The Effectiveness And Challenges Of Soil And Water Conservation Practices In Raya Azebo Woreda Of Tigray, Ethiopia

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Date

2014-06

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Addis Ababa University

Abstract

Soil and water conservation activities are widely practiced in all rural kebele of Raya Azebo woreda. However, little is known about the effectiveness of these practices in Raya Azebo woreda. The main purpose of this study was to assess the challenge and effectiveness of soil and water conservation in Raya Azebo woreda of Tigray. To realize this purpose for the research questions regarding the extent of implementation of the SWC practices, to document the most widely used SWC technologies to put in to practices, the effectiveness of the conservation measures in the agricultural activity of the farmers, the challenges and limitations and strength of the conservation technologies were asked. To address these questions descriptive survey method was employed. Accordingly, three rural kebele were selected using purposive sampling techniques, while 120 household head farmers selected by randomly sampling techniques, three DAs and one SWC experts and three community leaders were selected by available sampling to interview. And 15 farmers and three elders were selected randomly to employ focus group discussion and interview. To collect primary data, questionnaire with close-ended and few open-ended questions and interview were employed. The questionnaire was used to collect data from farmers, DAs and SWC experts. The informal interview, field observation and focus group discussion were conducted to cross check the information obtained through questionnaires. The data obtained quantitative were first edited, organized and tabulated and then analyzed using frequency counts and percentage. The qualitative data were first organized in to meaning full information and data were described both as expressed in the interviewees and as understood by the researcher. The result of the data analysis and interpretation indicated that the most widely SWC measures are soil bund, diversion ditch contour ploughing, grass, live fence (cactus) and other indigenous vegetation. Beside, result of the study shows that lack of commitment or motivation, lack of reliable support, lack of follow up, lack of knowledge and lack of experience of DAs and SWC experts on how to implement the soil water conservation measures are the major technical related factors which affect the implementation of SWC practices. Likewise, scarcity of facility and material to effectively implement the conservation technology, high labor requirement, more time consuming and lack of finance to construct the technology are also the other major socio-economic problems that significantly affect the soil and water conservation practices. All these are factors have their own impact on the implementation of the practices and therefore it would be difficult to achieve the expected out comes from the practices at the end. Finally, to alleviate this problem creating training, follow up, organizational support and creating awareness on the issue were suggested

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Geography and Environmental Studies

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