Fruit farming: environmental perspective in Arba Minch Zuria Wereda, Gamo Zone, Ethiopia

This research was aimed to assess the environmental impacts of fruit farming in Arba Minch Zuria Wereda. In order to effectively address the objective, both primary and secondary data were collected from variety of sources. The primary data were collected from the physical environment, sample respondents, environmental management experts, Kebele Development Agents, hotels, restaurants and cafes. Ministry of Agriculture, Federal Cooperatives Agency and Agriculture and Natural resources Office were the other sources. Furthermore, annual reports were reviewed to generate the required secondary data. Ocholo Lante, Shelle Mela and Sile Ersha Limat were selected as samples of the study since they are relatively rich in fruit production and have relatively close proximity to the lakes, and finally 345 sample respondents were randomly selected. Questionnaire, interviews, document review, focus group discussion and observation were employed to collect the necessary data. The data were analyzed mainly through qualitative analysis techniques. The findings reveal that the fruit farming has been impacting the quality of Lake Abaya and Lake Chamo water, soils of the farmlands and wetlands. Hence, attention should be paid to practice environmentally sound fruit farming systems in the study so that the socio-economic and environmental values of the environment are not put under threat.