Habtamu Alem
Research Scientist
Attachments
CVBiography
Alem holds Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Economics from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). He works as a research scientist at the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) in the Department of Economics and Society. Alem was a researcher for the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research and an executive officer for the Norwegian Institute of Agricultural Research. He is now the project coordinator for the SYSTEMIC project, which covers eight EU nations.
His research interest is food and nutrition security; Environmental and production economics; Climate change; Econometrics; impact assessment; circular economics; cost benefit analysis; consumer economics; Risk analysis; and topics related to development economics (developing and developed countries)
Authors
Habtamu AlemAbstract
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Authors
Habtamu AlemAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Desalegn Chala Diress Tsegaye Alemu Habtamu Alem Belachew Asalf Tadesse Melesse Eshetu_Moges Nega Tassie Abate Ayalew Wondie Aklilu Tilahun Tadesse Abebayehu Aticho Alemu Gonsamo Lanhui Wang Erick Lundgren Jeffrey Kerby Jens Christian SvenningAbstract
Abstract Water hyacinth is among the world’s most damaging aquatic invasive plants, forming dense mats that disrupt ecosystem functioning, fisheries, navigation, and livelihoods across tropical and subtropical freshwater systems. Its rapid spread is driven by clonal propagation, short life cycles, and prolific seed production, particularly under nutrient-enriched conditions. Although mechanical, chemical, and biological control methods are widely applied, their long-term effectiveness remains uncertain when underlying eutrophication persists. Here, we present a large-scale, one-time water hyacinth removal campaign in Lake Tana, Ethiopia’s largest lake and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, as a representative nutrient-rich tropical freshwater system. Using high-resolution satellite imagery, we quantified coverage one month before removal, one month after removal, and one year later. We integrated SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis with a socio-ecological system map to assess mitigation mechanisms and identify sustainable management pathways capable of providing long-term solutions to halt water hyacinth proliferation in freshwater bodies. The campaign removed over 75% (~1271 ha) of water hyacinth, yet within one year the plant resurged to levels ~18% higher than pre-removal. This rebound highlights the ecological resilience of water hyacinth and the limitations of short term, noncontinuous control strategies. Our analysis identifies unmanaged catchment nutrient inputs as the primary driver of proliferation. Lake Tana serves as a model system demonstrating that water hyacinth functions less as a traditional invader and more as a bioindicator of eutrophication. We propose a transferable conceptual and methodological framework combining continuous removal, catchment-based nutrient management, and circular bioeconomy approaches, offering globally relevant lessons for sustainable management of nutrient-enriched tropical freshwater systems.
Authors
Emmanuel Tetteh Jumpah Habtamu Alem Bekele Hundie Kotu Selorm Ayeduvor Vladimír Verner Abdulai Adams Miroslava BavorováAbstract
No abstract has been registered
From Waste to Wisdom (WaWi) Accelerating Circular Biowaste Solutions through North–South Partnerships
WaWi project accelerates circular biowaste solutions through a dynamic North-South and South-South partnership involving leading institutions from Norway, Ethiopia, Namibia, South Africa, Sweden, and the USA.
Division of Food Production and Society
FoodsecURe: Food security through better sanitation: the case of urine recycling
Human urine contains essential plant nutrients. Hence, urine can serve as a “free” and locally available fertiliser. Successful, low-cost urine-diverting toilets (UDTs) that separately collect urine have been developed in Scandinavia and Europe and manufactured at large scale in Africa. A solution for stabilising urine into a solid fertiliser has also been developed. But why can't we recycle urine at scale? In Sweden UDTs are used in some cottages, and the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU) has developed a method to stabilise and dry urine into a fertiliser product, urine-based fertiliser (UBF). FoodSecure aims to implement this technology at a medium scale in Ethiopia.
Division of Food Production and Society
Agricultural mitigation measures and the value of water quality improvements
Agriculture is one of the main sources of water pollution in Norway, and an important contributor to GHG emissions.