The Expansion of Eichhornia crassipes and Its Impact on the Livelihoods: A Case of Lake Dambal, Oromiya, Ethiopia

Abstract

The major problem of fresh water bodies in the tropical and sub-tropical region is the growth of Eichhornia crassipes. The spread of Eichhornia crassipes on Lake Dambal impedes the livelihoods of society that depends on it. The aim of the study is the expansion of Eichhornia crassipes and its impact on the livelihoods with the specific objectives of mapping the expansion of Eichhornia crassipes, analyzing the extent of Eichhornia crassipes expansion from 2017 to 2021, and examining its impacts on the livelihoods of societies. Four hundred and fourteen (414) respondents, were selected from all peasant associations around Lake Dambal using a simple random sampling technique. Questionnaires and a Geographical positioning system were the instruments used for data collection. The sentinel-2 satellite images were obtained from USGS & Copernicus Hub Open Access. It was pre-processed and classified by QGIS and eCognition software respectively. Social data were analyzed by SPSS software and the results were presented in frequency counts, percentages, Chi-square (χ2), and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results show that the image of each year was classified into five major classes: water, irrigated land, Eichhornia crassipes, wetland, and Grazing land (includes settlement & Iceland). In the year 2017, Eichhornia crassipes coverage was 32.51 ha, 0.06% of the total area of 52,285.4 ha. In 2019, Eichhornia crassipes coverage was increased to 64.92 ha, which is 0.12% of the total area. In 2021, Eichhornia crassipes expansion increased to 317.69 ha which is 0.61% of the study area. Their results show that Eichhornia crassipes expansion increased in extent from 2017 to 2021 by +285.18 ha (+0.55%). The Eichhornia crassipes expansion was affecting the livelihoods of the society. It was used for animal fodder in the study area. However, it affected animal health and milk production. The expansion of Eichhornia crassipes around Lake Dambal is increasing quickly in extent more than +285.18 ha (+0.55%). Therefore, all concerning bodies should have to take appropriate action to control the expansion of the weed over the lake and lands around it.