Integrating GIS and Multi‐Criteria Analysis for Sustainable Livestock Grazing: A Holistic Assessment of Biophysical and Socio‐Economic Determinants in Semi‐Arid Dawa Watershed of Ethiopia

The degradation of rangelands in semi‐arid areas threatens pastoral livelihoods and ecosystem services, making it imperative that integrated approaches find a place in the sustainable land management program. In this regard, the study made use of GIS‐based multi‐criteria evaluation to determine livestock grazing suitability and degradation risks in the semi‐arid Dawa watershed, integrating five relevant biophysical parameters (land use/cover, rainfall, water accessibility, slope, and soil type) with socio‐economic indicators derived from expert informant surveys. Importantly, land use/cover classification recorded an accuracy of 98.3% (kappa = 0.97), confirming the soundness of the methodology. Among the species assessed, camels were found to have a fair share of appropriate rangelands, 72% moderately suitable, and 20% highly suitable, thus emphasizing the potential for specific management approaches targeting this species. Furthermore, with the three assembled socio‐economic variables including service accessibility (β = 0.65), infrastructure quality (β = 0.61), and market accessibility (β = 0.40), multiple regression analysis showed these were useful in explaining 78.9% of variance in rangeland suitability. In a way, these results stress the important need to run environmental and socio‐economic affairs in parallel to halt land degradation, improve ecosystem production, and sustain pastoral livelihoods in the long run. Thus, the study recommends an enhancement of infrastructure and market integration, coupled with specific zoning as the prerequisite sustainable land management practices in semi‐arid rangeland situations.