The Contribution of Soil and Water Conservation Practices towards Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2015-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Severe land degradation affects the livelihood of many farmers in the Ethiopian highlands. In
response, the current government has invested in soil and water conservation practices, mainly in
the degraded lands. The overall objective of the research was to assess the contribution of soil
and water conservation practice towards sustainable rural livelihoods in Tigray region. Research
was carried out in Adwa and Emba-Alajie districts. Data were collected from a survey of 300
rural households from December 2012 to May 2013. A multi-stage stratified random sampling
procedure incorporating household’s survey questionnaires, focus group discussions, and key
informants discussions were used to interpret the whole results in general. Data analysis included
descriptive statistics, inferential statistical processed through one way ANOVA, t-test and Chisquare
test, and Binary logistic regression model have been used.
The first topic assesses the adoption of soil and water conservation practices and its benefits
towards livelihoods, in the form of farm wealth groups and spatial gradients. Survey results
indicate a considerable proportion of farmers were adopters of soil and water conservation
practices among farm wealth groups on their farms. There is such a difference among three farm
wealth groups in adoption of soil and water conservation practices. This implies that farm wealth
groups are influence, by adoption of soil and water conservation practices. Adoption of soil and
water conservation practices is perceived and valued as positive by all the farmers regardless of
wealth differences. The findings show five main dominant sources of livelihoods with a small
variation in their mean annual income of both farm and off-farm incomes of adopters and nonadopters
of soil and water conservation practices. Moreover, the results reveal that there is
variation in adoption of soil and water conservation practices and soil fertility management
practices among farm wealth groups with respect to variations in plot’s spatial gradient and farm
sizes. Therefore, to promote conservation efforts, policies should identify social and economic
factors with respect to soil and water conservation and integrate them into the plans. Moreover,
soil and water conservation practices should not only be aimed at minimizing soil erosion but
should also cover other household objectives like securing economic and livelihoods, and follow
up process on the proper maintenance and management of the soil and water conservation
structures along with integrating agronomic measures using appropriate plant species.
The second topic focuses on investigating the factors that influence natural resources
management, perceptions of community benefit from soil and water conservation practices.
Results revealed that a large-scale mass mobilization undertaken for more than three decades in
soil and water conservation practices has minimized flooding and thus soil erosion or
degradation both in the farmlands and off-farm conservation, although it was less in on-farm
conservation compared to the off-farm conservation. Results of the study also indicated that
perception of farmers towards benefits of conservation attempts in changing and hence important
contribution towards livelihoods has been recorded. However, the benefits are not yet adequate.
Free grazing and conflicts over communal grazing lands were the major problems, causing the
destruction of the physical and biological conservation works. Thus, the local leaders should give
accreditation to informal institutions, in order to empower the local community and minimize the
conflicts among the society in relation to communal natural resource management.
The last topic assesses determinants of farmers’ adoption that affect sustainability of soil and
water conservation practice. The empirical results from binary logistic regression model showed,
age, literacy, tenure, farm size, and credit access were positive and significant predictors ofadoption of soil and water conservation practices. Extension workers are urgently needed to give
education for farmers to maximize public awareness for the sustainable use of soil and water
conservation practices, and there is need for sensitization of farmers to form groups to benefit
from institutional credit facilities to enhance adoption of soil and water conservation practices,
and capacity building of farmers in other livelihoods areas to reduce burden on natural resources.
Key words: contribution, livelihoods, sustainable, adoption, soil and water conservation, slope gradient, northern highlands of Ethiopia
Description
Keywords
Contribution, Livelihoods, Sustainable, Soil and Water Conservation, Northern Highlands of Ethiopia