CONTEXT

In Ethiopia, many agricultural interventions have been introduced for mixed farm types in different biophysical and socioeconomic conditions. The contribution of such interventions to multi-objectives at farm level and beyond remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To derive insights into interaction of multi-objectives on economic profit-, nutrition security-, and environmental performance that are relevant for improvement of farm household living income in Amhara, Ethiopia.

METHODS

FarmDESIGN model evaluated performance of four stylized medium- and small-scale farm types in a low (Lay Gayint)- and high (South Achefer)- potential district: LG-M, LG-S, SA-M and SA-S. Pareto-based multi-objective optimization was performed to maximize farm profit, livestock density, dietary energy and vitamin A yield, and minimize GHG and soil N losses. Further analysis resulted in 3–4 clusters per farm type with varied farm configurations.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Higher dietary energy- and vitamin A- yield that meets household and Ethiopian society requirements increased synergistically with profit in three of the four farm type clusters, while LG-S clusters could only increase vitamin A yield substantially with profit. Only LG-M clusters intensified livestock by addition of 4–8 crossbred cows and 1–10 chickens, supported by imported feed and off-farm grazing but face strong environmental trade-offs of increased GHG and soil N losses. Chicken production (eggs and chicken meat) is an option to reduce environmental impact, increase profit and contribute to both human nutrition requirements. In LG-S, SA-M and SA-S farm type clusters, profit was generated mainly from sale of eucalyptus, maize, potato, carrot, finger millet, garlic, beetroot and banana, with eucalyptus accounting at least 35% of the crop profit. Livestock diversification in these clusters also contributed to farm revenue, but always to a smaller extent, due to relatively high management costs. A living income from farming activities was only achieved on SA-M3 as 3.96 USD/capita/day (+0.36 above the threshold). This cluster had a 2.90 ha land area, farm income almost equally generated from crop and livestock production, and successfully met all set objectives except maximizing livestock density.

SIGNIFICANCE

Our study infers the need to increase land area, expand poultry and rear crossbred cows, and cultivate high value crops to realize a living income solely from agricultural activities. For implementation, current land-use policies should support farm area expansion. The suggested agricultural options, which already align with current Ethiopian development plans, must utilize sustainable measures that will not lead to short- or long-term challenges as higher GHG and soil nutrient mining.

中文翻译：

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埃塞俄比亚阿姆哈拉混合农牧场类型的机会和权衡的综合分析

语境

在埃塞俄比亚，针对不同生物物理和社会经济条件下的混合农场类型引入了许多农业干预措施。此类干预措施对农场层面及以后的多目标的贡献仍不清楚。

客观的

深入了解与提高埃塞俄比亚阿姆哈拉农户生活收入相关的经济利润、营养安全和环境绩效的多目标相互作用。

方法

FarmDESIGN 模型评估了低（Lay Gayint）和高（South Achefer）潜力区中四种程式化的中小型农场类型的性能：LG-M、LG-S、SA-M 和 SA-S。进行了基于帕累托的多目标优化，以最大限度地提高农场利润、牲畜密度、膳食能量和维生素 A 产量，并最大限度地减少温室气体和土壤氮素损失。进一步的分析导致每个农场类型有 3-4 个集群，具有不同的农场配置。

结果和结论

满足家庭和埃塞俄比亚社会需求的更高膳食能量和维生素 A 产量与四个农场类型集群中的三个的利润协同增加，而 LG-S 集群只能大幅增加维生素 A 产量和利润。在进口饲料和非农场放牧的支持下，只有 LG-M 集群通过增加 4-8 头杂交奶牛和 1-10 只鸡来强化牲畜，但面临温室气体和土壤氮损失增加的强烈环境权衡。鸡肉生产（鸡蛋和鸡肉）是减少环境影响、增加利润和满足人类营养需求的一种选择。在 LG-S、SA-M 和 SA-S 农场类型集群中，利润主要来自桉树、玉米、马铃薯、胡萝卜、小米、大蒜、甜菜根和香蕉的销售，其中桉树至少占作物的 35%利润。这些集群中的牲畜多样化也为农场收入做出了贡献，但由于相对较高的管理成本，其幅度总是较小。农业活动的生活收入仅在 SA-M3 上达到 3.96 美元/人/天（比阈值高出 0.36）。该集群拥有 2.90 公顷的土地面积，农作物和畜牧业生产的收入几乎相等，成功地实现了除最大程度提高牲畜密度外的所有既定目标。

意义

我们的研究推断需要增加土地面积、扩大家禽和饲养杂交奶牛，并种植高价值作物，以实现仅靠农业活动的生活收入。在实施方面，现行土地利用政策应支持扩大农田面积。建议的农业选择已经符合埃塞俄比亚当前的发展计划，必须采用不会导致短期或长期挑战的可持续措施，如更高的温室气体排放和土壤养分开采。