Homegardens and Agrobiodiversity Conservation in Sabata Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

Homegardens are repositories of biocultural assets of communities, the hub of plant-based resources and the microcosms of agrobiodiversity hotspots. The homegardens of Sabata, a peri-urban town located in the tepid-humid mid highland agroecological zone of southwest Shewa of Oromia Regional State (Ethiopia), were investigated using standard methods of ethnobotany with the aim of elucidating their diagnostic features and significance in agrobiodiversity conservation. Semi-structured interviews, observations, discussion with key informants and guided garden tour with plant specimen collection and identification constituted the main study methods. The resulting data were subjected to matrix ranking, descriptive statistical analysis and calculations of diversity and similarity indices. One hundred thirty-five plant species of different use categories and life forms, distributed in 110 genera and 58 families were recorded. Each homegarden had an average of 33 species. Ensete ventricosum, represented by 18 locally identified landrace clones, was the most frequent (91.60%) species. Among 240 randomly sampled households, 78% had attached homegardens. These homegardens provide sizeable returns in terms of plant material for home use and income generation on top of their ecological and aesthetic values. Cupressus lusitanica had the highest relative density (0.02%) among the tree species. An average Shannon-Wiener diversity index of 4.301 indicated the richness of Sabata homegardens in plant agrobiodiversity. These homegardens represent rich compositional, structural and functional diversity playing key roles for on-farm conservation and ensuring environmental well-being while contributing to livelihood support. This rich agrobiodiversity together with the local biocultural knowledge and management skills, backed by household decision-making and information networks of the multiethnic communities are the regulators of the homegarden dynamics. Key desirable actions relevant to Sabata homegardens include enhancement and development programmes that would facilitate climate adaptation efforts and optimize provision of resources with conservation of agrobiodiversity while preserving the local biocultural knowledge.