![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/files\/2026\/03\/IMG_6554.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEthiopia is globally important for both biodiversity conservation and food systems. Its varied climates and landscapes support many endemic species, placing the country within two global biodiversity hotspots: the Horn of Africa and the Eastern Afromontane. These same conditions, combined with a rich cultural diversity, have also made Ethiopia a centre of crop domestication, where indigenous crops and locally-adapted varieties remain central to resilient food systems and rural livelihoods. Agriculture underpins the national economy, with around two-thirds of the population engaged in farming, yet food insecurity remains widespread. As a result, Ethiopia faces a fundamental land-use challenge: how to conserve its exceptional wild biodiversity, sustain its unique crop diversity, and produce enough food on finite land. Addressing these interconnected challenges forms part of the E3 Sharing Space for Nature project, which focuses on how shared landscapes can support both nature and human livelihoods.<\/p>\n
Meeting Ethiopia\u2019s growing food needs will require more productive agriculture. Intensification is essential to improve food security and reduce pressure\u00a0of agricultural expansion on\u00a0natural habitats.\u00a0However, under\u00a0uncertain future conditions, the crops that deliver the highest yields today may not perform best\u00a0over time, potentially driving further agricultural expansion.\u00a0Long-term\u00a0food security depends not only on producing more food now, but on\u00a0maintaining\u00a0the crop and varietal diversity that will support future production.<\/p>\n
In Ethiopia, agrobiodiversity underpins everyday food systems and cultural life. Smallholder farmers cultivate a wide range of locally adapted crops and varieties to cope with variable rainfall,\u00a0pests\u00a0and disease, drawing on generations of knowledge and active management. This diversity\u00a0provides\u00a0practical options for managing climatic uncertainty and shocks.\u00a0Enset\u00a0(Ensete\u00a0ventricosum), domesticated only in Ethiopia and a staple for around 26 million people, illustrates this approach: farmers\u00a0maintain\u00a0hundreds of varieties with different traits, allowing them to manage risk while safeguarding\u00a0future\u00a0options.\u00a0Without\u00a0this\u00a0diversity, the\u00a0potential\u00a0for adapting agriculture to future conditions\u00a0is\u00a0substantially reduced.<\/p>\n
Although Ethiopia is a global centre of agrobiodiversity, this diversity is under increasing pressure. Climate stress and the spread of more uniform farming systems are contributing to the loss of crop and varietal diversity. As diversity declines, so do future options for adaptation and sustainable intensification. Conserving agrobiodiversity is therefore not only about preserving cultural heritage: it is central to sustaining long-term food security and reducing pressure to expand agriculture into remaining natural areas.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Although biodiversity conservation, agrobiodiversity and food production are all national priorities in Ethiopia, they have often been planned separately. As in many countries, responsibility for each sits across different institutions, with limited coordination between them. As a result, land-use decisions are frequently made with only a partial view of their ecological and social consequences.<\/p>\n
Research\u00a0conducted with the Ethiopia Wildlife Conservation Authority<\/a>, illustrates the trade-offs that can arise from this fragmented approach. Many of Ethiopia\u2019s protected areas have been successful in slowing habitat loss and limiting agricultural expansion – one of the main drivers of biodiversity decline. However, these gains often come with significant social costs. Households living near protected areas often experience sharper declines in food security than comparable households elsewhere.<\/p>\n Additionally, Ethiopia\u2019s protected area network does not fully\u00a0represent\u00a0the country\u2019s ecological diversity. Some ecoregions\u00a0remain\u00a0poorly covered, and many species\u00a0\u2013\u00a0particularly plants\u00a0\u2013\u00a0have little or no protection. Expanding protected areas to address these gaps could increase existing tensions if trade-offs are not carefully managed.<\/p>\n Balancing biodiversity conservation,\u00a0agrobiodiversity\u00a0and food production requires planning approaches that consider these goals together.\u00a0Systematic conservation planning provides a useful framework\u00a0for\u00a0identifying\u00a0what needs to be achieved, where, and at what cost, while making trade-offs transparent.<\/p>\n Traditional applications of systematic conservation planning often focus on meeting targets for wild biodiversity while minimising impacts on other land uses, such as food production. In Ethiopia, our approach will treat wild biodiversity conservation, agrobiodiversity\u00a0conservation\u00a0and food production as equal\u00a0objectives\u00a0from the outset. The aim is to meet species-level\u00a0conservation\u00a0targets for wild biodiversity\u00a0and\u00a0agrobiodiversity,\u00a0alongside\u00a0production targets for agriculture within the same planning\u00a0process.\u00a0Recognising agrobiodiversity as a conservation priority highlights its potential as a form of conservation area.\u00a0The\u00a0E3 Sharing Space for Nature\u00a0project\u00a0is exploring how such approaches can\u00a0complement\u00a0more conventional protected areas.<\/p>\n These ideas were recently explored at a workshop\u00a0convened\u00a0by the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, which brought together\u00a0experts\u00a0from\u00a0different sectors\u00a0of\u00a0government,\u00a0NGOs\u00a0and research institutions.\u00a0The\u00a0workshop aimed to start building a framework for setting realistic targets for wild biodiversity,\u00a0agrobiodiversity\u00a0and food production. Through presentations\u00a0and group discussions, participants worked to\u00a0identify\u00a0where goals align, where tensions are likely to arise, and how more coordinated planning could support biodiversity conservation, climate\u00a0resilience\u00a0and sustainable food systems in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n While Ethiopia\u2019s context is unique, the underlying challenges are shared by\u00a0many countries. As pressure on land increases worldwide, balancing biodiversity conservation with food security will become\u00a0increasingly\u00a0urgent.\u00a0Insights from Ethiopia contribute to a wider international effort\u00a0to understand how biodiversity conservation and human livelihoods can be supported together in\u00a0multifunctional\u00a0landscapes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sophie Jago is supervised by Professor Bob Smith<\/a> and Dr Jake Bicknell<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ethiopia is globally important for both biodiversity conservation and food systems. Its varied climates and landscapes support many endemic species, placing the country within two … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83585,"featured_media":873,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[70],"tags":[6599,303104],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83585"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":883,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832\/revisions\/883"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Towards integrated land use planning<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/files\/2026\/03\/IMG_6550.jpg\")
<\/p>\n