Smallholder farmers’ decisions to the combined use of soil conservation practices in Tiwa watershed, Northwest highlands of Ethiopia

Ermias Debie

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e05958

Abstract

Soil erosion by water is a critical problem in the northwest highland of Ethiopia. The limited decision of farmers to the combined use of soil conservation practices is one of the main accelerating factors to soil erosion by water. The study aimed to identify determinants influence farmers' decision to the combined use of vegetation stabilized terracing and composting under legume-cereal crop rotation on particular croplands in Tiwa watershed, northwest highlands of Ethiopia. The survey was conducted among randomly selected 155 household heads. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression models were used to identify the determinants. Farmland ownership status, plot distance from home, soil fertility status, and technical fitness of terraces were major influential factors for farmers’ decision to the combined use of vegetation stabilized terracing, compost, and legume-cereal crop rotation on a specific field. Therefore, to promote the combined use of soil conservation practices in the broad context, the policy should be recognized these institutional, technical, and plot-level factors influence farmers' decision to adopt over time.

Highlights

Soil erosion by water is a severe problem in the highlands of Ethiopia, where the subsistence farming system is the livelihood activity for the majority of smallholder farmers
The estimated annual soil loss due to erosion by water in Ethiopia is 1.5 billion tons, of which 50% occurs in croplands (Assefa and Bork, 2015)
The watershed in general falls within three agro-climatic zones that are equivalent to the Ethiopian traditional agro-ecological zones of Dega, Woina-Dega, and Kola, respectively with the elevation ranges from 1,948 to 3, 439 m.a.s.l (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Soil erosion by water is a severe problem in the highlands of Ethiopia, where the subsistence farming system is the livelihood activity for the majority of smallholder farmers. The estimated annual soil loss due to erosion by water in Ethiopia is 1.5 billion tons, of which 50% occurs in croplands (Assefa and Bork, 2015). The upper blue Nile basin is estimated to generate an average soil loss rate of 27.5t haÀ1yrÀ1, of which at least 10 % comes from gully erosion, and 26.7 % leaves Ethiopia (Haregeweyn et al, 2017). Alemu and Melesse (2020) reported that 37 t haÀ1yrÀ1 and 45 t haÀ1 yrÀ1 soils were lost in conserved and adjacent non-conserved fields, respectively. Concentrated run-off entering from the uphill direction, terraces and drainage ditches damage, and improper practice of conservation practices were found to the major accelerating factors to soil erosion by the rill in the cultivated field (Debie et al, 2019)

Methods

Results

Conclusion