Forest Cover Change and Socioeconomic Drivers in Southwest Ethiopia : deforestation for plantation agriculture

The forest cover change and its drives investigated in parts of the southwest Ethiopia using satellite images from different epoch. Local community farming systems were investigated in three case study villages using semi structured interview and structured interview. The high forest cover of the study area dwindled from 71 per cent to 48 per cent between 1973 and 2005. Furthermore, the traditional farming systems, was disappearing from the region's land use systems as more land became under permanent agriculture. Lack of clear land use plan, change in farming systems and unregulated forest coffee management identified as drivers of the forest cover change.