elenitesfayeaberhathesisreport
TRANSCRIPT
Erosion and Soil & Water Conservation Group ENP Environmental Policy Group
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a
Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
MSc Thesis by Eleni Tesfaye Aberha
August 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a
Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
By
Eleni Tesfaye Aberha
Master thesis Erosion and Soil & Water Conservation Group and Environmental Policy Group
submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree of Master of Science in Environmental
Sciences at Wageningen University, The Netherlands
Study program: Environmental Science (MES) Student registration number: 650424004-100 Thesis Enviromental Policy Group ENP 80436 Supervisors: Dr Jan de Graaff Dr Wander van der Vaart Examinators: Dr. Jan de Graaff Dr. Wander van der Vaart
Dedicated to
My late father Tesfaye Aberha who has still a fresh memory in me and is exemplary to
my current achievement
Abstract
Soil degradation is one of the major environmental problems challenging agricultural
production in many parts of Ethiopia. Even though a number of soil and water
conservation methods were introduced and practiced, the continued use of these measures
is far below expectations and soil degradation continues to be a serious problem. This
research was conducted with the aim of finding out the type of indigenous and introduced
soil and water conservation (SWC) measures, and to determine the personal, economic,
institutional, and biophysical factors that influence the continued use these measures in
Tulla District, Ethiopia. Formal and informal surveys were undertaken as means of data
gathering for the study. A total of 40 households were interviewed and several fields
were visited during transect walks. Data were analyzed with the use of descriptive
statistics, cross tabulation and correlation methods. The results show that family size,
gender, annual income, fertilizer cost, farm size, market distance, slope and type of
erosion are among the major factors that positively and significantly influence the
continued use of soil and water conservation measures. Education, age, off-farm
activities, access to credit, visits by extension agent, land tenure and technical support
show no significant influence on the continued use of soil and water conservation. Most
of the institutional factors didn’t show a significant relationship with the continued use of
SWC practices. The institutional analysis shows that the Agricultural Office of the
district should integrate its operations and give due emphasis to ensure the continued
application of SWC practices.
Key words: soil degradation, continued use, soil and water conservation, Ethiopia
Acknowledgments First of all, I would like to thank The Netherlands Organization for International
Cooperation in Higher Education (NUFFIC) for sponsoring my MSc study here in
Wageningen University. I would also like to thank my organization, Agriculture and
Rural Development Office of Awassa district, for providing me to take study leave
required to complete my MSc. Next, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my
supervisors, Dr. ir. Jan de Graaff and Dr. Wander van der Vaart, for their guidance and
continuous follow up in the entire process of the thesis work without which this thesis
could not have been possible.
During my field work, I also got much assistance from Tulla district officers and
extension agents. I would like to use this opportunity to thank them all. Especially, I am
gratefull to Mekael, Amarech and farmers of the study area who participated in this
research.
Special thanks go to my friend Deberu Kebede and Mullo Allo for their unreserved
support and encouragements in the study period. My sincere thanks go to Dr. Yosef
Tekele Gyorigis and Dr. Tesfaye Semela for their advice on analysis methods and for
their helpful encouragements. My gratitude also goes to Fassil Menjo for his
encouragement and support to me and my family at all times. Also many thanks to my
friends here in Wageningen to Addisu Abebe and Francis Nkoka for their sustained
support and encouragement in the whole study period. I would also like to express my
profound gratefulness to my mother Bayoush Haddis for helping me strive towards the
realization of my potentials.
Last but not least, my deepest gratefulness to my dear husband Gashaw Metike and our
children Selam and Bruce for all the inconveniences you have encountered during my
absence and your wonderful support and patience during my stay away from home.
Gashaw thank you so much for your endurance in shouldering family responsibilities.
Finally, may the Almighty God be blessed for providing me this opportunity, and for
giving me the strength to start and go through with my studies!
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
i
Table of Contents
Content Page No.
List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... iii
List of Figures .................................................................................................................... iv
Abbreviations.......................................................................................................................v
Glossary ............................................................................................................................. vi
1. Introduction......................................................................................................................1
1.1 Background............................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Problem statement..................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Objectives ................................................................................................................. 7
1.4 Research questions.................................................................................................... 7
2. Materials and Methods.....................................................................................................8
2.1 Theoretical framework.............................................................................................. 8
2.2 Description of the study area .................................................................................. 10
2.3 Methods of data collection...................................................................................... 12
2.4 Data analysis ........................................................................................................... 15
3. Results and Discussions.................................................................................................16
3.1 Soil and water conservation practices in the area ................................................... 16
3.1.1 Indigenous method of soil and water conservation practices .......................... 16
3.1.2 Newly introduced soil and water conservation practices................................. 21
3.2 Household Characteristics ...................................................................................... 24
3.3 Farmland Characteristics ........................................................................................ 27
3.4 Factors affecting the continued use of SWC practices ........................................... 30
3.4.1 Personal factors in relation to continued use of SWC ..................................... 30
3.4.2 Economic factors in relation to continued use of SWC................................... 33
3.4.3 Institutional factors in relation to the continued use........................................ 36
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
ii
3.4.4 Biophysical factors in relation to the continued use ........................................ 39
4. Conclusions and Recommendations ..............................................................................43
5. References.....................................................................................................................47
6. Appendices.....................................................................................................................53
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
iii
List of Tables
Table 1: Indigenous soil and water conservation measures implemented by households 17
Table 2: Introduced soil and water conservation measures implemented by households 22
Table 3: Educational status of household heads ............................................................... 25
Table 4: Age distribution of household heads .................................................................. 26
Table 5: Involvement in off-farm activities and income generated.................................. 27
Table 6: Characteristics of farmland in the study area ..................................................... 29
Table 7: Relationship between “personal factors” and “continued use of SWC”: cross
tabulation and correlation ................................................................................................ 32
Table 8: Relationship between “economic factors” and “continued use of SWC”: cross
tabulation and correlation ................................................................................................ 34
Table 9: Relationship between economic and personal variables: Correlation ............... 36
Table 10: Relationship between “institutional factors” and “continued use of SWC”:
cross tabulation and correlation ....................................................................................... 37
Table 11: Farmers being visited by local extension agents in the study area ................... 38
Table 12: Relationship between “biophysical factors” and “continued use of SWC”:
cross tabulation and correlation ....................................................................................... 41
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
iv
List of Figures
Figure 1: Classification of continued use of SWC determinants and their relationships . 10
Figure 2: Location of Tulla District .................................................................................. 11
Figure 3: One of the informal meeting sessions with key informants .............................. 13
Figure 4: Big gullies developed due to wrong lay-out of cut-off -drains ......................... 18
Figure 5: Plantation of Sisal and Euphorbia along the contour ........................................ 20
Figure 6: Soil bunds are common in cultivated fields ...................................................... 23
Figure 7: Fanyajuu terraces which do not require frequent maintenance......................... 24
Figure 8: The relationship between fertility status of the investigated plots and slope of
the plots............................................................................................................................. 39
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
v
Abbreviations
DA: Development Agent
EHRS: Ethiopian Highland Reclamation Study
ENP: Environmental Policy Group
ESW: Erosion and Soil Water Conservation group
FAO: Food and Agricultural Organization
FFW: Food For Work
GDP: Gross Domestic Product
GNP: Gross National Product
HH: Household Head
MOARD: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
PA: Peasant Association
PSNP: Productive Safety Net Program
SCRR: Soil Conservation Research Project
SNNPRS: Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State
SPSS: Statistical Package for Social Science
SWC: Soil and Water Conservation
WFP: World Food Program
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
vi
Glossary
Birr: Ethiopian currency. (One Euro =15 Birr)
Booi: An indigenous physical structure constructed in the steep slopes to protect
the soil from eroding.
Bonna: The dry season of Ethiopia covering from October – February. Enset: A banana like plant (also called ‘false banana’) used as a staple food in most
of the southern parts of Ethiopia.
Kebele: A peasant association; it is also the lowest administrative unit in rural
Ethiopia; it has an area of about 800 ha.
Kiremet: The main rainy season of Ethiopia covering from June-August/September.
Mareshsa: A traditional implement used for cultivation of the farm by oxen
Teff: A main cereal staple grown and used in Ethiopia.
Woreda: An administrative unit somewhat equivalent to a district. A woreda consists
of several peasant associations (PAs). Yager shimagle: The elders of the community who command high respect by other
members
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
1
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Ethiopia is one of the largest countries in Africa both in terms of land area (1.1 million
km2) and population (77 million). With a per capita GNP of 100 dollars in 2001, the
country is one of the poorest in the world (World Bank, 2003). The economy is based
mainly on agriculture, which provides employment for over 80% of the labour force
which accounts for a little over 50% of the GDP. Some 88% of the total population is
settled in the highland areas of 1500 meters or higher above sea level, which makes up
only 45% of the country (FAO, 1986).
In fact, agriculture in Ethiopia is not only an economic activity but also a way of life for
which agricultural land is an indispensable resource upon which the welfare of the
society is built. The livelihood of the vast majority of the population depends directly or
indirectly on this sector. Needless to mention, such dependence obviously leads to
increased vulnerability of the economy to problems related to land degradation
(Wegayehu, 2003). Though land provides a means of livelihoods for the majority of the
population, land resources are facing increasing degradation mainly due to water erosion
in the form of sheet and rill erosion. Generally low productivity characterizes Ethiopian
agriculture which has made it difficult to attain food self sufficiency at a national level.
Soil degradation is one of the major environmental problems in Ethiopia, which
manifests itself mainly in the form of land on which the soil layer has been eroded away
and nutrients have been continuously extracted with little or no any replenishment. The
problem is particularly severe on cultivated marginal and sloping land because such areas
are generally susceptible to soil erosion (Tadesse and Belay, 2004; Greenland et al.,
1994).
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
2
In the Ethiopian highlands soil degradation is caused by a combination of factors such as
high and uneven population pressure and many other physical and socio-economic
reasons (Bewket and Sterk, 2002). Continuous cultivation with little amendment for the
soil, and widespread use of dung and crop residues for household energy has substantially
contributed to the loss of organic matter (Amsalu, 2006). Because most farmers are poor
and operate at subsistence level, investment for intensification of agriculture is not well
developed in the country. This has created a vicious circle of low productivity, whereby
land degradation reduces the production potential of the land and this, in return, makes it
difficult for farmers to produce enough and invest in the land.
Soil erosion, which occurs in different forms throughout the year, is one of the major
manifestations of soil degradation in the country (Hurni, 1993 and Girma, 2001).
Estimates indicate that 25% of the highland is highly affected by soil erosion due to water
and 4% so seriously eroded that this will not be economically productive again in the
foreseeable future (Kruger et al., 1996). Soil erosion is greatest on cultivated land where
average annual soil loss was 42 t/ha/yr (Hurni,1990). The Soil Conservation Research
Project (SCRP) has estimated an annual soil loss of about 1.5 billion tons from the
highland. According to the Ethiopian Highlands Reclamation Study (EHRS) soil erosion
is estimated to cost the country 1.9 billion US$ between 1985 and 2010. This calls for
external interventions based on the local socio-economic and technical potential, if the
country is to continue as a nation.
Despite the severity of the problem however, it is only recently that land conservation has
received political attention in the country. Since the 1960s, various conservation
strategies have been introduced to enhance agricultural development and rural livelihoods
(Kelly and Scoones, 2000). Recognizing land degradation as a major environmental and
socio-economic problem, the government of Ethiopia has made several interventions. As
a result, large areas have been covered with terraces, soil bunds, area closures and
millions of trees have been planted. Nevertheless, the achievements still fell far below
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
3
expectations and the country still loses a tremendous amount of fertile topsoil, and the
threat of land degradation is alarmingly broadening (Teklu and Gezahegn, 2003). Of the
various interventions, extensive conservation projects are carried out under the auspices
of the World Food Program (Shiferaw and Holden, 1998). One of these is the Productive
Safety Net Programme (PSNP). This program, also implemented in this study area,
provides farmers with grains and edible oil (Food For Work, FFW) or cash payment for
their participation in the funded conservation works. Such projects funded by the World
Food Program have, however, been criticized for achieving limited success in addressing
the problem. Although food aid has helped to fight hunger in famine-stricken areas, it has
not been successful in improving soil and water conservation in the long run (Amsalu and
de Graaff, 2004).
Besides, many of the projects sponsored both by the government and the WFP were also
criticized for putting emphasis only on mechanical conservation measures, most of which
were alien to the farmers. The farmers were virtually considered ignorant of soil and
water conservation practices and were excluded from the planning, commenting on and
implementation of these conservation measures (Azene, 2007). Decisions on which types
of conservation measures to use and where to place them were not made by the farmers
concerned (top down approach), and only rare attempts were made to include indigenous
experience and knowledge (Amsalu, 2006). Although the achievements were remarkable
in quantitative terms, the impacts of these efforts were far below the expectations and
land degradation continued to be a serious problem (Admassie, 2000).
Since the 1990s, implementation of soil and water conservation measures has been
undertaken as part of the agricultural extension package of the present government.
Conservation measures were mostly undertaken in campaigns and without the
involvement of the land owner. Farmers were not allowed to remove the structures once
built but maintenance was often carried out through the Productive Safety Net Program
(FFW) incentive (Shiferaw and Holden, 1998). However, the practice has largely
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
4
remained delivery oriented in which the farmers are forced to implement conservation
measures designed for them by technical experts (Bewket, 2003). The majority of the
farmers have been reported to have totally or partially removed conservation structures
constructed on their plots (Admassie, 1995).
The reason for low performance of SWC activities are the low adoption of SWC
technologies. Adoption of SWC measures does not automatically guarantee long-term
use. When for example, SWC measures have been established with considerable project
assistance, not all farmers may continue using the measures. Therefore, adoption of soil
and water conservation may not lead to sustained land rehabilitation unless the
technologies are utilized continuously.
Continued use (or final adoption) refers to farmers being intrinsically motivated to
maintain and replicate SWC measures; they are convinced by themselves (and not by
incentives) that a measure actually works. Kessler (2006) considers SWC measures fully
adopted only when its execution is sustained and fully integrated in the household’s
farming system.
In line with this, the particular study focuses on investigating factors responsible for
determining farmers' decision with continued use of soil and water conservation.
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
5
1.2 Problem statement
There are diverse views about reasons for the low agricultural productivity in the
Ethiopian context. Among other things, it is attributed to drought, shortage of rainfall,
war, pests, insecurity of land tenure, population pressure, soil erosion, overgrazing,
deforestation, lack of efficient rural organizations and weak institutional support
(Beshah, 2003). Although the commonly mentioned drought and shortage of rainfall are
considered as the major causes for low agricultural productivity and food shortage, the
contribution of soil degradation (excessive nutrient exhaustion and removal of top soil by
water erosion) is by far greater (Sahlemedhin, 2000). Degradation resulting from soil
erosion and nutrient depletion is one of the most challenging environmental problems in
Ethiopia. The Ethiopian highlands have been experiencing declining soil fertility and
severe soil erosion due to intensive farming on steep and fragile land (Amsalu and de
Graaff, 2006).
To alleviate this problem, a number of policy measures have been undertaken by the
government, although their success is highly questioned. More recently, the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) of Ethiopia has been engaged in a
Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). Rural communities living in highly degraded and
drought prone highland areas such as Tulla district are involved in soil conservation and
afforestation activities in the form of Food- For-Work (FFW) under the Productive Safety
Net Program.
This problem also applies to soil and water conservation projects carried out in Tulla
District Sidama zone, Southern Nations and Nationalities Regional State of Ethiopia.
Farmers are initially compelled to participate in the construction of conservation
structures because the construction is undertaken through group labour. The adoption rate
is, however, very low because farmers prefer to remove the structures from their
farmland instead of maintaining and replicating them after they are constructed. Hence, it
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
6
is very important to study the real factors that are detrimental to the widespread
continued use of soil and water conservation practices.
Previous studies show that various personal, economic, socio-institutional and bio-
physical attributes have influential roles in farmers’ decisions on the adoption of SWC
measures. Thus, appropriate understanding of these factors would assist in the
formulation and implementation of the policy interventions designed to induce voluntary
continued use of SWC measures. Because farmers have the ultimate say on the decision
of continued use, clear knowledge of the factors that determine farmer decisions is an
essential step in the effort of combating severe soil erosion. Whether these factors, widely
practiced throughout Ethiopia, have similar roles in areas where the PSNP is
implemented such as Tulla District, however, is unexplored. The purpose of this research
is, therefore, to contribute to the understanding of the factors that influence farmers’
decisions on the continued use of soil and water conservation in the study area.
Continued use means farmers intrinsically motivated to maintain and replicate SWC
measures in their farmland .
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
7
1.3 Objectives
The main objectives of this thesis are:
• To identify the current soil and water conservation practices (indigenous and/or
improved) the farmer is using.
• To assess the major constraints of continued use of soil and water conservation
technologies in the Productive Safety Net Program in Tulla District, Ethiopia, by
analyzing the most important factors that affect farmers’ decisions.
1.4 Research questions
The main research questions set to meet the objective mentioned above are:
- What are the indigenous and new soil and water conservation techniques used by
farmers in the research area?
- What are the main personal, economic, institutional and biophysical factors
affecting farmers’ decisions on the continued use of soil and water conservation
technologies?
Information obtained from this research can be used by policy makers, the community in
the area, individual farmers, researchers and extension staff to enhance the continued use
different SWC measures in Sidama Zone Tulla District and other areas with similar
conditions in Ethiopia.
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
8
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Theoretical framework
The continued use of new soil and water conservation technologies in developing
countries has attracted much attention from scientists and policy makers alike mainly
because agriculture is an important sector in those countries (De Graaff et al., 2008).
There are several definitions for the adoption of soil and water conservation activities.
Rogers (1995) has defined the adoption process as “the mental process an individual
passes through, from first hearing about an innovation to final adoption.”
According to De Graaff et al. (2008), there are three phases in the adoption process: the
acceptance phase, the actual adoption phase and the continued use phase. The acceptance
phase generally includes the awareness, evaluation and the trial stages and eventually
leads to starting investing in certain measures. The actual adoption phase is the stage
whereby efforts or investments are made to implement SWC measures on more than trial
basis. The third phase of continued use or final adoption is the stage in which the existing
SWC measures are maintained over many years and new ones are replicated on other
fields. Kessler (2006) considers SWC totally adopted only when its implementation is
sustained and fully integrated in the household farming system.
There are different factors related to the continued use of soil and water conservation
measures. These factors are mainly personal and social, economic, institutional, and
biophysical factors. Farmers seldom sustain the technical solutions offered by external
interventions in the long term unless proper consideration is given to these factors (Mc
Donald and Brown, 2000). Guren (1999) distinguished problems in the transfer and
adoption processes, mainly the lack of testing and the limited responsibility of extension
agents, as important reasons for the non continued use of soil and water conservation
technologies.
MSc. Thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: a Case study in Tulla District, Ethiopia
9
In a research concerning adoption, Tenge et al. (2004) identified household variables,
farming and economic variables and other external factors as the major determinants of
adoption. In the Ethiopian case, several household and economic factors that influence
the decision to accept SWC measures have been analyzed. Amsalu and de Graaff (2006)
found in their study area, age, farm size, and livestock numbers as the most important
factors with significant influence. Farmers’ decisions to conserve natural resources
generally and soil and water in particular are largely determined by their knowledge of
the problems and the perceived benefits of conservation. In their research on the adoption
of soil and water conservation practices, Amsalu and de Graaff (2006) made a distinction
between the initial adoption and the continued use of conservation measures. A
distinction was made between farm characteristics, including personal attributes and
socio-institutional factors and plot characteristics, including slope, soil fertility, etc.
However, it is not clear whether these same variables have similar roles of impacting
upon adoption decision in different areas and different types of projects.
In this study, we use a classification of continued use of soil and water conservation
determinants into four major groups: personal, economic, institutional and biophysical
factors. The main factors, which are considered in this study, are age, education, gender
and family size (personal); annual income, fertilizer expenditure, access to credit, off-
farm income and farm size (economic); visits by DA, technical support, training, land
tenure and market distance (institutional); slope, level of soil fertility and type of soil
erosion (biophysical).
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
10
Figure 1: Classification of continued use of SWC determinants and their
relationships
2.2 Description of the study area The study was carried out in Tulla district. It is located in Sidama Administrative Zone of
the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS) of Ethiopia
which is situated at 275 km south west of the capital, Addis Ababa. The climatic
condition is generally semi-arid, the mean annual rainfall ranging between 801-1600 mm.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
11
The annual temperature varies within the range of 16ºc-25ºc. The elevation ranges
between 1500-3000 meter above sea level and the slopes ranges from nearly flat to very
steep. The rainfall pattern generally is uni-modal, with over 70 percent falling between
April and August. The main rainy season (“kiremt”) ranges from June – August. The dry
season (“bonna”) in the area is mostly from October to February. The dry season limits
the water availability in the study area.
Figure 2: Location of Tulla District
Based upon the Tulla Office of Agriculture, the total number of households in each of the
two villages Finchewa and Tullo are 1136 and 935 respectively. Agriculture is mainly
rain-fed, but drought and crop failure are common due to unreliable and intensive
rainfall. The rainfall is not consistent year to year and the area also experiences drought.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
12
Land is cultivated at the onset of the rainy season using a pair of oxen and traditional
implements such as Maresha. The farming system is a typical mixed crop-livestock
system that is carried out on a subsistence scale. The main crops grown include maize
and enset, where by maize is the dominant crop which is sometimes rotated with beans.
Around and near the homestead enset is grown which serves as a source of the staple
food for most farmers. Cattle, sheep, donkey, goat and poultry are among the common
types of livestock. However, due to low amount of rainfall, shortage of fodder and lack of
grazing area the livestock production is not as such an important economic activity.
In the northern and north western directions, the two villages are bordered by Lake
Awassa which serves as a source of food specially fish. Moreover, small number of
farmers uses the water to produce different kinds of irrigated vegetables and fruits. The
commonest land tenure systems in the study area include: inheritance, purchase,
borrowing, renting and public land. The majority of households possess (owned by state)
land under the inheritance system whereby the land belonging to a family is transferred
from one generation to another through the household head.
2.3 Methods of data collection
Field research on the continued use of SWC was carried out using both informal and
formal survey methods. All the necessary data required for the study were gathered
through a farm household survey conducted from February to July, 2008. At the
beginning stage of the survey, informal meetings were undertaken with a representative
sample of farmers in order to know the general agricultural, social and economic situation
of the population of the study area. Also informal meetings with key informants (farmers,
elder people, researchers, women, experts and development agents) were held to get in-
depth knowledge about the area and to pretest the questionnaire.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
13
Figure 3: One of the informal meeting sessions with key informants
In addition to the informal meeting, transect walks across the village were conducted in
order to obtain all the necessary physical information and determine the questions that
need to be included in the survey. A transect walk is a walk across the terrain of a valley
or watershed in order to capture the greatest diversity of the ecosystem. It is a useful
technique to characterize and understand biophysical and major terrain features such as:
topography, erosion status, types of both indigenous and improved SWC practices, land
uses, soil type, slope characteristics and soil depth of the area. Transect walks should
involve careful observation and semi structured interviewing with villagers met during
walks. These informal techniques helped to acquire useful and detailed information
which would have been difficult to collect through the questionnaire survey.
For the detailed personal interviews, a random sampling technique was used to select a
total of 40 households from among farmers participating in the Productive Safety Net
Program in the two villages. The sampling was done using a list of all households in the
villages which were obtained from the representative village administrations. A
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
14
structured questionnaire was used for the field interview and the interview was conducted
in the homestead of each interviewed farmer. For the farmer to develop a strong trust in
the enumerator, each farmer was well informed about the purpose of the survey and why
he/she is chosen for the interview.
The survey questionnaire included both open and close ended questions which was pre–
tested by administering it to selected respondents. Subsequently, on the basis of the
results obtained from the pretest, necessary modifications were made on the questionnaire
which was ultimately translated from English into the local language, Amharic. The
interview was also conducted in the local language. Data generated from the
questionnaire include, among other things, types of SWC measures (indigenous and/or
introduced) and the extent to which farmers continuously use it.
The next task was the selection of enumerators based on their level of understanding of
the local language and their educational level. After one day of intensive training on how
to conduct the interview and fill information in the questionnaire properly, in each
interview enumerators and I were involved in the data collection through a formal survey.
At the end of the formal survey, discussions were held with key informants including
community leaders, elders, women farmers, development agents and representatives of
non-governmental organizations. This informal technique helped to acquire useful and
detailed information about biophysical factors, which would have been difficult to collect
through the questionnaire survey. The informal discussion with the farmer provided a
forum where they openly expressed their opinions and views with a feeling of being at an
equal standing with the interviewer. Moreover secondary data from literature (scientific
reports, proceedings and statistical abstracts) and Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) Zonal
Office, key informant interviews and the development agents at various levels were used
as additional sources of information (ex.rainfall, temperature). These qualitative data
obtained by the informal discussions were used to verify and supplement the quantitative
results from the structured questionnaires.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
15
2.4 Data analysis
Finally the data acquired were analyzed using descriptive statistics techniques, cross
tabulation and correlation with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)
software. In addition, MS-Excel was used to generate tables and graphs whereas for the
interviews and field observation notes, a qualitative analysis was used.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
16
3. Results and Discussions
3.1 Soil and water conservation practices in the area
Various soil and water conservation practices (Indigenous and improved) have been
identified in the study area. Before the intervention through the Productive Safety Net
Program, farmers in the area were exclusively practicing traditional methods and the use
of improved methods of soil and water conservation measures are recent developments.
Collaborating partners including the agricultural office from Tulla District, and World
Vision, along with farmers implemented the program.
3.1.1 Indigenous method of soil and water conservation practices
Indigenous soil and water conservation practices have very often been ignored or
underestimated by development agents, researchers, soil conservationists and government
staff (IFAD, 1992). Although the objectives of knowing indigenous soil and water
conservation practices give us an understanding of farmers' way of thinking about the
measures (Hudson, 1992).
In order to prevent the problem of soil erosion in the area, farmers in Tulla District used
a number of indigenous soil and water conservation technologies. Among these are cut-
of -drains, leaving crop residues in the field, distribution of manure, contour farming,
fallowing, and plantation of Sisal (Agave sisalana Perrine) and euphorbia (Euphorbia
classenii) on the farm.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
17
Table 1: Indigenous soil and water conservation measures implemented by
households
Villages
Types of indigenous SWC measures Fenchewa Tullo
Grand Total No % No % No % Application of manure 1 5 2 10 3 7.5 Contour plough and cut-off drain 3 15 3 15 6 15
Contour plough and plantation of Sisal and Euphorbia
7 35 4 20 11 27.5
Cut -off -drain 2 10 4 20 6 15 Fallowing 1 5 2 10 3 7.5 Leaving crop residues on the field 3 15 1 5 4 10
Did not practice indigenous SWC 3 15 4 20 7 17.5
Grand Total 20 100 20 100 40 100
Cut off drains, locally known as Booi, are one of the physical structures commonly
constructed by digging the soil deep in order to divert the run off before reaching the
farmland. The survey results show that 15% of the farmers upstream use cut-off-drains
whereas another 15% use a mix of cut-off-drains with contour ploughing (Table 1). The
farmers construct such structures in order to prevent loss of seeds, fertilizers, and soil due
to excessive run-off coming from uplands of the terrain and dispose the excess water
from the field. However, the farmer opinion that through time most of these structures
are causing serious problems and enhance soil erosion. I could witness the scene during
a transect walk with the key informants. Big gullies associated with the establishment of
the conservation structure, especially between the farms boundaries, were commonly
observed. Thus farmers in the study area are reluctant about this structure. However, it is
not due to failure of the structure but due to improper surveying work.
Similarly, studies from East Wellega Zone in Ethiopia, Azene (1997) showed that,
farmers developed cut-off-drains locally called “Boraatii’’. This structures are
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
18
constructed mainly by oxen drawn plough, and reinforced by stones, wood blocks of soils
with grass. Here the difference is that the structures are maintained by local materials and
are not causing serious problem in the area.
Figure 4: Big gullies developed due to wrong lay-out of cut-off -drains
Another indigenous practice common in the area is leaving crop residues on the field
after harvest. Nevertheless, awareness of the farmers is very low about contribution of
crop residues to improve the fertility of soil. The survey result showed that 10% of the
respondents are purposely implementing this measure in order to prevent the soil from
water and wind erosion (Table 1). However during the transect walks with the farmers I
recognized no crop residues in most of the farmer field. During discussions with a key
informants I could found out that the farmers had a serious fuel wood and animal feed
shortage therefore no crop residue were left. Most of the farmers in the area especially
women collect crop residues from the field for the purpose of animal feed and use as fuel
wood. Another research conducted by Tilahun et al. (2001) explained that, farmers in
Areka is that all crop residues are removed from the field and used in the livestock pen
or home garden. Some of the residues from cereals (wheat, barely and Teff ) and
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
19
legumes ( haricot beans, peas and faba beans ) are stored in the home compound and
sold as fodder or used to feed livestock during the dry season.
Contour Farming also is a practice of cultivating the land along the contour line in order
to reduce the runoff on a steep sloping area. It is used alone or in combination with other
conservation measures such as cut-of-drains and plantation of Sisal and Euphorbia. The
study shows that this type of conservation practices are most often used by the farmers.
From the sampled farmers 42.5 % applied the practice with the other measures including
cut of drain and plantation of Sisal and Euphorbia in the study area (Table 1). Although
the farmer is aware of the soil conservation function of contour farming, however it was
implemented during land preparation before the planting season. While the farmer
ploughs the land along the contour for preparation of an appropriate seedbed for
production, it serves the purpose of conserving the soil from erosion.
Fallowing is a traditional practice of leaving the land out of production for 3-5 years for
the purpose of restoring soil fertility and minimizing soil loss. But in the area most of the
land under this treatment is highly degraded to the extent of almost reaching a point of no
return or not easy to recover within a short period of time. Generally farmers leave the
land for fallowing after all the soil is removed from the land, the land is unable to
produce under normal condition, and only stones are found exposed on the land. Only
7.5% of the respondents apply fallowing as a soil conservation measure. During
discussions with the farmers it was learnt that through time traditional fallow periods
have become very short and rare in the area as a result of the high population pressure
and associated low agricultural productivity.
In the earlier days, application of manure was not a common practice in the study area.
Farmers were not used to apply manure on the soil, which was rather simply thrown near
the homestead. During focus group discussions with key informants, however, it was
found out that since the last 5-6 years the farmers used the manure in order to improve
the fertility of soil. The main reason farmers shifted to this practice was attributed to the
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
20
sky rocketing price of inorganic fertilizers which are unaffordable by the farmer. But
currently only 7.5% of the respondents practice this measure, as there is a very critical
shortage of fuel wood and not much livestock in the area (Table 1).
It is also very common to observe plantation of Sisal and Euphorbia at the upstream
part of the farm planted along the contour. Such a measure is applied by it self and/or
together with other indigenous conservation practices (ex. contour farming) and practiced
by 27.5% of the respondents. During the transect walks with the farmers I commonly
recognized Sisal and Euphorbia planted along the contour in order to reduce the run off
and conserve the soil around the root of the plant. In general the plants are drought
tolerant and not easily edible and destroyed by animals in the area. Another advantage of
this plant is that farmers use it in order to separate the border between the two boundaries
of farm. In general the traditional soil and water conservation practices are efficient in
some cases, but should be modified and further developed.
Figure 5: Plantation of Sisal and Euphorbia along the contour
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
21
3.1.2 Newly introduced soil and water conservation practices
In Tulla District, the soil and water conservation technologies under execution were
mainly physical structural measures, which include fanyajuu and soil bunds. Selection
of the appropriate technology however is not voluntary but recommended by experts
from the agricultural office of Tulla District under the department of Productive Safety
Net Program. The survey result showed that soil bunds are the dominant structure on
cultivated fields (Table 2).
Farmers who are recruited to participate in the Productive Safety Net Program must apply
either of the two that is fanyajuu and/or soil bund. They were constructing these
structures because of the cash they would earn per month but not because of the soil
erosion problems in the area. During focus group discussions with key informants, it was
learnt that farmers are well aware of erosion problem in the area. Moreover, they agree
that these measures are effective to protect the soil. The newly introduced SWC
measures, fanyajuu and soil bunds, were widely acknowledged as being effective
measures in arresting soil erosion and as having the potential to improve land
productivity. Nevertheless, due to the top-down approach, continued use of these new
soil and water conservation practices by the farmers appears less likely. During
discussions with key informants in each of the study villages, the farmers mentioned that
an ineffective design of the structure by the development agents are responsible for
causing several gullies. This is in line with a similar study conducted by Belay (1992) in
southern Ethiopia who concluded that farmers are willing to conserve their soil and land
but demand more appropriate technologies and the major cause of erosion in areas
treated with fanyajuu is poor construction of the bunds.
Farmers use also soil bunds, it consists of impermeable structures where the soil is
thrown downwards across the slope, unless provided with spillways, intended to maintain
all rainfall. These structures are suitable mostly in semi-arid and arid parts of the country.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
22
In the study area, 72.5% of the respondents have constructed soil bunds on there fields
(Table 2).
Table 2: Introduced soil and water conservation measures implemented by
households
Villages
Fenchewa
Tullo
Grand Total
Types of introduced SWC measures
No
%
No
%
No
%
Fanyajuu
6
30
5
25
11
27.5
Soil bunds
14
70
15
75
29
72.5
Grand Total
20
100
20
100
40
100
The farmers practicing this structure believed that the advantage is beyond protection of
soil from erosion. Apart from this, it contributes to moisture retention capacity of the soil
profile and thus water availability to plants, increases the efficiency of fertilizer
applications and it is less labor intensive. However, the disadvantage of this structure as
explained by the farmer, is that it requires a lot of maintenance in a short period due to
being filled with soil immediately after heavy rainfall and did not allow oxen plough. It
is mainly implemented on cultivated land with slopes in the range of 3% to 15%, but also
on grazing land with gentle slopes at wider intervals.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
23
are made by digging a trench and throwing the soil uphill to form an
bankment, which after some years, develops into outward sloping bench terraces. This
have constructed fanyajuu on their fields
). Farmers practicing this structure explained the advantage of the structure as
rrace, strengths the bund, does not need too
aintenance and decreases the speed of run-off more than the soil bund. The
es as pointed out by the farmers were that it is more labour
ive and requires space, in other words competes with the cultivable land. This is
ith the finding of earlier studies in southern Ethiopia, Tegne (1992) reported
ers considered the introduced soil and fanyajuu bunds as inappropriate
ies because they occupy cultivable area, harbor rats and other rodents.
Figure 6: Soil bunds are common in cultivated fields
Fanyajuu terraces
em
study has shown that 27.5% of the respondents
(Table 2
follows: it changes gradually into bench te
much m
disadvantages of these structur
intens
consistent w
that the farm
technolog
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
24
Figure 7: Fanyajuu terraces which do not require frequent maintenance
3.2 Household Characteristics
n group
holds have
lim n SWC and to land and other resources, due to
ditional social barriers. Women are also more involved in regular household activities
The result indicates that 87.5% of the head of households are male. These me
include the most influential people who are village elders (Yager Shimagle), decision
makers (local administration), younger people, older people, poor and rich farmers.
During planning of SWC, it is important to consider the influential group but still care
needs to be taken so that other groups are not marginalized.
Out of the total sample of households in the two villages 12.5% of the household heads
are women, which are either widowed or divorced. From the total of 15 households
which we found that were participating in both maintaining and replicating structures,
none of the women headed households were involved (Table 7). During discussions with
women headed households the main reason why women headed households are not
involved in the continued use of SWC structure is that female-headed house
ited access to the information o
tra
than men. In the area, a woman takes most of the household responsibilities (child care,
food processing, weeding and harvesting and bringing water from long distance). Most
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
25
constructed in the past under
e Productive Safety Net Program were neither maintained nor replicated to other plots.
physical structures that are constructed in the area are highly labour intensive and cannot
be undertaken by only women. During informal discussions with key informants,
including women, most of the physical measures that were
th
Three education level groups were identified, which include: “illiterate”, “grade 1-5” and
“above grade 5”. Not less than 47.5% of the household heads are “illiterate”, 25% are
between “grade 1 and 5” and 27.5% are “above grade 5” (Table 3). Most of the farmers
in the area are not educated and thus have little access to information about soil and water
conservation practice. Generally, better-educated households have a more realistic
perception about soil erosion problems, have more knowledge related to SWC and hence
can more easily be involved in conservation activities. With respect to educational status
of households in relation to location of villages, farmers in Tullo are better educated than
at Fenchewa, attributed to proximity to a big city, Awassa.
Table 3: Educational status of household heads
Education level
Illiterate Grade 1-5 Above grade 5
Total No
Villages No % No % No % HH heads
Fenchewa 11 55 5 25 4 20 20
Tullo 8 40 5 25 7 35 20
Overall 19 47.5 10 25 11 27.5 40
Three age groups are identified: young (20-40 years, 50%), middle (40-60 years, 37.5%),
and old people (> 60 years, 12.5%). Most of the farmers in the area (87.5%) belong to the
young and the middle-aged groups which is an indication that there is a sufficiently large
labour force (Table 4). These farmers have better understanding of problems of soil
rosion due to more access to information in the area, and as a result more interested in
ers are 12.5%,
e
soil and water conservation. As indicated above the proportion of old farm
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
26
n age group in which labour sh typical hindrance to practice SWC
easures. Moreov farmers are servativ heir
rming
4: Age di ibution ouseho heads
Age range (years)
a ortage forms a
m er, these usually con e and stick to t traditional
way of fa .
Table str of h ld
20 - 40 40 - 60 > 60
illages Number % Number % Number %
Total No. investigated
V Fenchewa 10 50 7 35 3 15 20
Tullo 10 50 8 40 2 10 20
Overall total 20 50 15 37.5 5 12.5 40
ain source of labour for the households are found in their families, including wife
. 60% of the families of the households are between the age of 15-60 years
The m
and children
(See appendix 1 table 11). The results indicating that large labour force are available in the
study area. According to the survey result the average number of family members for the
study areas are 5.9 and 6.9 for Fenchewa and Tullo villages respectively. The total average
family size for the study area was 6.4
With respect to off the survey has y sh % the
involved in various forms of farm activities, which includes engagement in all
business, carpentry, local administration, agriculture and stone crushing. The overall duration
of ment is fou to be .5 day
(1U and annua erage earning Birr 3971. Farmers in the study area are
heavily engaged in off-farm activities (42 %) with the consequence that have not sufficient
tim able 5). One thing I
recognized is that, farm
m
farm activities, clearl own that 42 of farmers are
off sm
involve nd 25 s per month, the average daily earning Birr 13
SD=10 Birr) the l av
e and labour are allotted to continued use of SWC technologies (T
ers involved in off- farm activities are not working the whole day, but
aybe only in the morning, afternoon or at night. Generally, there are mixed views about the
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
27
re
it
W bers are more involved in off-farm employment
activities, the time they spend on their farmland will be limited and hence the family is
arenthesis are standard deviations
found to be 0.63, 0.7 nd 0.69 ha for chewa, Tull d the
y areas respectively. It is found that distance between
not the mo ant factor rmine th
nd water conservation. Because in the study area the average distance of the
ad was 0.68 km ). The sca ields are
factors responsible for discouraging farmers not to continuously use the SWC measures.
lationship between off farm employment and continued use of SWC. Among other things,
may have a negative effect on the continued use of SWC due to reduced labour availability.
hen the farmer and his family mem
discouraged from being involved in construction and maintenance of SWC structures. On the
other hand, off-farm activities can be a source of income, and could encourage investment in
farming and SWC.
Table 5: Involvement in off-farm activities and income generated * Duration of involvement and earnings from off-farm activity refers to only those
farmers involved in off-farm activity
** Numbers in p
3.3 Farmland Characteristics
The average farm size is 6 a Fen o an
overall average farm size in the stud
the farmland and homestead is
use of soil a
st import to dete e continued
farmland from the homeste (Table 6 ttered f one of the
Villages Parameter Fenchewa Tullo
Overall total
Household interviewed (n) 20 20 40
Involvement in off-farm activity (%) 40 45 42
Average duration of involvement (days/month)*
25 (9)** 26 (5) 26 (7 )
Average daily earning (Birr) 16 (12 ) 11 (5) 13 (9 )
Average monthly earning (Birr) 391 (354 ) 280 (116) 332 (254)
Average annual earning (Birr) 4658 ( 4273 ) 3360 (1394 ) 3971 (3067 )
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
28
ion where st, dep walk e,
lizer transpo ion ilarly Shiferaw
and Holden (1998) had also found that some farmers undertake SWC work as a part-time
Considering ownership the survey result showed that more than 50% of the plots are
herited from the land transferred from family, 23% of the plot possessed since the
e seriously affected by gully erosion.(Appendix 1 table 13)
Farmers have to make a decis to invest fir ending on ing distanc
labour requirements for ferti rt and product objectives. Sim
job during the evening, making it difficult to go to the fields that are located far from the
home.
in
distribution of land by village leaders and 21% purchased from different sources.
The major stable crops cultivated are maize (64% of the plots) followed by enset, a
widely cultivated root crop (33% of the plots). The farmers were involved in the
identification of different soil types and the following were summary of the findings.
Four types of soil were identified by the respondent in the area that is, 33% of the plots
are black soil, 29% of the plots are brownish soil, 28% of the plots are grayish and 10%
of the plots are reddish (Table 6).The type of soil indentified by the farmers’ in relation
to FAO soil classification are Vertisols (black soil), Cambisols (brownish soil), Arenosol
(grayish soil) and Plinthosol (reddish soil).With regard to the forms of erosion 45% of the
plots ar
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
29
Table 6: Characteristics of farmland in the study area Parameter Value
F arm size (ha) Mean S.D Fenchewa (n = 45) 0.63 0.24
Tullo (n = 36) 0.76 0.46 A verage distance to farmland (km)
Fenchewa (n = 45) 0.57 0.48 Tullo (n = 36) 0.78 0.88
Land ownership Own farm (%) Inherited (%) Short term rent
(%) Long term rent
(%) Purchased
(%) Fenchewa (n = 45) 29 53 - - 18
Tullo (n = 36) 17 50 6 3 25
and use Annual crop (%) Perennial crop
(%) Fodder crop
(%) Others (%) LFenchewa (n = 45) 51 49 - -
Tullo (n = 36) 55 39 3 3
Type of crop grown Corn (%) Teff (%) Banana (%) Enset(%) Fenchewa (n = 45) 58 42
Tullo (n = 36) 69 3 6 22
Fertility status Low (%) Moderate (%) Very high (%) High (%) Fenchewa (n = 45) 33 13 13 41
Tullo (n = 36) 25 31 36 8
Slope Flat (%) Gentle (%) oderate (%) Steep (%) ery steep
(%) MV
Fenchewa (n = 45) 18 16 38 7 22 Tullo (n = 36) 31 14 31 8 16
Type of soil erosion No erosion (%) Sheet (%) Rill (%) Gully (%)
Fenchewa (n = 45) 9 31 18 42 Tullo (n = 36) - 36 19 45
Soil and water
on No practice
S Fanyconservati employed (%) Indigen s
(%) ou
oil bund (%) ajju (%) Fenchewa (n =45) 40 9 31 20
Tullo (n = 36) 33 6 44 17
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
30
3.4 Factors affecting the continued use of SWC practices
.4.1 Personal factor tion to us
ctors side ation to continued use of SWC are
household characteristics such as age, education, family siz nd gender. influence
mers’ age on the continued use of soil and water conservation is negative, but it is
lly signific note th
aged %) farmers are involved in the continued use, or in
aintaining and replicating the structures. None of the farmers above the age of 60 years
aintaining and replicating the structures. Similar studies made
reviously arrived at contradictory results. Chomba (2004) found out that younger
ge has a significant positive
hat young farmers did
not continue the use of SWC practices due to the opportunity costs linked with small
size. Another previous research conducted by Sidba (2005) arrived at an opposite
3 s in rela continued e of SWC
The personal fa that are con red in rel
e a The
of far
not statistica ant. It can be d from the 5 column of table 7 that both young
(53%) and middle (47
m
are involved in both m
p
farmers are less likely to continue using SWC practices (i.e. a
correlation with continued use). A possible explanation given is t
farm
conclusion: that the younger the HH head, the higher the probability of using new soil
and water conservation technology (negative significant correlation between age and
continued use). Although the correlation in this case is not significant, the negative sign
indicates that younger farmers are more likely to continue the use of SWC practices,
which is more in line with the conclusions of Sidba (2005).
There is no significant correlation between the education level and the continued use of
soil and water conservation (Table 7). Although the correlation shows that comparatively
better educated farmers are not more involved than illiterate farmers, the conclusion is
not statistically significant. Hence, the effect of insufficient education is not the main
hindrance to the involvement in the continued use of SWC. Furthermore, it can be seen
that education has a positive and significant correlation with the off-farm activities at 5%
significance level (See appendix 1 Table 17). This is because better educated farmers
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
31
ir sample farmers. Another
udy carried out by Krishna et al. (2008) found different results: education of the HH
ighlands of the country. They noted that in a family with a greater number of mouths to
involved in other kind of off-farm activities and those with a high level of education have
more access to other sources of income. The same study conducted by Gebremedehin
and Swinton (2003) did not found level of education as an important factor, possibly
because of the generally low level of education among the
st
head was found to have a positive and significant influence on the continued use of
improved soil and water conservation technology. This indicated that the higher educated
household head was increased their ability to find information. Besides, longer education
leads to a better understanding of the new technology by assessing the different extension
materials, which increased the continued use of soil and water conservation technology.
The family size of households plays an important role in the investment of soil and water
conservation practices. This can be seen in the positive and significant correlation (at 5%
level of significance) of the variable with the continued use of SWC structures. Among
the 15 households heads who implemented, maintained and replicated the structures, 10
household heads have a family size of more than 7 (Table 7). The households with a
large families are more involved in the continued use of SWC measures. This implies that
the presence of a sufficient work labour is an important requirement for the continued
application of SWC structures. Our results seem to contradict with the findings of
Amsalu (2006) who found out that, in the Beressa watershed in the highlands of Ethiopia,
farmers with a larger family size are less likely to continue using stone terraces. Another
study by Bekele and Drake (2003) also found different results from ours in the eastern
h
feed, competition arises for labour between food generating off-farm activities, like daily
labour, investment and in maintenance of SWC. The difference with our results is
possibly caused by some underlying differences between the localities in which the
research is conducted (such as availability of other off-farm sources of income).
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
32
Table 7: Relationship between “personal factors” and “continued use of SWC”:
cross tabulation and correlation
Continued work on SWC
Variables
No
maintenance
Maintenance
without
replication
Maintenance
with
replication
Correlation
with
continued use
Count (%) Count (%) Count (%) N =40
20-40 3 (50) 9 (48) 8 (53)
40-60 3 (50) 5 (26) 7 (47)
Age
Above 60 0 (0) 5 (26) 0 (0)
-.129
(.428)
Illiterate 2 (33) 11 (58) 6 (40)
Grade 1-5 2 (33) 4 (21) 4 (27)
Education .083
(.609) Above
grade 5
2 (33) 4 (21) 5 (33)
Less than 4 1 (16) 1 (6) 2 (11)
4 - 6 4 (68) 8 (42) 4 (27)
Family size
Above 6 1 (16) 10 (6
.388(*)
9 (47) 7)
(.013)
Female HH 2 (33) 3 (16) 0 ( 0 ) Gender
Male =1 Female = 0
Male HH 4 (67) 16 (84) 15 (100)
.340(*)
(.032)
* Correlation is significant at
the 0.05 leve
Another important factor investigated in the study area is gender. As it can e seen in
the table 7, gender(male) has a e a icant correlation with both
maintaining an ating SW sures. F e total o ntinued none of
the female headed households are involved in both maintaining and replicating the
Ta result e with a et al. (2008) that showed that male
headed households have a higher chances nvolved ontinued use of SWC.
This may be due to the fact th and w nservat ctures de and much
l (2-tailed).
b
positiv nd signif
d replic C mea rom th f 15 co users,
structures ( ble 7). The is in lin Krishn
to be i in c
at soil ater co ion stru m
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
33
and ca rried e . Furth , the f headed
s t of thei on dom spons includ ild care.
As a result, such households even rent out land due to low labour availability. This shows
at female-headed households have no motivation to invest in soil conservation due to
bour shortage.
ntinued use of SWC work (Table 7). This is similar to the findings of
Kessler (2006 ), who found that a greater income from the land encourages farmers to
ho get more off-farm earnings are less involved in the continued work. They may spend
used as a source of cash to invest in SWC.
labour nnot be ca out by wom n only ermore emale
households pend mos r time estic re ibilities, ing ch
th
la
3.4.2 Economic factors in relation to continued use of SWC
Economic factors can play important role in determining the continued use of SWC
practices. The main economic factors considered in this study are annual income from
agriculture, off farm income, expenditures on fertilizers, access to credit and farm size.
Annual income is significantly correlated to continued work on SWC as can be seen in
the last column of table 8. The significant and positive correlation with continued use of
SWC shows that rich farmers are more involved in the maintenance and replication of
SWC than farmers that have a low income. The study results clearly show that almost
100% of the farmers who obtain an annual income of more than 5,500 Birr are strongly
involved in the co
invest more in conservation measures.
Although the amount of income generated from off farm activities is not significantly
correlated with continued work of soil and water conservation, it appears that farmers
w
more time on cash generation and on satisfying immediate needs than on investing in soil
and water conservation activities. Similar results were found by Tenge et al. (2004): the
involvement in off-farm activities negatively influenced the continued use of soil and
water conservation measures. This is due to competition in labour between SWC and off-
farm activities. Pali et al. (2002) found different results in Uganda, where farmers with
off-farm activities were better “continued users,” implying that the off-farm income was
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
34
mic factors” and “continued use of SWC”: ross tabulation and correlation
Table 8: Relationship between “econoc
Continued work on SWC
No maintenance
Maintenance without
replication
Maintenance with
replication
Correlation
with continued
use
Variables Count (%) Count (%) Count (%) N = 40
<1500 1 (17) 2 (11) 2 (13)
1500-2500 2 (33) 3 (16) 3 (20)
2500-3500 2 (33) 6 (31) 1 (7)
3500-4500 0 (0) 5 (26) 1 (7)
4500-5500 1 (17) 3 (16) 2 (13)
.314(*) (.048)
Annual income >5500 0 (0) 0 (0) 6 (40)
0-2000 2 (33) 13 (68) 11 (73)
2000-4000 2 (33) 4 (21) 3 (20)
Off- farm income >4000 2 (33) 2 (11) 1 (7)
-.171 (.290)
No 4 (67) 11 (73) 17 (90)
Access to credit Yes 2 (33) 2 (10) 4 (27) .041
(.800)
<1 6 6 (100) 14 (74) (40 )
Farm size >1 0 ( 0 ) 5 (26) 9 ( 60 ) .419(**) (.007)
0 0 ( 0 ) 7 (37) 1 (7)
430 6 ( 100 ) 10 (53) 8 (53)
Fertilizer
xpenditure
.329(*)
E>860 0 ( 0 ) 2 (10) 6 (40)
(.038)
* Correlation is significan vel (2-ta
gnific 01 level (2-t
ccess to credit is ain factor ing the continued work as it has no significant
elationship with th d use of SWC (Table 8). Those farm ho have r
t at the 0.05 le iled). ** Correlation is si
ant at the 0. ailed).
A not a m affect
r e continue ers w b ttee
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
35
are cessarily nvolved tinued w he explanation
ere is that they the money obtained through credit for purposes other than
easures. However, another research from Krishna et al. (2008) found
ifferent results: fa eived loans from various instituti cultivation
ops and ivestock farm ere significantly more d in co d
use of soil and water conservation technology. This implies that the use of credit
ers to produce more cash crops and get m
tation of s nservation logy.
mong the other economic factors, farm size is the most important variable in relation
ervation. Its effect is found to be positive and
drought and excess rainfall. It is also
ften related to the wealth status of the farmers, which helps them to encourage the
access to credit not ne more i in con ork. T
h use
conservation m
d rmers who rec ons for the
of new cr for l ing, w involve ntinue
motivated farm ore income which lead to better
implemen
oil co techno
A
to the continued use of soil and water cons
significantly correlated at a 1% level of significance showing that farmers who hold a
large farm are more involved in both maintaining and replicating soil and water
conservation structures. From the total of 15 continued users, 60% have land size which
is more than one hectare (Table 8). Farm size is also related to other economic factors.
For instance, a farmer with a large farm gets a high annual income from agriculture. In
addition to this a farmer who has a large farm also uses more fertilizer on his farmland.
This is similar to the findings of Amsalu and Graaff (2007), who found out that farmers
who have a larger farm are more likely to invest in soil conservation measures. Farmers
with more land can take more risks, including a relatively high investment required in
order to protect crops against pests, hailstones,
o
farmers to maintain and replicate soil and water conservation structures in his fields as
they get large amounts of income from the field.
Another useful finding is the positive and significant relationship between the
expenditure on fertilizer and the continued work on SWC at 5% significance level
(Table 8). Farmers who are capable of investing more in fertilizers are more involved in
the continued use of SWC measures, which is possibly due to the income difference of
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
36
farmers who apply fertilizers and those who do not. The expenditure on fertilizers is often
correlated with annual income at 1% significance level (Table 9).
Table 9: Relationship between economic and personal variables: Correlation
Variables
Significance level
Fertilizer cost HH
Annual income from agriculture
.768(**) .000 40
Education of the HH activities 40
Annual earning from off-farm
.330(*) .038
Hence, those farmers who have a higher income and who use much fertilizer are likely to
maintain and replicate SWC structures. A plausible explanation for this is that, due to the
high investment stakes in terms of fertilizer application and other farm inputs, richer
farmers are forced to maintain and replicate SWC structures. A similar study by Shiferaw
and Holden (2000), indicates that an increase in fertilizer application is expected to have
se the
ent on fertilizers serves as a replacem C measures and hence
discourages farmer tinuously using so rvation structures.
nother stud by Ch mba (2004 ) stated hat, if fertilizer application would be
creased, the likelihoo of a farmer to follow conservation practices would also increase.
ecause, he argues, co vent fertilizers from ng washed away by
e are n ore.
a negative influence on farmers’ choice for conservation measures. This is becau
increm ent for SW
s from con il and water conse
A y o t
in d
B nservation practices pre
eeded m
bei
erosion and henc
3.4.3 Institutional factors in relation to the continued use
Most of the variables considered among the institutional factors did not show a
significant relationship with the continued use of soil and water conservation practices.
The level of satisfaction with technical support does not have a significant correlation
with the continued implementation of SWC’s (Table 9). This is possibly because the
extension support provided is not aimed at the promotion of conservation practices and is
more focused on crop production and other agricultural activities. Farmers who
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
37
gricultural support programs did not continue the
improved practices. This shows that it is not sufficient to have extension support but the
he continuation of
expressed satisfaction with the technical support are not more involved in the continued
work. This is in line with the study by Chomba (2004) that showed that a large proportion
of farmers who had contacts with a
aim or purpose of the extension service should also relate to t
conservation work.
Table 10: Relationship between “institutional factors” and “continued use of SWC”: cross tabulation and correlation
Continued work on SWC
No
maintenance
Maintenance without replication
Maintenance with
replication
Correlation with continued
use
Variables Count (%) Count (%) Count (%) N = 40
No 5 ( 83) 9 ( 47) 9 (60) Satisfaction with Technical support
Yes 1 (17) 10 ( 53) 6 ( 40 )
.062 (.703)
Once in a week 0 (0) 2 (10) 1 (7)
Once in15 days 2 (33)
7 (37) 3 (20)
Visits by extension worker Once in a
0 (0) 20)
44.0 (.786)
month 3 (16) 3 (
Do not feel ownership
1 (17)
10 (53)
9 (60)
Suspicious 5 (83) 7 (36) 5 (33)
Land
Feel ownership
-.206
ownership 0 (0) 1 (11) 1 (7)
(.201)
1-6 6 (100) 8 (42) 1 (7)
Market
istance d 7-13
.560(**)
0 (0)
11 (58)
14 (93)
(.000)
**
Correlation is s vel (2-tignificant at the 0.01 le ailed).
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
38
the ts by ex nsion worke does not have a significant impact
inu ion of SW h be attri the fact that the
visits is focused on other matters than co ion wo communication
etween farmers and extension agents in the study area was poor and not built up very
uch. For exa 47% of eyed f ere ne ted by e n
and on he farmer met th ion ag e a wee
ob tension system in the area relate to the involvement of
xtension agents in other duties such as collectio ans and Furthermore the
pervision o tension agents i or wh uld rec during
Similarly,
on the cont
frequency of visi te rs
ed applicat C practices. T is may but d toe
other nservat rk. The
b
m mple, about the surv armers w ver visi xtensio
agents
10). The pr
ly 7.5% of t s have e extens ents onc k ( able T
lems with the ex
e n o lof ta es.x
su n ex s very po ich I co ognize ldmy fie
work.
Table 11: Farmers being visited by local extension agents in the study area Farmers Response No(n=40) %
Once in a week 3 7.5
Every fifteen days 12 30
Once in a month 6 15
Never visited me 19 47.5
Land tenure is not a main factor in determining the continued use of soil and water
conservation. Other studies arrived at a different conclusions with respect to the role of
land security in the application of SWC. In his study of soil conservation in highlands of
luded that land tenure security is ‘not sufficient enough’
thiopian
armers lack concern for land conservation because of the insecure tenure. The
th other studies may be due d distribution refo in the northern
ntry where these studies were conducted. During discussions with farmers
ants, it appeared that there has been no land distribution before the study
why it is not a major factor w regard to the continued use of soil and
ater conservation measure and hence does not show any significant relationship with
the continued use of SWC.
Ethiopia, Sutcliffe (1995) conc
for farmers to invest in SWC works. Similarly, Yeraswork (2000) showed that E
f
disagreement wi to the lan rm
part of the cou
and key inform
period. That is ith
w
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
39
r group of characteristics that are likely to determine the
ontinued use of SWC are. The biophysical factors considered in this group are the level
Another interesting factor here is that the distance to markets from the villages is
positively and significantly correlated at 1% level of significance for both maintaining
and replicating structures (Table 9). Farmers who are living far away from the market
are more involved in the work of SWC. Proximity to markets creates disincentive for
participation in SWC schemes because farmers living close to the market have the option
of going to the towns instead of working on the farm. It can be easily observed that it is
very customary for farmers near the towns to leave for the market even when they do not
have anything to do there.
3.4.4 Biophysical factors in relation to the continued use
Biophysical factors anothe
c
of soil fertility, the slope and the type of erosion in the study area. These different
factors were interrelated to each other ( Fig 8).
0
20
Low Moderate High very high
Fertility status of plots
P
40
ecen
60
80
100
e of
plo
tsr
tag
FlatGentleModerateSteepVery steep
Figure 8: The relationship between fertility status of the investigated plots and slope of the plots
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
40
can be seen that the level of soil fertility is very high on flat land as compared to the
other slope degrees. It can also be observed that the steeper the slope the lower the
fertility of soil, indicating the presence of higher erosion on very steep slopes.
The soil fertility condition of cultivated plots is an important factor of farmers'
decisions on the continued use of soil and water conservation practices. The level of soil
fertility has a negative and significant correlation with the degree of involvement in
continued work at 1% level (Table 11). Farmers with poor soils or plot with low and
medium fertility (76%) are more involved in conservation work than those who have
fertile land. Due to the reason that farmers have an interest to improve the level of soil
fertility and the productivity of the land at the plot level. Whereas farmers which have
very fertile land, possibly do not see the negative effects of erosion on their plots in the
positive relationship was observed between the gradient of the slope and the continued
those who
wn flat or gently sloping farmland. On steep slopes farmers are constructing soil bunds
It
short term.
A
use of SWC technologies significant at 1 % level of significance (Table 11). Obviously,
the slope of the farmland is highly related to the degree of involvement in conservation
work. Farmers with steep slopes are more involved in the continued use than
o
and fanyajuu on their farmland to prevent soil erosion. Nearly on all of the plots with
steep and very steep slopes the soil and water conservation structures are both maintained
and replicated. A similar conclusion was also arrived at by Amsalu (2006): the effect of
steep slope on continued use of stone terraces is found to be significantly positive. The
farmers were encouraged to continue to use the stone terraces due to effectiveness of the
measure for erosion control on steep slopes. This implies that constructing the stone
terraces on steep plots might lead to continued use of the measures.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
41
Table 12: Relationship between “biophysical factors” and “continued use of SWC”: cross tabulation and correlation
Continued work on SWC
No
conservation
No
maintenance
Maintenance
without
replication
Maintenance
with
replication
Correlation with
continued use
Variables
Count (%) Count (%) Count (%) Count (%) No = 81
Flat 23 (77) 3 (50) 2 (8) 0 (0)
Gentle 2 (7) 1(18) 3 (13) 0 (0)
Moderate 3 (10) 2 (33) 11 (46) 0 (0)
Steep 1 (3) 0 (0) 7 (29) 11 (52)
Slope
Very steep 1 (3) 0 (0) 1 (4) 10 (48)
.800(**)
(.000)
Low 5 (17) 2 (33) 7 (29) 10 ( 48)
Medium 2 (7) 1 (17) 8 (33) 6 (29)
High 16 (53) 3 (50) 8 (33) 4 (18)
-.412(**)
Fertility
Very high 7 (23) 0 (0) 1 (4) 1 (5)
(.000)
No 2 (7) 1 (17) 1 (4) 0 (0)
Sheet 14 (47) 1 (17) 10 (42) 2 (10)
Rill 7 (23) 4 (19) 1 ( 17) 3 (13) Erosion
Gully
.375(**)
(.001)
7 (23) 3 (50) 10 (42) 15 (71)
* Correlation is significant at ai* Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level
The type of erosion in t ea ed rms . T
s ll ully eros the tim e transect walks with the farmers in the
study area, gully erosion was observed st of th plots. It has a positive and
significant n wit r conservation structures at
1% signifi level. Mor 93% o armers having awareness about the forms
the 0.05 level (2-t led). *
he study ar is categoriz by three fo of erosion hese are
heet, ri and g ion. By e of th
in mo e farm
correlatio h the continued use of soil and wate
cance e than f the f
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
42
of soil erosion in the study area(Appendix 1 table14). Farmers that suffer from severe
gully erosion are more inv n the co tion wo viously e the
t from erosion and to prevent the total loss of the his is
with the fi of Bekel rake (2 the ea ghland Gebremedhin
and Swinton (2003) in the northern highlands of Ethiopia. Both studies reported that
farmers are more likely to continue conservation measures on plots th e high
n isible. The result clea
plots with severe and visible erosion the farmers are forced to m l ate
olved i nserva rk. Ob , becaus y had to
conserve heir soil land. T in line
ndings e and D 003) in stern hi and of
at ar ly prone
to soil erosion and whe erosion features are v rly shows that on
aintain and rep ic
the structures on their farmland.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
43
. Conclusions and Recommendations
his thesis is aimed at identifying the current soil and water conservation practices in
ulla District, Ethiopia, and to assess the major constraints farmers are facing in
aintaining and replicating these practices. It is hoped that, by analyzing the most
portant factors that affect farmers’ decisions, useful insights for improving the
plementation of SWC measures in the area would be gained. In the study area, as is the
ase in much of rural Ethiopia, the people are poor. The average annual income is Birr
183 which is equivalent to145 Euro(Appendix1 table 15). The farming system is a
pical mixed crop-livestock system that is carried out on a subsistence level. The total
verage family size for the studied area was 6.4. Only 42% of the households were found
be engaged in off-farm activities as additional source of income, indicating the heavy
ependence on the land. On the other hand, land has become scarce and an average land
olding per household is 0.69 ha. The average farm size has been declining because of
e increasing population. Moreover, the productivity of cropland has declined over time
ue to “ageing of the land”, drought, soil erosion and inability to use chemical fertilizers
because of its high cost. The people in the study area face serious land degradation,
4
T
T
m
im
im
c
2
ty
a
to
d
h
th
d
which requires integrated conservation measures.
Before the introduced SWC measures by the Productive Safety Net Program and other
government-sponsored schemes, farmers were already using different types of indigenous
SWC measures. These include the application of manure, contour ploughing, plantation
of sisal and euphorbia, cut-of-drains, fallowing and leaving crop residues on the field.
Descriptive data analysis showed that most of the farmers in the area use a mixture of
contour ploughing, plantation of sisal and euphorbia and cut-of-drains. During transect
walks with farmers, it was observed that plantation of Sisal and Euphorbia along the
contour was the most often used indigenous method of SWC measures in the area.
Besides these measures, the newly introduced SWC measures are soil bunds and
fanyajuu. The descriptive results showed that 73% of the SWC measures in the cultivated
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
44
t influence the continued use (both
aintaining and replicating the structures in other plot) of SWC measures. Continued use
ial stakes
rovide rich farmers with incentives to mitigate the risk of low productivity caused by
fields are soil bunds. Although the measures need frequent maintenance and did not allow
oxen ploughing, the farmers preferred the structures since they do not occupy much
cultivable land and their capacity to conserve the soil and moisture is effective.
This study also identified the main factors tha
m
of SWC measures is positively and significantly influenced by family size and male
headed households (personal factors), annual income, fertilizer expenditure and farm size
(economic factors), market distance (institutional factors) and slope and type of erosion
(biophysical factors). The level of soil fertility affects the continued use of SWC
measures negatively and significantly. On the other hand, age, education (personal
factors), off-farm income and access to credit (economic factors), visits by extension
agent, technical support and land tenure (institutional factors) show no significant
influence on farmers’ decisions on both maintaining and replicating the structures.
The positive association of (male) gender and family size is the result of the fact that
most SWC structures demand a high labor availability. The economic variables of
income, farm size and fertilizer expenditure are positively associated with maintenance
and replication of SWC measures because richer farmers can employ the additional
labour required to implement the measures. In addition, their higher financ
p
erosion. Farmers living far from the market are more involved in the continued use of
SWC measures.
Biophysical and economic variables played more important roles in the continued use of
SWC measures than personal and institutional factors. Especially the institutional factors
(except market distance) do not show any significant relationship with the continued use
of SWC measures. One can conclude that the extension service and technical support
services provided by the Production Safety Net Program (through the district’s
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
45
show that agricultural extension services and technical support have
ttle impact on the farmers’ replication of SWC structures, implying that the services
sion services related to the SWC schemes
ey construct, they will be better informed and capable to maintain and replicate them
on
w fertility and steep sloping farmland. Also not only maintained the low fertility farms
Agricultural Office) do not give enough emphasis on the training and encouraging
farmers with SWC techniques and measures.
As discussed in the findings, sufficient labour is one of the major requirements for the
construction and maintenance of SWC structures. Hence female-headed and small-family
households are at disadvantage in employing SWC measures. To solve this problem, the
Agricultural Office of Tulla District could encourage farmer collaborations which enable
all farmers to get the labor required to maintain and replicate their SWC structures.
Farmer collaboration can serve as insurance for households without sufficient labor.
The results also
li
concentrate more on other topics such as crop and livestock production. As the main
government unit responsible for the task of facilitating the successful use of SWC
measures in the district, the Agricultural Office of Tulla District should make a targeted
effort to encourage farmers to maintain and replicate their SWC structures. To that end
the extension services and technical support provided for the farmers by the Agricultural
Office need to be integrated with the SWC activities conducted by the PSN Program. If
farmers are provided with training and exten
th
successfully.
As the results indicated, SWC structures are more likely to be implemented on low
fertility and steep sloping farmland. It is hence imperative that the agricultural office
keep up with proper targeting of farmland that require SWC measures. Because labour
and other resources are scarce, the SWC structures are more likely to be implemented
lo
besides that a farmland with high soil fertility also maintained and conserved.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
46
g an integrated and comprehensive approach that takes into account all
ctors (personal and social, economic, institutional and biophysical) in the preparation of
Furthermore, proper integration of physical (SWC) structures with biological structures
can be more productive in the area. The fact that some SWC structures consume a lot of
land which will be unproductive is one of the reasons farmers are discouraged from
applying SWC structures. If biological conservation measures are used to cultivate
animal feed and other useful plants on the SWC structures which take up much of the
scarce land (such as Fanyajuu and soil bunds), this problem could be partly solved.
Finally, Takin
fa
soil and water conservation plans and the implementation
.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
47
5. References
Admassie, Y. 1995. Twenty years to nowhere. Property rights, land management, and
conservation in Ethiopia, Ph.D. thesis, Uppsala University, Sweden.
Admassie, Y. 2000. Twenty years to nowhere: property right, and conservation in
Ethiopia, Red Sea Press, Lawrenceville, NJ.
Am lu, A., and De Graaff, J. 2004. Farmers views of soil and water erosion problems
and their conservation knowledge at Beressa watershed, central highlands of
Ethiopia. Agriculture and Human Values, 23:99-108.
msalu, A. 2006. Best practices in soil and water conservation in Beressa watershed,
highlands of Ethiopia. Ph.D.thesis, Wageningen University, Netherlands.
Amsalu, A., and De Graaff, J. 2006. Determinants of adoption and continued use of stone
for soil and water conservation in the Ethiopian highland watershed.
Ecological Economics. In press.
Ecological Economics. 61:294–302
Bekele-Tesemma, A. 1997. A pa
conservation in Ethiopia. Trop. Res. Mgmt Papers 17, 1-229.
egion. ISBN 92.
sa
A
terraces
Amsalu, A., and De Graaff, J. 2007. Determinants of adoption and continued use of stone
terraces for soil and water conservation in an Ethiopian highland watershed.
rticipatory agroforestry approach for soil and water
Bekele-Tesemma, A. 2007. Profitable agroforestry innovations for eastern Africa
experience from agro-climatic zones of Ethiopia, India, Kenya Tanzania and
Uganda. World Agroforestry Centre (ICRF), Eastern Africa R
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
48
ekele, W., and Drake, L. 2003. Soil and water conservation decision behavior of
eshah, T. 2003. Understanding Farmers: Explaining Soil and Water Conservation in
Bewket, W
of Ethiopia.
Bewket, W
nagement Papers, No.
44. Wageningen University, Wageningen Resource
Bewket, W
shed, Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. Land
Chomba, G. N. 2004. Factors affecting smallholder farmers adoption of soil and water
conservation practices in Zambia. MSc thesis, Department of agricultural
De Graaff, J., Hella, J.P., and Tenge, A.J. 2004. Social and economic factors for
adoption of soil and water conservation in West Usambra Highlands,
Tanzania. Land degradation and development 15:99-114.
B
subsistence farmers in the Eastern Highlands of Ethiopia: a case study of the
Hunde-Lafto area. Ecological Economics 46:437–451.
Belay, T. 1992. Farmers’ perceptions of erosion hazards and attitudes towards soil
conservation in Gunono, Wolayita, southern Ethiopia. Ethiopian Journal of
Development Research 14: 31–58.. B
Konso, Wolita and Wello, Ethiopia. PhD Thesis, Wageningen University and
Research Centre, Wageningen.
. 2003. Land Degradation and Farmers’ Acceptance and Adoption of
Conservation Technologies in the Digil Watershed, North western Highlands
. 2003. Towards Integrated watershed management in Highland Ethiopia: the
Chemoga watershed case study. Tropical Resource Ma
., and Sterk, G. 2002. Farmers’ participation in soil and water conservation
activities in the Chemoga water
Degradation and Development, 13:189-200.
Economics. Michigan State University.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
49
tries. Applied Geography
, in press.
FAO. 1986
ebremedhin, B., and Swinton, S.M. 2003. Investment in soil conservation in northern
reenland, D.J., Bowen, G., Eswaran, H., Rhoades, R., and Valentin, C. 1994. Soil,
Girma, T
uerin, T. 1999. An Australian perspective on the constraints to the transfer and adoption
Hurni, H. 1990. Degradation and conservation of the soil resources in the Ethiopian
highlands. In African Mountains and Highlands: Problems and Perspective
De Graaff, J., Amsalu, A., Bodnar, F., Kessler, A., Posthumus, H., and Tenge, A. J. M.
2008. Factors influencing adoption and continued use of long-term soil and
water conservation measures in five developing coun
. Ethiopian Highlands Reclamation Study, Ethiopia. Final report, FAO: Rome.
G
Ethiopia: the role of land tenure security and public programs. Agricultural
Economics, 29:69–84.
G
water, and nutrient management research - a new agenda. IBSRAM Position
Paper, International Board for Soil Research and Management (IBSRAM),
Bangkok, Thailand.
. 2001. Land Degradation: A challenge to Ethiopia; Environmental
Management: 27(6) 815-824.
G
of innovation in land management. Environmental Conservation 24:289-304.
Hudson, N. 1992. Land husbandry. B. T. Batsford Limited, London. 192 pp.
(Messerli, B. and Hurni, H. eds.). Marceline, Missouri (USA).
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
50
urni, H. 1993. Land degradation, famines and resource scenarios in Ethiopia. In:
p. 27–62.
,
Free University, Amsterdam.
eeley, J., and Scoones, I. 2000. Knowledge, power and politics: the environmental
essler, A. 2006. Moving people-towards collective action in soil and water
conservation’s Experiences from the Bolivian mountain valleys. PhD
Kessler, A g farm households soil and water
conservation investments. Applied Geography 26:40–60.
Krishana, R
onservation Technology in a Middle Mountain
watershed of Central Nepal. Environmental Management. Springer New
Kruger, H.
s SWC measures in Ethiopia In I. S. C.Reij, and C. Toulmin(ed.)
Sustaining the soil: Indigenous soil and water conservation in Africa., pp.170-
H
Pimentel, D. (Ed.), World Soil Erosion and Conservation. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, p
IFAD. 1992. Soil and water conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Towards sustainable
production by the rural poor. Centre for Development Cooperation Services
K
policy- making process in Ethiopian Journal of Modern African Studies
38:89-120.
K
Dissertation, Wageningen University.
. 2006. Decisive key factors influencin
., Bicol, K., Ingrid, l. P., and Giridhari, S. 2008. Determinants of Farmers
Adoption of improved Soil c
York.
, Berhanu, F., Gebermichael, Y., and Kegela, K. 1996.Creating an inventory
of indigenou
180.IIED, London.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
51
hance adoption and
adaptation. Land Degradation and development, 11:343-361.
Pali, P.N.,
Uganda. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Soil Science
ahlemedhin, S. 2000. Country Reports on Soil Degradation: Management and
hiferaw, B., and Holden, S.T. 1998. Resource degradation and adoption of land
Sidibe, A. hniques in
northern Burkina Faso. Agricultural Water Management 71:211–224.
utcliffe J. P. 1995. Soil conservation and land tenure in highland Ethiopia. Ethiopian
Tadesse, M., and Belay, K. 2004. Factors Influencing Adoption of Soil Conservation
Measures in Southern Ethiopia: The case of Gununno area. Agric. and Rural
Mc Donald, M., and Brown, K. 2000. Soil and water conservation projects and rural
livelihoods: options for the design and research to en
Miiro, R., Bashasha, B., Bulega, E., and Delev, R. 2002. Factors Affecting
the Adoption Potential of Selected Green Manure and Legume Species in
Eastern
Society of East Africa. Mbale, Uganda. (2nd–6th December 2002).
Rogers, E.M. 1995. The diffusion of innovations. The Free Press, New York. 4th edition.
S
Rehabilitation. Newsletter on Management of Degraded Soils in Southern and
East Africa. Vol. 1.
S
conservation technologies in the Ethiopian highlands: a case study in Andit
Tid, North Shewa. Aqric. Econ., 18: 233-247.
2005 Farm-level adoption of soil and water conservation tec
S
Journal of Development Research 17: 63–88.
Develop. 105: 49-62.
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
52
egne, B. 1992. Farmers’ perceptions of erosion hazards and attitudes towards soil
ia. Conference on International
agricultural Research and development. Göttingen, October 8-10, 2003.
Tenge, A.,
water conservation in West Usambara highlands,
Tanzania. Land Degradation and Development, 15:99–114.
Tilahun, A
African soil No. 23. Areka research
centre Printed by Russell Press.
Yeraswork Management and
Conservation in Ethiopia. Red Sea Press: Asmara.
T
conservation in Gunono, Wolayita, Southern Ethiopia. Ethiopian Journal of
Development Research 14 (2), 31–58.
Tekelu, E., and Gezeahegn, A. 2003 .Indegenious knowelage and practices for soil and
water management in East Woellga Ethiop
de Graaff, J., and Hella, J. P. 2004. Social and economic factors affecting the
adoption of soil and
., Takele, B., and Endrias, G. 2001 Reversing the degradation of arable land
in the Ethiopian highlands. Managing
Wegayehu, B. 2003. Economics of Soil and Water Conservation: Theory and Empirical
Application to Subsistence Farming in the Eastern Ethiopian Highlands.
Doctoral Thesis, Swedish University of Agricultural Science.
World Bank. 2003. World Development Report Oxford University Press, New York.
, A. 2000. Twenty Years to Nowhere: Property Rights, Land
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
53
Table 11. A olds each the two
6. Appendices
Appendix 1
ge distribution of all members of the 20 sampled househ in of
villages
Age category (years)
<10 15 - 60 >60
Villages
Number % Number % Number %
Total number investigated
Fenchawa 42 36.2 70 60.3 4 3.5 116
Tullo 51 37.5 80 58.8 5 3.7 136
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
54
Table 12. Educational background of t holds
Educational status
he studied house
Villages
Family
me
Total No.
investigated
Illiterate
(%)
Grades 1 - 5
(%)
Grades 6 – 7
(%)
Grades 8 to 11
(%) mber
Father 17 52.9 23.5 11.8 11.8
Mother 20 8 - - 5.0 15.0
Son*30 13.3 46.7 23.3 16.7
Fenchewa
Daughter*31 29.0 51.6 12.9 3.2
Father 19 36.8 26.3 15.8 21.1
Mother 20 65.0 30.0 5.0 -
Son 48 10.4 64.6 14.6 10.4 Tulu
Daughter 26 19.2 53.8 19.2 7.7
* Considers children that reached school age only
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
55
Table 13. Occurrences of the three ty l r u
the existence of erosion problems as view y farm the studi eas
villag
pes of soi erosion on fa mland and ca ses for
ed b ers in ed ar
es
Variable Fenchew Tullo
Overall totala
Erosion type No. % No. % No. %
Sheet 9 7 31 18 29 2 9
Rill 10 0 21 16 26 3 6
Gully 14 2 48 28 45 4 14
Causes of soil erosion
Very steep slopes 4 20 4 20 8 20
High and torrential rainfall 4 20 - - 4 10
Runoff from upstream areas 4 20 4 20 8 20
Uplands being too degraded 8 40 12 60 20 50
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
56
able 14. Farmers’ perception about existence of soil erosion problems on their rmland
Villages
Tfa
Variab Fe
le nchewa Tullo Overall Farmers recognition of erosio Number % N r ber % n problem umbe % Numyes 17 85 0 37 2.5 20 10 9No 3 15 3 5 - - 7.
Suggested indicators of erosio lem n prob Gully f ation 3 15 6 30 9 22.5 ormLoss of soil fertility 1 5 - - 1 2.5 Poor pl 2 10 5 25 7 17.5 ant growth Washinfertilizers 3 15 2 10 5 12.5
g away of seeds, plants and
Washing away of top soil 11 55 6 30 17 42.5 Sedime farm - - 1 5 ntation brought to the 1 5 2. Consprobl
equences of erosion em
Washingplants 7 35 5 14 35
away of fertilizers, seeds, and topsoil 7 3
Poor so and production 4 20 7 35 11 27.5 il fertility Decreased cultivable land area and loss of roduction 7 35 - - 7 17.5 pBurial seed - - 4 20 4 10 ofPoor p ductivity and poverty 1 5 2 10 3 7.5 roPoor pl nt growth 1 5 - - 1 2.5 a Degree of soil erosion Severe 10 50 8 40 18 45 Moder e 6 30 9 45 15 37.5 at
Minor 4 20 3 15 7 17.5
MSc thesis, Eleni Tesfaye Aberha August, 2008
Determinants for Continued Use of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Productive Safety Net Programmes in Tulla District, Ethiopia
57
able 15. Yield and income obtained, as well as cost of fertilizers incurred, during
the previous cropping season, shown by major crop types
T
Type of crop cultivated during the previous harvest
season
Variable Maize Enset Coffee Soya bean
Overall
total
No. of plots cultivated 47 30 2 1 80
Cultivated area of land (hectare )
Mean 0.37 0.32 0.25 0.25 0.34
S.D 0.23 0.11 0.19
Crop yield/ Plot (Quintal)
Mean 7 7 2 10 7
S.D 6 2 5
Average price/quintal 350 200 2500 600 351
Total Income/year
Mean 2487 1393 5000 6000 2184
S.D 2053 462 0 1792
Cost of fertilizer /cropping seas on
Mean 366 0 215 430 226
S.D 237 0 304 256