A popular report of a research project on “Ecosystem services and biodiversity in tropical agricultural landscapes”

A popular report of a research project in ecology and human geography entitled Nature, people and agriculture in southwestern Ethiopia: the interaction between small scale agriculture and the diversity of organisms in mosaic landscapes (ISBN: 978-91-7540-172-0) was published.

This booklet is about ecosystem services and biodiversity in tropical agricultural landscapes (See a conceptual model of the project below). It is the final report written in a popular way from the research project Examining mismatches between management and the supply of ecosystem services in Ethiopian agroecosystems across scales in space and time. The project was financed by the Swedish government through SIDA and Formas to Prof. Kristoffer Hylander at Stockholm University in collaboration with Prof. Sileshi Nemomissa and other staff from Sweden and Ethiopia. Most work of this project has been conducted as PhD-projects.


A conceptual figure illustrating the main focus of the project. (A) The biodiversity of the landscape can act on crops by enhancing and decreasing yields. (B,C) Farmers can learn about this and (D) decide on management actions. (E, F) All of this is happening in the context of a landscape and (G) external factors could also affect the system.

The booklet was written by project leaders and members. In January 2015, the booklet was distributed to different stakeholders mostly in Southwestern Ethiopia, where the research project was conducted for over four years. The booklet was also discussed at a public lecture and meetings with staff at district adminstration and agricultural offices. The booklet was written in three languages: English, Afaan Oromo and Amharic.