Arba Minch University has unveiled a comprehensive scientific baseline assessment for the KfW-funded Sustainable Land Management Phase V (SLM-V) Project on May 7, 2026, aimed at restoring and protecting the Lake Chamo watershed. The findings were presented to representatives from the Embassy of Germany in Ethiopia, KfW Development Bank, GIZ Ethiopia, and other development partners engaged in watershed restoration and climate resilience initiatives. Click here to see more photos.
The presentation was jointly delivered by Dr. Fasil Eshetu, Project Coordinator, and Dr. Mesfin Tilahun, Project Advisor, who highlighted the university’s growing scientific capacity and its decades-long partnership with German and Belgian development and academic institutions.
Dr.Ing. Abdella Kemal, President of Arba Minch University, stated that the university is fortunate to engage in strong collaborative projects that provide access to advanced technologies for accurate environmental monitoring and impact assessment. He noted that these partnerships now enable reliable measurement of environmental changes before and after interventions, and allow the university to generate scientific evidence for processes that were previously difficult to quantify, such as carbon sequestration and soil conservation.
Speaking during the presentation, Dr. Fasil Eshetu emphasized that the €25 million Lake Chamo restoration initiative is the result of more than 30 years of partnership between Arba Minch University and German institutions, including GIZ, KfW Development Bank, and BMZ, alongside the academic contribution of the VLIR-UOS partnership. He noted that these collaborations significantly strengthened AMU’s scientific capacity and environmental research infrastructure.
Dr. Fasil stated that the baseline assessment, conducted using multispectral drones, satellite imagery, and hydrological modeling systems, revealed that the Lake Chamo watershed currently generates an estimated 7.32 million tons of sediment annually, with agricultural land contributing nearly 88 percent of total soil loss.
According to the findings, existing forests and vegetation prevent approximately 32.6 million tons of sediment from entering the lake each year, underscoring the critical importance of ecosystem conservation. The study also identified the Kulfo, Sile, and Elgo catchments as major erosion hotspots.
He further noted that the project is ready to install six river gauging stations and three automatic weather stations to strengthen long-term environmental monitoring, adding that the baseline model achieved highly reliable validation results, providing strong scientific confidence for future project implementation.
Presenting the broader vision and strategic framework of the SLMP-V initiative, Dr. Mesfin Tilahun explained that the project is designed to reverse land degradation, strengthen climate-resilient agricultural productivity for smallholder farmers, and improve rural livelihoods, food security, and economic wellbeing throughout the basin.
He noted that the initiative follows an integrated watershed management approach tailored to local environmental and socioeconomic realities, ensuring that restoration activities benefit both upstream and downstream communities dependent on the basin’s ecosystem services.
According to Dr. Mesfin, The initiative will be implemented across 73 microwatersheds in 10 woredas within the Lake Chamo Basin through a multi-year intervention framework.
Following the presentation, development partners expressed strong appreciation for the study’s quality and integrated approach. Anja Pauls, Head of Cooperation at the German Embassy in Ethiopia, stated that they were highly impressed by the integrated watershed management approach and the production of reliable, comprehensive data within a very short period of time. She noted that the scientific baseline provides a strong foundation for evidence-based implementation of the Lake Chamo restoration initiative.
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