Exclosure Enhances Crop Yields and Rural Livelihood Resilience in Northern Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s food production and rural livelihoods are increasingly threatened by land degradation and climate variability, particularly in dryland areas vulnerable to climatic shocks. Exclosure, a designated area shielded from human and animal disruption, has emerged as a vital restoration approach, especially in northern Ethiopia. Empirical studies have largely focused on ecological outcomes and have provided limited and mixed results on whether exclosure enhances agricultural productivity and livelihood diversification. This study addresses this gap by examining the effect of exclosure on crop yields and household livelihood diversification using panel data from 491 households gathered over two consecutive cropping years, across varying climate conditions. Fractional logit model, propensity score matching, and Hausman-Taylor estimations were employed to compare households living downstream of the exclosure with those in open grazing areas. The results indicate that households downstream of exclosures exhibit markedly greater livelihood diversification than those with open grazing areas, and this is influenced by age, gender, livestock ownership, extension services, financial availability, and access to marketing information. The analysis also reveals a positive effect of exclosure on crop yield per hectare, with more pronounced differences observed during drought conditions. Overall, the findings demonstrate that exclosure contributes not only to ecological restoration but also to stabilizing agricultural production, strengthening food security, and enhancing rural livelihoods resilience. The study provides empirical evidence to inform national and regional policy makers, practitioners, and land management planners of the benefits of exclosure as a restoration approach and supports their integration and scaling up in degraded and climate sensitive regions.