ADAPTATION AND CHANGE IN ENSET ECOLOGY AND FARMING AMONG THE KORE OF SOUTHWESTERN ETHIOPIA

Awoke Amzaye Assoma

Enset (Ensete ventricosum) is an indigenous plant with major economic, social, cultural and environmental uses. Despite being a staple and multipurpose crop, enset and many ethnic groups associated with enset cultivation, have rarely been the subject of systematic research. This dissertation explores the ecology of enset, indigenous knowledge systems about enset, and the multiple adaptive strategies Kore enset farmers in southwestern Ethiopia utilize to make a living. The dissertation has three general aims: 1) to fill extensive gaps in the literature on Kore culture, history and uses of enset; 2) to investigate Kore indigenous knowledge of enset ecology, enset varieties, and enset production and management practices and; 3) to identify the various livelihood strategies the Kore design to cope with contemporary challenges of climate change and expansions in the market economy. The study uses diverse qualitative and quantitative methods to addresses the three aims, including, extensive review of ethnohistoric sources, in-depth interviews with elders about culture history, participation observation, open-ended informal interviews with key informants, semi-structured interviews with enset farmers, 124 structured household surveys, and freelisting by adults and adolescents of various components of indigenous knowledge of enset. Open-ended ethnographic interviews and consultation of historic sources produced the first comprehensive Kore cultural history. Freelist methods identified 92 enset varieties cultivated by the Kore. The number of enset varieties in Kore gardens correlated with land size and the number of livestock. Some enset varieties were selectively propagated to yield the highest quality kocho (enset flour) and bul’a (fine enset starch). The study also identified relatively unique enset soil conservation and agronomic practices among the Kore, including enset processing and pit preparation, and small-scale irrigation. Finally, the study demonstrates that the Kore adapt to changing ecological, population and market situations through intensification of agriculture, diversification of crops, and participating in petty trade and migration. The research contributes to the anthropological literature by providing detailed ethnographic information about unique features of Kore history, culture, indigenous knowledge about enset, and strategies smallholder farmers devise to cope with changing ecological, population and market situations.

ADAPTATION AND CHANGE IN ENSET ECOLOGY AND FARMING AMONG THE KORE OF SOUTHWESTERN ETHIOPIA

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