World Bank2012-06-132012-06-132007-04https://hdl.handle.net/10986/7939This paper reviews past studies on the costs of land degradation in Ethiopia, with a view to drawing implications for policies, programs, and future research on sustainable land management (SLM). Given the wide range of methods and assumptions used in the studies, their findings concerning annual costs of land degradation relative to agricultural gross domestic product (AGDP) are of remarkably similar magnitude. The minimum estimated annual costs of land degradation in Ethiopia range from 2 to 3 percent of AGDP. This estimate does not take into account downstream effects such as flooding, suggesting that actual total costs are possibly much higher than the 2-3 percent range. A onetime occurrence of a 2-3 percent reduction in AGDP might be manageable, but the cumulative losses to land degradation over time are very serious for an agriculturally based economy. Such cumulative losses represent a significant drag on rural growth and poverty reduction and jeopardize long-term, sustainable development.CC BY 3.0 IGOACTUAL YIELDSAFFORESTATIONAGRICULTURAL INPUTSAGRICULTURAL LANDAGRICULTURAL MARKETINGAGRICULTURAL OUTPUTAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITYAGRICULTURAL SECTORAGRICULTUREAREA UNDER CULTIVATIONBENEFIT ANALYSISBIODIVERSITYBIOMASSCARBONCARRYING CAPACITYCATCHMENTCATCHMENTSCEREAL CROPSCEREAL YIELDSCEREALSCHEMICAL FERTILIZERSCLIMATECLIMATE CHANGECONSERVATION STRATEGYCROPCROP LOSSESCROP MIXCROP PRICESCROP PRODUCTIONCROP PRODUCTION SYSTEMSCROP RESIDUESCROP YIELDCROP YIELDSCROPLANDCROPLAND USECROPPINGCROPSCULTIVATED LANDCULTIVATIONDISCOUNT RATESDUNGECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC EFFECTSECONOMIC IMPACTECOSYSTEMSEMPIRICAL EVIDENCEENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITSENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGEENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICSENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONERODED SOILSEROSION CONTROLEVAPOTRANSPIRATIONEXTERNAL INPUTSFAOFARMFARM EMPLOYMENTFARM EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESFARMERSFARMINGFARMING SYSTEMSFARMSFERTILIZERFERTILIZER USEFLOODINGFOOD DEMANDFOOD POLICY RESEARCHFOOD PRODUCTIONFOOD SECURITYFOOD SUPPLYFORESTFUELFUELWOODGEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMSGRAINGRAIN PRODUCTIONGRASSLANDGRAZINGGROUNDWATERINTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTEINTERNATIONAL WATERSLABOR FORCELAND DEGRADATIONLAND MANAGEMENTLAND PRODUCTIVITYLAND QUALITYLIFE CYCLEMALNUTRITIONMANURESMARKET PRICESNATURAL CAPITALNATURAL RESOURCENATURAL RESOURCE BASENATURAL RESOURCESNATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENTNITROGENNUTRIENTSOVERGRAZINGPERENNIAL CROPSPHOSPHATEPOLLUTIONPOPULATION GROWTHPRESENT VALUEPRICE CHANGESPRODUCEPRODUCTION SYSTEMPROGRAMSPURCHASING POWERRAINFALLRAINFED AREASRANGELANDRECLAMATIONRIVERSRURAL DEVELOPMENTSEASEDIMENTSILTSOCIAL COSTSSOILSOIL CONSERVATIONSOIL DEGRADATIONSOIL EROSIONSOIL FERTILITYSOILSSTREAMSSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTTEMPERATUREUNEPVEGETATIONWATER RESOURCEWATERSWATERSHEDWHEATWOODLANDYIELD LOSSWorld Bank10.1596/7939