Jan Nyssen
Biographic Data
| ID | 150364 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jan Nyssen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jan |
| FAMILY NAME | Nyssen |
| SIGNATURE | NYSSEN J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ghent University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2666-3860 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 82 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 32 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1991 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Land system resilience amidst the ravages of war
The Tigray war in northern Ethiopia (2020-2022) had substantial environmental impacts due to fighting, blockade, and power outages. This study contrasts post-war observations at 56 sites with 26 years of legacy data on land degradation, a rare before-and-after analysis by the same research team, in Dogu'a Tembien, a district of Tigray that did not experience large influxes of internally displaced people. The qualitative repeat study used transect…
Conflict-related environmental degradation threatens the success of landscape recovery in some areas in Tigray (Ethiopia)
Armed conflicts can lead to environmental degradation, thereby threatening the basis of people’s livelihoods and well-being. Identifying areas where conflicts drive environmental degradation is important for designing effective recovery strategies, but this is inherently challenging in insecure contexts. We use a case study in Tigray, Ethiopia to illustrate how open-source satellite data can be used to support the identification of woody vegetati…
Administrative and ethno-linguistic boundaries of Western Tigray (Ethiopia) since 1683
The geographical configuration of northwest Ethiopia has changed often and significantly during the previous four centuries, according to a meta-analysis of historical maps. Boundary lines of languages in use and of territorial control were reported on the Main Map. Sixty-six coeval historical maps depict the territorial control of Western Tigray, also known as Welkait and its surrounding districts. The area is specifically recorded as part of Ti…
Undoing the development army
Nexus between land development and the value of ecosystem services in Ethiopia
Impacts of catchment restoration on water availability and drought resilience in Ethiopia
The coupled land degradation‐drought impacts have been central challenges to ecosystem functioning and livelihood of farmers in Ethiopia. As a response, catchment restoration initiatives have been implemented since the 1970s. The objective of this article is to analyze the effects of such catchment restoration initiatives on water resources and drought resilience, using metadata from 106 peer‐reviewed journal articles comprising 361 paired‐catchm…
Event‐based run‐off and sediment yield dynamics and controls in the subhumid headwaters of the Blue Nile, Ethiopia
Land degradation due to soil erosion presents a major challenge for sustainable development. We investigated run‐off and sediment yield (SY) dynamics in the northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. The study area included 14 zero‐order catchments with a surface area ranging from 324 to 1715 m 2 . V‐notch weirs produced from plastic jars were introduced as measuring alternatives that met local constraints. Run‐off (RO) depth at the weir was registered …
Analyzing the impact of land expropriation program on farmers' livelihood in urban fringes of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Modelling spatial relationships between land cover change and its drivers in the Afro‐alpine belt of Mount Guna (Ethiopia)
This study examines the spatial relationship between land cover change and its drivers at varying scale in Mt. Guna. The recent land cover map was generated from Google Earth Image (2018), and the historical land cover map generated from the 1957 and 1980 aerial photos. Multi‐scale geographically weighted regression (GWR) and ordinary least square (OLS) were used to model the spatial relationship between land cover change and its drivers at varyi…
Influence of 9 years of permanent raised beds and contour furrowing on soil health in conservation agriculture based systems in Tigray region, Ethiopia
Conservation agriculture (CA) systems represent a set of three soil management principles: minimarbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotations ‐ whereas the CA‐based systems in this study add the bed and furrow tillage techniques as integral elements of CA. Studies on the effects of long‐term CA‐based systems on soil health and crop productivity are rare globally, particularly in Ethiopia. This study aimed at investigating the long‐term (2005–2…
Flood hazard in a semi‐closed basin in northern Ethiopia
Even though flooding is a threat to rural communities in plains drained by ephemeral rivers, the magnitude of its impact, coping/prevention mechanisms, and the implications for river management are not well known. In this study, data were collected using a phenomenological‐based research design. Field observations, a questionnaire ( n = 440), key informant interviews (10), and one focus group discussion (with seven discussants) were used to colle…
Eliciting farmers’ preferences and willingness to pay for land use attributes in Northwest Ethiopia
Spatial distribution and livelihood effects of debris cones at the western Afar Rift Valley margin, northern Ethiopia
The objective of the study on which the article is based was to investigate the distribution, characteristics and livelihood effects of debris cones in the Aba’ala and Raya grabens in Ethiopia. The characteristics of the debris cones and their upper catchment areas were obtained from Google Earth Pro and Landsat images. Questionnaires were used to understand the livelihood effects of the debris cones. In addition, transect studies, interviews and…
Geo-trekking in Ethiopia’s Tropical Mountains
Transhumance as a driving force of landscape change in the marginal grabens of northern Ethiopia
Transhumance between the Afar lowlands and Tigray escarpments has been a common practice in northern Ethiopia. However, the impact of transhumance on landscape changes in the marginal grabens has not been significantly researched. Hence, this study aims to understand the process of transhumance and the linkages between social and biophysical aspects of the graben landscapes of northern Ethiopia. Google Earth (2010−2016) and Landsat Imageries (199…
Regreening of the Northern Ethiopian Mountains
The hydro-geomorphology of mountain catchments is mainly determined by vegetation cover. This study was carried out to analyse the impact of vegetation cover dynamics on flooding and water balance in 11 steep (0.27-0.65 m m-1) catchments of the western Rift Valley escarpment of Northern Ethiopia, an area that experienced severe deforestation and degradation until the first half of the 1980s and considerable reforestation thereafter. Land cover ch…
Take out the farmer
Regreening of The Northern Ethiopian Mountains
The hydro-geomorphology of mountain catchments is mainly determined by vegetation cover. This study was carried out to analyse the impact of vegetation cover dynamics on flooding and water balance in 11 steep (0.27-0.65 mm -1 ) catchments of the western Rift Valley escarpment of Northern Ethiopia, an area that experienced severe deforestation and degradation until the first half of the 1980s and considerable reforestation thereafter. Land cover c…
Certification of Semi-forest Coffee as a Land-sharing Strategy in Ethiopia
Commercial land deals and the interactions between investors and local people
Facing conservation' or 'conservation with a human face'? People-park interactions in southern Ethiopia
Whereas some conservationists argue that ‘people-oriented approaches’ failed to achieve conservation goals, Nechisar National Park presents a case where ‘strict conservation approaches’ have at best been only partly successful. Nechisar National Park, heralded as a success in the 1990s, today shows a collapsed population of the endemic Swayne’s hartebeest and severe degradation of the emblematic grasslands of the plains. The park is also heavily …
Recovery of the aerial photographs of Ethiopia in the 1930s
Transnational land deals
Perspectives locales et globales pour la gestion des terres des régions montagneuses du Nord de l'Éthiopie
Cet article de synthèse s'intéresse au passé et au futur de la gestion des terres en Éthiopie, mettant l'accent sur la partie Nord du pays. Comment l'état des sols et des forêts s'est-il modifié au cours du siècle dernier ? Comment ces modifications affectent-elles les moyens de subsistance de la population ? A la fin du XIXe siècle, il existait déjà des ravines de ruissellement au Nord de l'Éthiopie, bien que celles-ci se soient stabilisées vers…
Geomorphology of the Durmitor Mountains and surrounding plateau Jezerska Površ (Montenegro)
The geomorphological map of the northeastern Durmitor Mountains and the plateau Jezerska Površ (1:10,000, 47 km2, Montenegro, Dinaric Alps) was prepared from an intensive fieldwork campaign and remote sensing analysis, and was compiled within a GIS. The basic components of the legend are (i) processes/genesis, (ii) materials, (iii) morphometry/morphography, (iv) hydrography, (v) vegetation and (vi) anthropogenic features. The geomorphological set…
The economic contribution of forest resource use to rural livelihoods in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia
Transnational land deals
Take out the farmer
Commercial land deals and the interactions between investors and local people
Cost-benefit analysis of soil and water conservation measure
Analyzing the impact of land expropriation program on farmers' livelihood in urban fringes of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Eliciting farmers’ preferences and willingness to pay for land use attributes in Northwest Ethiopia
Certification of Semi-forest Coffee as a Land-sharing Strategy in Ethiopia
Conflict-related environmental degradation threatens the success of landscape recovery in some areas in Tigray (Ethiopia)
Armed conflicts can lead to environmental degradation, thereby threatening the basis of people’s livelihoods and well-being. Identifying areas where conflicts drive environmental degradation is important for designing effective recovery strategies, but this is inherently challenging in insecure contexts. We use a case study in Tigray, Ethiopia to illustrate how open-source satellite data can be used to support the identification of woody vegetati…
Flood hazard in a semi‐closed basin in northern Ethiopia
Even though flooding is a threat to rural communities in plains drained by ephemeral rivers, the magnitude of its impact, coping/prevention mechanisms, and the implications for river management are not well known. In this study, data were collected using a phenomenological‐based research design. Field observations, a questionnaire ( n = 440), key informant interviews (10), and one focus group discussion (with seven discussants) were used to colle…
Facing conservation' or 'conservation with a human face'? People-park interactions in southern Ethiopia
Whereas some conservationists argue that ‘people-oriented approaches’ failed to achieve conservation goals, Nechisar National Park presents a case where ‘strict conservation approaches’ have at best been only partly successful. Nechisar National Park, heralded as a success in the 1990s, today shows a collapsed population of the endemic Swayne’s hartebeest and severe degradation of the emblematic grasslands of the plains. The park is also heavily …
Environmental policy in Ethiopia
Ongoing land degradation in Ethiopia requires urgent action, and has been addressed at different levels of society, including widespread soil and water conservation activities, and the introduction of technologies which integrate local knowledge and farmer's initiatives. This comment, drawing on extensive research on soil erosion processes in Ethiopia since 1994, in intense cooperation with farmers and local authorities, challenges the conclusion…
Towards a Common Core for ESP
Environmental policy in Ethiopia
Ongoing land degradation in Ethiopia requires urgent action, and has been addressed at different levels of society, including widespread soil and water conservation activities, and the introduction of technologies which integrate local knowledge and farmer's initiatives. This comment, drawing on extensive research on soil erosion processes in Ethiopia since 1994, in intense cooperation with farmers and local authorities, challenges the conclusion…
Household livelihood strategies and forest dependence in the highlands of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia
The economic contribution of forest resource use to rural livelihoods in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia
Transhumance in the Tigray Highlands (Ethiopia)
Transhumance, the seasonal movement of herds occurring between two points and following precise routes repeated each year, is practiced on a broad scale in the open field areas of Tigray (North Ethiopia). This article presents a characterization of the practice, factors that explain its magnitude, and recent changes. Eleven villages were selected randomly, semistructured interviews were conducted, and data on the sites were collected both in the …
Cost-benefit analysis of soil and water conservation measure
Pre-industrial headstones across the continental North Sea plain
Geomorphology of the Lake Tana basin, Ethiopia
The geomorphological map of the Lake Tana basin (15,077 km2, Nile basin, Ethiopia) presented in this paper was prepared from fieldwork data, maps and satellite data that were processed with a geographic information system (GIS). It contains four major components: (i) hydrography, (ii) morphology and morphometry, (iii) materials and (iv) processes at a scale of 1:500,000. The geomorphological setting of the basin consists of lavas that erupted fro…
Geomorphology of the Durmitor Mountains and surrounding plateau Jezerska Površ (Montenegro)
The geomorphological map of the northeastern Durmitor Mountains and the plateau Jezerska Površ (1:10,000, 47 km2, Montenegro, Dinaric Alps) was prepared from an intensive fieldwork campaign and remote sensing analysis, and was compiled within a GIS. The basic components of the legend are (i) processes/genesis, (ii) materials, (iii) morphometry/morphography, (iv) hydrography, (v) vegetation and (vi) anthropogenic features. The geomorphological set…
Recovery of the aerial photographs of Ethiopia in the 1930s
Transnational land deals
Perspectives locales et globales pour la gestion des terres des régions montagneuses du Nord de l'Éthiopie
Cet article de synthèse s'intéresse au passé et au futur de la gestion des terres en Éthiopie, mettant l'accent sur la partie Nord du pays. Comment l'état des sols et des forêts s'est-il modifié au cours du siècle dernier ? Comment ces modifications affectent-elles les moyens de subsistance de la population ? A la fin du XIXe siècle, il existait déjà des ravines de ruissellement au Nord de l'Éthiopie, bien que celles-ci se soient stabilisées vers…
Certification of Semi-forest Coffee as a Land-sharing Strategy in Ethiopia
Commercial land deals and the interactions between investors and local people
Facing conservation' or 'conservation with a human face'? People-park interactions in southern Ethiopia
Whereas some conservationists argue that ‘people-oriented approaches’ failed to achieve conservation goals, Nechisar National Park presents a case where ‘strict conservation approaches’ have at best been only partly successful. Nechisar National Park, heralded as a success in the 1990s, today shows a collapsed population of the endemic Swayne’s hartebeest and severe degradation of the emblematic grasslands of the plains. The park is also heavily …
Regreening of The Northern Ethiopian Mountains
The hydro-geomorphology of mountain catchments is mainly determined by vegetation cover. This study was carried out to analyse the impact of vegetation cover dynamics on flooding and water balance in 11 steep (0.27-0.65 mm -1 ) catchments of the western Rift Valley escarpment of Northern Ethiopia, an area that experienced severe deforestation and degradation until the first half of the 1980s and considerable reforestation thereafter. Land cover c…
Geo-trekking in Ethiopia’s Tropical Mountains
Transhumance as a driving force of landscape change in the marginal grabens of northern Ethiopia
Transhumance between the Afar lowlands and Tigray escarpments has been a common practice in northern Ethiopia. However, the impact of transhumance on landscape changes in the marginal grabens has not been significantly researched. Hence, this study aims to understand the process of transhumance and the linkages between social and biophysical aspects of the graben landscapes of northern Ethiopia. Google Earth (2010−2016) and Landsat Imageries (199…
Regreening of the Northern Ethiopian Mountains
The hydro-geomorphology of mountain catchments is mainly determined by vegetation cover. This study was carried out to analyse the impact of vegetation cover dynamics on flooding and water balance in 11 steep (0.27-0.65 m m-1) catchments of the western Rift Valley escarpment of Northern Ethiopia, an area that experienced severe deforestation and degradation until the first half of the 1980s and considerable reforestation thereafter. Land cover ch…
Take out the farmer
Spatial distribution and livelihood effects of debris cones at the western Afar Rift Valley margin, northern Ethiopia
The objective of the study on which the article is based was to investigate the distribution, characteristics and livelihood effects of debris cones in the Aba’ala and Raya grabens in Ethiopia. The characteristics of the debris cones and their upper catchment areas were obtained from Google Earth Pro and Landsat images. Questionnaires were used to understand the livelihood effects of the debris cones. In addition, transect studies, interviews and…
Modelling spatial relationships between land cover change and its drivers in the Afro‐alpine belt of Mount Guna (Ethiopia)
This study examines the spatial relationship between land cover change and its drivers at varying scale in Mt. Guna. The recent land cover map was generated from Google Earth Image (2018), and the historical land cover map generated from the 1957 and 1980 aerial photos. Multi‐scale geographically weighted regression (GWR) and ordinary least square (OLS) were used to model the spatial relationship between land cover change and its drivers at varyi…
Influence of 9 years of permanent raised beds and contour furrowing on soil health in conservation agriculture based systems in Tigray region, Ethiopia
Conservation agriculture (CA) systems represent a set of three soil management principles: minimarbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotations ‐ whereas the CA‐based systems in this study add the bed and furrow tillage techniques as integral elements of CA. Studies on the effects of long‐term CA‐based systems on soil health and crop productivity are rare globally, particularly in Ethiopia. This study aimed at investigating the long‐term (2005–2…
Flood hazard in a semi‐closed basin in northern Ethiopia
Even though flooding is a threat to rural communities in plains drained by ephemeral rivers, the magnitude of its impact, coping/prevention mechanisms, and the implications for river management are not well known. In this study, data were collected using a phenomenological‐based research design. Field observations, a questionnaire ( n = 440), key informant interviews (10), and one focus group discussion (with seven discussants) were used to colle…
Eliciting farmers’ preferences and willingness to pay for land use attributes in Northwest Ethiopia
Geography (26 works) · Agriculture (15 works) · Ecology (14 works) · Economics (13 works) · Environmental Science (11 works) · Business (10 works) · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management (10 works) · Land use (10 works) · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology (10 works) · Geology (9 works)