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Voting for vetiver in Ethiopia

The unique deep rooting system of vetiver helps to prevent soil erosion and water run-off.
credit: Criss Juliard

Above the ground, vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides) looks much like other coarse, clumplike tropical grasses with, at first glance no apparent attributes. But looking closer, and particularly beneath the surface, the unique deep rooting system gives some indication of the value of this plant. At a recent conference reviewing 20 years of Ethiopian experience of the Vetiver System (VS), and in particular the use of vetiver grass hedgerows for on-farm soil and water conservation, more than 150 delegates agreed that the use of VS in Ethiopia should be scaled-up, as well as introduced for non-farm purposes.

Vetiver was first introduced from Tanzania to the Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC) in southwest Ethiopia during the early 1970s. Twenty years later, an Austrian NGO, Menschen für Menschen (MfM), initiated a vetiver hedgerow programme for soil and water conservation in the Metu area of Illubabor Province. Some 17,000 Illubabor farmers are now estimated to be using vetiver, the technology having spread from farmer to farmer, using farmer-supplied planting material.

During the mid 1990s, VS was also introduced to GTZ-funded integrated food development projects in northern Ethiopia. Within four years, over 800 nurseries were supplying vetiver planting material to protect some 150,000 hectares of farm land. Today, GTZ as well as the Swedish donor, SIDA, along with around 100 NGOs, are promoting the technology across Ethiopia.

The broad benefits of vetiver

Vetiver is often used for thatch, as well as for stuffing mattresses.
credit: Richard Grimshaw

Research from JARC has demonstrated that rainfall runoff is very significantly reduced by use of vetiver hedges, even on bare land, and that soil loss is also dramatically reduced by the third year of establishment. These results confirm research carried out in other parts of the world showing that, as a vetiver hedgerow ages, it increases in efficiency. Due to improved soil moisture retention and soil fertility preservation, significant crop yield increases have been recorded - between 30-50 per cent - when farmers make use of vetiver hedgerows.

Ethiopian farmers also benefit from using vetiver as mulch, improving soil organic matter and nutrient recycling. And, in some areas, it is used as thatch, lasting over ten years; for stuffing mattresses, due to its lice repellent properties; and for religious and ceremonial purposes. Vetiver also provides useful forage for livestock, when either cut or grazed regularly.

As with other countries in the Great Rift region, Ethiopia is facing the drying up of lakes, reduced river flows and increasing sedimentation. Using vetiver, however, provides an effective flood and sediment control measure on the flat plains surrounding these lakes. Vetiver has also been shown to effectively reduce leaching of nitrates and phosphates, and the biological oxygen demand (BOD) of micro-organisms, resulting from intensive farming operations and urban waste, by more than 90 per cent.

Experience from across Ethiopia clearly demonstrates that vetiver hedgerows are directly responsible for improved ground water recharge, including spring flow renewal, wetland restoration, and better stream flow. The Ethiopian Wetland and Natural Resources Association (EWNRA) is currently one of the strongest promoters of vetiver hedgerows and, with support from various donors, plans to propagate a further 10 million vetiver plants during 2009 to provide more than 1000 km of soil and water conservation hedgerows to prevent soil erosion due to water flow from upland areas.

Beyond the farm

Madagascan families are earning valuable income by establishing vetiver nurseries.
credit: Roley Nuffke

Vetiver is multiplied vegetatively, providing a simple but significant source of income for farmers. In Madagascar, 30 farm families supplied more than 3 million plant slips (both bare-rooted and in tubes) for a mining-related operation, earning over US$200,000. In Ethiopia, farmers sell vetiver to other farmers at US 10 cents a slip. Delegates at the workshop agreed that if the government was to support the use of vetiver for road-slope stabilisation, for example, construction and maintenance costs would be reduced, and the impact on farm incomes from producing planting material could be substantial. Vetiver's ability to tolerate high levels of toxic heavy metals, retaining them in its massive root system, also provides an ideal technique for the stabilisation and clean-up of mining tailings (waste).

Beyond Ethiopia's borders, vetiver is used in other African countries and some experience was shared by conference participants. However, awareness of the multiple benefits of vetiver is generally still low and part of the aim of the event was to address this, particularly by promoting networking and awareness of the need for additional funding for research in vetiver.

"The vetiver system has the potential for mitigating many of the effects of climate change that Africa is facing, concludes Richard Grimshaw, chairman of the vetiver network and a driving force behind the vetiver workshop. "The technology should be promoted vigorously to the benefit of the local environment and rural and farm communities. It is proven, low cost, easy to use, and it works!"

Written by Richard Grimshaw

Date published: May 2009

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