DETERMINANTS OF ADOPTION ON SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION PRACTICES AMONG FARMERS: THE CASE OF DEMBECHA DISTRICT, WEST GOJJAM, AMHARA REGION, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Soil erosion is a serious problem in Ethiopia and smallholders are still poor as erosion has continued as a result food insecurity in Dembecha district in particular. The general objective of this study was to evaluate adoption of soil and water conservation practices among farmers In order to achieve the objectives of the study, both quantitative and qualitative data types were collected from primary and secondary sources. The primary data were collected from sample respondents and key informants through interview and personal observation. The secondary data were collected from other sources such as books, journals, statistical reports and official documents. The study was employed both probability and non-probability sampling techniques. A multi-stage sampling technique was applied to select the district, kebeles and sample households. Both descriptive statistics and Multivariate probit econometric model were employed to analyze the data. The results revealed that there were more than fifteen types of indigenous and modern soil and water conservation practices in the study area. The multivariate probit model showed that the likelihood of households to adopt soil bund, stone bund, check dam and strip cropping were 74,56,29 and 56% respectively. The joint probability of adopting all the selected soil and water conservation practices was 14.2%. The model results also confirmed that age, sex, education level, household size, livestock holding, land size, access to credit ,access to extension service and training were significant factors that affected the adoption of soil and water conservation practices in the study area. The majority of farmers could recognize the problems and causes and consequences of soil erosion and the extent of erosion before and after the construction of soil and water conservations practice. Based on the findings, the study suggests that the government and stakeholders should focus on strengthening the provision of formal and informal educations, strengthens the existing soil and water conservation practices through effective extension system through social media and other ways to improve capacity building of farmers