The escalating use of plastic materials in agricultural practices has substantially increased the amount of plastic waste directed to landfills, leading to significant environmental and ecological challenges. Conventional disposal methods have been found to release hazardous pollutants, including microplastics and toxic chemicals, exacerbating these concerns. This study aims to address the environmental impact of agricultural plastic waste by exploring advanced reprocessing technologies and characterising the processed waste to assess its physical, mechanical and thermal properties. Synthetic polymer-based bale twine (BT) waste, commonly used in livestock farming, was processed using an economically viable melting machine developed by Ritchie Technology. The BT and processed bale twine (PBT) were analysed to understand their properties. Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy revealed that the waste primarily consisted of polypropylene (PP). Thermal analysis indicated that the melting temperature of the PBT was 162.49 °C, similar to virgin PP. Additionally, tensile testing revealed that the PBT had a strength of 13.06 MPa and Young's modulus of 434.07 MPa. The PBT was further transformed into a bench that can be applicable in outdoor applications. Furthermore, PBT was extruded into 3D printable filament. Therefore, it is evident that bale twine waste can be given a second life through an economically viable technology.

The study was conducted in the potential mixed farming areas of Bale highland to estimate livestock methane emissions. Using multi-stage purposive sampling, 156 households of the three wealth groups were selected based on their livelihood assets as described under methodology. Structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, key informants interview and field visits were the employed methods during the study. Feed nutrient balance was estimated based on the demand and supply while the livestock methane emissions were estimated according to the IPCC guidelines. Descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA tests were used to analyze the data. Cattle were the dominant (84.25%) livestock owned by the households. The estimated enteric CH4 emission rate from mature cattle, growing cattle, sheep >1 year, sheep ≤ 1 year, horse and donkey were significantly (P<0.001) higher for the better wealth group while mature cattle (69.78%) shared the highest rate. Though, higher emission rates credited to the large number of animals in the area, cattle stay crucial to the livelihoods of the households, beside the major sources of CH4. In conclusion, the estimated CH4 emissions should be focus areas of interventions. Therefore, proper husbandry and quality feed supply and promotion of farm level livestock technologies should be practiced wisely to increase productivity and protect the environment from emissions of the livestock sector.

A large variety of remote sensing-based land use/land cover (LULC) products are currently available on national and global scales. This literature review and in-situ validation study evaluates the suitability of these products for local scale applications in the complex terrain of the Ethiopian mountains. For the review, 146 research papers were analyzed. Most studies (73%) have been published since 2013 and are based on individually computed maps. Not a single study relied on readily available LULC products. Nine readily available LULC products with 20, 30, 300, 500 and 1,000 m spatial resolution have been identified at national and global scales. To complement and extend this body of research, the recent (since 2013) LULC products were validated using 185 ground truth points collected in the Bale Mountains National Park between 1,500 and 4,385 m a.s.l. The results indicate a rather poor overall accuracy (<50%).