Abstract
Declining soil fertility is one of the major causes of food insecurity and high levels of poverty, both of which tend to hamper economic development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). To improve soil fertility, the implementation of soil organic carbon (SOC) enhancement technologies has become crucial to slowing land degradation, through increasing SOC, which is the basis of soil fertility. Using data from 381 households from Azuga-Suba and Yesir watersheds in Ethiopia, this study explores the extent of the adoption of technologies that enhance SOC. Soil organic carbon enhancing technologies include the use of manure, fertilizer, and crop residue management. The Probit model was used to assess what constrains the adoption of these technologies. The results indicate that fertilizer is the most adopted technology having over 90% adoption in both watersheds. Manure at 28% and 56% adoption while crop residue management at 37% and 26% adoption in Azuga-Suba and Yesir respectively. Technology adoption is highly constrained by lack of education, access to extension services, and access to credit services. Institutions and local farmer groups influence these constraints through training, provision of information, offering incentives, and credit services. Large plots hinder the use of manure and fertilizer due to the bulky nature of manure and the high costs of fertilizers. Insecurity in land tenure limits the adoption of manure and residue management. Perception of soil erosion and soil fertility tends to constrain the adoption of SOC technologies, as farmers are afraid that all improvements through soil amendment will be diminished through soil erosion. At the same time, farmers do not perceive the importance of SOC enhancing technologies in plots that were fertile. These results imply that strengthening institutions that enhance farmers’ knowledge and provide credit as well as strengthening social protection schemes and farmer groups is crucial in promoting the adoption of these technologies.
Highlights
In Ethiopia, agriculture accounts for 46% of the GDP, with exports amounting to 84%, and employs more than 80% of the population (Belay, 2020; Werku, 2014)
The results demonstrate that the extent of adoption of soil organic carbon-enhancing technologies (SOCETs) is influenced by several variables such as group membership to local institutions, credit constraints, head access to basic education, distance to markets, rainfall, plot slope farming experience, soil erosion, soil fertility, plot sizes, household size, tenure security, extension and distance to plot
The significant importance of constraints relating to social capital on the adoption of SOCETs suggests that there is a need for establishing and strengthening local institutions and service providers to accelerate and sustain SOCETs adoption
Summary
In Ethiopia, agriculture accounts for 46% of the GDP, with exports amounting to 84%, and employs more than 80% of the population (Belay, 2020; Werku, 2014). Soil degradation is the main cause of decreased agricultural production and results from anthropogenic factors (Gomiero, 2016). It leads to poverty, hunger, malnutrition, and even death. Ethiopia has an annual growth rate of approximately 2.6% in Ethiopia and the food production is not enough to feed this increasing population This translates to farmers practicing continuous cropping on their farmlands and the expansion of the agricultural lands into marginal lands (FAO, 2013). This leads to an increase in pressure on farmlands that results in the depletion of soil nutrients, thereby rendering the soil unproductive
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