Assessment of Soil and Water Conservation Practices and Challenges in Case of Meta Robi Woreda, West Shoa Zone, Oromia Regional State
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2024-02
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Due to a combination of human and natural factors, there has been a global increase in the severity of land degradation. The purpose of this study is to assess soil and water conservation practices and challenges in Oromia Regional State, “Meta Robi Woreda”. The research was conducted from November 2022 to July 2023. Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used in this descriptively designed study. Questionnaires, focus group discussions, and personal and field observation were the main data collection tools. A total of 181 questionnaires were given to the farmers in Kimo Dima, Baka, and Baka Koricha Kebeles using a systematic random selection technique. Because of their extremely vulnerable ecological sites to soil erosion, the three kebeles were purposefully chosen. For DA experts, stakeholders, educated people, and other experienced individuals, purposeful sampling was employed. SPSS was used to analyze the data. Descriptive analyses were performed on the collected data. Of the farmers in the sample, 33.1% thought that deforestation was the main factor causing soil erosion, whereas only 12.2% thought that overpopulation was the main factor. The result indicated that 44.8% of the respondent farmers rated erosion as high in their farmland and 4.4% of them rated erosion as low in their farmland. Training of soil and water conservation structures in the study sites was primarily done by NGOs, particularly „SLM‟. In the study area, farmers use a number of traditional and improved soil and water conservation structures on the farmland, which was statistically significant (P = 0.000). Among the major factors, the majority of the sampled farmers repeatedly mentioned household size, age, gender, topography, deforestation, overgrazing, educational status of farmers, and land size as the major problems in the study area. Destroying built terraces by various farmers was the other series issue. Generally, these problems and challenges hinder the effectiveness of soil and water conservation in the study area. To maintain soil and water conservation structures, farmers should not have to release their livestock freely to grazing lands, and stakeholders should have to check and look after the constructed soil and water conservation structures.
Description
Keywords
Deforestation, Meta Robi, Soil and Water Conservation, Soil Erosions, Terraces