This study examined the effects of sand mining on the environment and livelihoods of people inrnsome selected Rural Kebeles (RK) of Dugda District in East Shawa Zone of Oromiya RegionalrnState. Sand mining sites were provided legally registered and licensed by governmentalrnstakeholders to the people engaged as the sand miners. In District 22 kebeles out of the total 40,rnthe society are directly or indirectly the one benefited from or exposed to it and the studyrnarea was quantitatively and qualitatively factors which are not addressed yet. This study hadrnendeavored to seek to fill the gap with the aim of ensuring that maximum benefits are gainedrnfrom the operations of sand mining without causing much destruction to the environmentrnand other livelihood activities especially farming.rnIn this study, primary data collected from four RKs in the District namely; Birbrsa Gale,rnDongorota Gusa, Oda Boqota and Sera Wakale. Three hundred thirty seven (337) respondentsrnwere chosen using the systematic sampling and purposive sampling for 22 key informalrninterview techniques in the research. Data from the respondents were collected using fieldrnobservations, questionnaires and interviews. The quantitative data were analyzed using such asrnChi-square and Correlation, crosstab and compared means. The qualitative data were analyzedrnusing content and thematic investigation of actions as they unfolded in the field. The study foundrnthat, primarily unemployment influenced people into sand extraction or harvesting. Also, veryrnhigh incomes and regular revenue from the sales of sand were created to be some of the positiverneffects of sand mining on livelihoods and source of taxation for Meki town and the District asrnwell. Sand contributed its own role for construction industry to the regional and national level.rnSand mining was found to have negative effects on livelihoods damaged public and privaternproperties by unplanned pathway trucks destroyed roads; farmland, vegetation and caused dustrnduring dry season and muddy during the rainy season, road vehicle trafficking in the area causedrnaccidents. Sand mining caused effects on the environments (Meki river) by depth many holesrndug in different places as people engaged increased, the river bed has expanded in bothrndirections north-south of kebeles, as well as the river bed degraded by sand miners path time torntime and vegetation roots destroyed and fall down on the river surrounding, The study foundrnthat, although sand mining supports the livelihoods of some people, it also has the able torndevastating the environment and destabilizing the livelihoods of farmers and communitiesrnthrough various negative actions. The study recommends that, sand mining rules and regulationsrnenforced into the laws be established and enforced by levels of concerned government body atrnthe grass root to be functionalized. Such a move could prevent the sand miners from causingrnunwarranted destructions to farmlands, vegetation and water bodies (river). Again, sand miningrnsites should be properly demarcated and operated by the local authorities to confirm that,rnenvironmental impact assessments are done on such lands prior to mining the sand.