated that the effects of deforestation on land productivity; agriculture and
livestock production had a negative effect on livelihoods of the community. Based on the present
study, it is appropriate to undertake the large-scale natural resource management by incorporating
community-based watershed management, thereby reducing the adverse impact of deforestation.
