The general objective of this study has been to investigate the relationship between thernpopulation ands resource base of De bay Ti latgin Wereda, East Gojjam. Specifically, thisrnstudy was concerned with the assessment of food production, resource degradation andrnexamination of peasant's perception towards their environment. The data for the studyrnwas obtained from the survey of 250 sampled households through questionnaire, grouprndiscussions, field observation and consultation of various documents and personalrncommunication with concerned officials both at the Wereda and PA levels.rnThe methods of data analysis applied in this study are both descriptive and inferentialrnstatistics. Linear Regression Model has been applied to identify the major factorsrnaffecting yield of crops in the study area. Population Support Capacity (PSC) Model, inrntum, has been used to assess the carrying capacity of the study area. The results arerninterpreted and presented in the form of tables.rnAlthough the area is in high potential cereal zone, the analysis of the available data hasrnparadoxically revealed that poor natural resource base as compared to the requirement ofrnthe present human and livestock popUlation characterize the study area. The currentrnagri cultural density in the study area is about 3 persons per hectare. On the bases ofrnhousehold survey, the average cultivated land per fanning household is about l.5 harn(with an average household size of 6.4). The holding is fragmented indicating anrnaverage of four parcels for each household.rnThe fact that farming tools and production techniques are traditional best manifests thernrudimentariness of falming technology in the study area. The application of fann inputsrnis very low with an average oxen possession of l.8 per household . Fertilizer applicationrntoo is very low and is limited to the lower Dega. All these aspects taken togetherrnaccounts for the low yield per unit area, which characterizes the study area. This is bestrnillustrated by average production per household, which is about 12 quintals of all cropsrnwith an average yield of7.9 qtlha.The anal ys is of variation of yield usmg Coefficient of Variation (C.V) index hasrnindicated that variation of yield between di fferent crops is not high in the study area. Therndominantly grown crops are wheat, barley, tef[ and pulses respectively. The analysis ofrnCrop Concentration Index (CCI) and Relative Average Yield Index (RA YI) havernindicated that peasants in the study area are not effici ent in their land use decision. Thernregression analysis, on the other hand, has indicated that the major factors affectingrnyield are oxen possession, size of cultivated land, labor input, so il eros ion, and stockrndensity. All of them taken together have explaining about 79% of the variations in yieldrnin the study area.rnThe PSC assessment has shown that the current level of agricultural technology,rnavailable arable land and forage resources are enough only for 78% and 49% of humanrnand livestock population respectively. A surplus (about 20.3%) is observed in croplandrnrequirement when allowing an anticipated 50% increment. The carrying Capacity ofrnforage resources is at critical stage both at the present level of farming technology and atrnan anticipated 50% increment in yield. In general, there is an overall resource deficit inrnthe study area indicating population pressure.rnThe effects of population pressure is manifested in the expansIOn of cultivation tornecologically fragi le areas, deforestation, overgrazing and accelerated soil erosionrnresulting in subsequent decline of yield per unit area. The response of peasants forrndeclining production and ever worsening resource degradation is not encouraging. Thernproblem lies somewhere else and is related to policy issues such as security problems.