ABSTRACT
Land clearing and sedentary agriculture have changed the mountain vegetation in the East African region. The natural vegetation of Ethiopian mountains has disappeared under mounting demographic pressure, except for a few patches around the holy places and in inaccessible terrain. The climate in Ethiopia is controlled by macro-scale pressure changes, and monsoon flows with elevation and topography contributing to the seasonal and interannual variations. As population increased in montane Ethiopia, forests were cleared and grassland and shrublands became the dominant vegetation. The central plateau of Ethiopia is characterised by mixed cereal and livestock agriculture, and 80% of the country’s livestock population are found 1500 m asl. Mountainous parts of east Africa are under severe economic and social pressure resulting from rapidly increasing population, land fragmentation and degradation, abject poverty and repeated cycles of drought and human tragedies.
