Abstract
Soil erosion by water is a severe and continuous ecological problem in the north-western Highlands of Ethiopia. Limited perception of farmers to practice soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies is one of the major causes that have resulted accelerated soil erosion. Therefore, this paper examines the major determinants of farmers’ perception to use and invest in SWC technologies in Ankasha District, north-western highlands of Ethiopia. A detailed field survey was carried out among 338 households, randomly selected from two rural sample kebeles (called villages here after). Descriptive statistics and logistic regression model were used to analyse the effects of multiple variables on farmers’ perception. The results indicate that educational level of the respondents and their access to trainings were found to have a positive and very significant association (P<0.01) with farmers’ perception. Likewise, land ownership, plot size, slope type, and extension contact positively and significantly influenced farmers’ perception at 5% level of significance. On the other hand, the influence of respondents’ age and plot distance from the homestead was found to be negative and significant (P<0.05). The overall results of this study indicate that the perception of farmers to invest in SWC technologies was highly determined by socioeconomic, institutional, attitudinal and biophysical factors. Thus, a better understanding of constrains that influence farmers’ perception is very important while designing and implementing SWC technologies. Frequent contacts between farmers and extension agents and continues agricultural trainings are also needed to increase awareness of the impacts of SWC benefits.
1. Introduction
Soil is one of fundamental natural resources to support life on earth. Soil is finite and non-renewable natural resource which takes between 200 and 1000 years for 2.5 cm of topsoil formation under cropland condition (Pimentel et al., 1995). As a core component of land resources, soil is the source of many ecosystem services essential to humans and the environment (Brevik et al., 2015). It is the base to support primary production through organic matter and nutrient cycling, control of pests and diseases; decontamination of the environment, and provision of ecosystem services (UNCCD, 2013). Soil also plays a major role in global climate processes through regulation of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) emissions (FAO & ITPS, 2015). With these and other infinite significances, soil need to be protected in sustainable manner. Global estimates, however, indicate that human pressures on soil resources are reaching critical limits (FAO & ITPS, 2015) and soil is becoming vulnerable to various forms of depletions, such as soil erosion, soil fertility decline, and associated changes in soil physical and chemical properties. Soil erosion by water is the most severe and widespread that occupies 56% (Gelagay & Minale, 2016) or 1094 million hectares of the world’s total land area (Walling & Fang, 2003).
Agriculture in Ethiopia is the foundation of the country’s economy accounting more than 50% of gross domestic product (GDP), 84% of national export and 80% of total employment. However, recently, there is increasing concern that soil erosion seriously limits agricultural sustainability in Ethiopia (Adimassu, Kessler, Yirga, & Stroosnijder (2013), Engdawork and Bork, 2014, Gelagay and Minale, 2016, Gessesse et al., 2015, Kidane, Beshah, & Aklilu (2014), Tesfahunegn, Vlek, & Tamene (2012), Teshome, de Graaff, & Kassie (2016)). Soil erosion, principally caused by over grazing, continuous cultivation, deforestation and remove of crop residue from the field, highly undermines the role of agriculture to alleviate poverty and food insecurity in whole parts of Ethiopia. The estimated annual soil loss in Ethiopia due to erosion is 1.5 billion tons, of which 50% occurs in cropland (Assefa & Bork, 2015). This is very serious problem compared to the estimated soil formation rate of less than 2 t/ha/year (Hurni, 1983). Its severity is being pronounced in the Northern highland areas of the country (Abate, 2011, Balana, Mathijs, & Muys (2010)) which has been characterized by steep slopes, intensive rainfall, sparse vegetation, high population and livestock densities (Kidane, 2016).
There has been great efforts to address the problem of soil erosion in Ethiopia since 1970s (Assefa & Bork (2015), Tesfahunegn, Vlek, & Tamene (2012)) following the incidence of famine and drought. Since then, the government has given considerable focus on SWC technologies for rehabilitation of land resources. A large number of conservation, rehabilitation and afforestation campaigns were undertaken through Food-For-Work (FFW) programs. Nevertheless, the efforts have not been widespread and didn’t bring significant changes as expected (Kidane, Beshah, & Aklilu (2014), Teshome, de Graaff, & Kassie (2016)). This is because the farmers were totally ignored from decision making during the selection, planning and implementation processes of SWC measures and the activities were undertaken without interest. Consequently, it forced the farmers to removed SWC structures following the change of FFW program in 1991. Likewise, studies conducted in different parts of Ethiopia (Tesfaye & Brouwer 2012; Aklilu & Jan de (2007), Azene (2001), Deressa, Hassan, Ringler, Alemu, & Yesuf (2009), Herweg & Ludi (1999)) reported that the farmers were considered ignorant of SWC technologies and have been given little attention in decisions making processes related to SWC technologies.
Effective protection and conservation of SWC can be realized only when farmers accept and deicide on the benefits of SWC technologies and actively involved in the implementation and maintenance processes. The decisions of farmers to use and manage natural resources highly depend on their perception of the landscape (Assefa & Bork, 2015). Indeed, farmers can modify the technologies to their own real situations (Teshome et al., 2016). Their perception and participation also varies from place to place and from household to household due to different interactive factors. Thus, a better understanding of factors that influence farmers’ perception and willingness towards SWC is very important for designing and implementation of efficient, effective and people friendly technologies (Derajew, Bekabil, & Wagayehu, 2013). This study attempts to explore the major determinants of farmers’ perception to invest in SWC technologies in Ankasha District, North-Western highlands Ethiopia.
