The effects of soil bunds on runoff, losses of soil and nutrients, and crop yield are rarely docu... more The effects of soil bunds on runoff, losses of soil and nutrients, and crop yield are rarely documented in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia. A field experiment was set up consisting of three treatments: (i) barley-cultivated land protected with graded soil bunds (Sb); (ii) fallow land (F); and (iii) barley-cultivated land without soil bund (Bc). For 3 years (2007–2009), the effect of soil bunds on runoff, losses of soil and nutrients, and crop productivity was studied. Daily runoff and soil and nutrient losses were measured for each treatment using standard procedures while barley yield was recorded from the cultivated plots. The results showed that Sb brought about significant reduction in runoff and soil losses. Plots with Sb reduced the average annual runoff by 28 per cent and the average annual soil loss by 47 per cent. Consequently, Sb reduced losses of soil nutrients and organic carbon. However, the absolute losses were still high. This implies the need for supplementing Sb with biological and agronomic land management measures to further control soil erosion. Despite these positive impacts on soil quality, Sb do not increase crop yield. Calculated on a per-hectare basis, Sb even reduce crop yield by about 7 per cent as compared with control plots, which is entirely explained by the reduction of the cultivable area by 8Á6 per cent due to the soil bunds. Suitable measures are needed to compensate the yield losses caused by the construction of soil bunds, which would convince farmers to construct these land management measures that have long-term beneficial effects on erosion control.
Although there has been a considerable effort to reduce soil erosion and improve land productivit... more Although there has been a considerable effort to reduce soil erosion and improve land productivity in Ethiopia, farmers’ investments in SWC remain limited. There is a long and rich tradition of empirical research that seeks to identify the determinants that affect farmers’ investments in SWC practices. Nevertheless, the results regarding these determinants have been inconsistent and scattered. Moreover, the impacts of different SWC practices have not been reviewed and synthesized. Thus, this paper reviews and synthesizes past research in order to identify determinants that affect farmers’ investments in SWC practices, and to also assess the impact of SWC practices within the framework of ecosystem services, particularly in relation to provisioning and regulating ecosystem services. The review identified several determinants that affect farmers’ investments in SWC practices, which are categorized into two groups: (i) factors that are related to farmers’ capacity to invest in SWC prac...
ABSTRACT Although there has been several efforts made to reduce land degradation and improve land... more ABSTRACT Although there has been several efforts made to reduce land degradation and improve land productivity in Ethiopia, farmers’ investments in sustainable land management (SLM) remain limited. Nevertheless, the results regarding determinants of farmers’ investments in SLM have been inconsistent and scattered. Moreover, these factors have not been reviewed and synthesized. Hence this paper reviews and synthesizes past research in order to identify determinants that affect farmers’ investments in SLM practices and thereby facilitate policy prescriptions to enhance adoption in Ethiopia, East Africa and potentially wider afield. The review identifies several determinants that affect farmers’ investments in SLM practices. These determinants are generally categorized into three groups. The first group is those factors that are related to farmers’ capacity to invest in SLM practices. The results show that farmers’ investments in SLM practices are limited by their limited capacity to invest in SLM. The second groups of factors are related to farmers’ incentives for investments in SLM practices. Farmers’ investments in SLM are limited due to restricted incentives from their investments related to land improvement. The third groups of factors are external factors beyond the control of farmers. The review also shows that farmers’ capacities to invest in SLM and their incentives from investments have been influenced by external factors such as institutional support and policies. This suggests that creating enabling conditions for enhancing farmers’ investment capacities in SLM and increasing the range of incentives from their investment is crucial to encourage wide-scale adoption of SLM practices.
Several natural resources management (NRM) efforts have been undertaken with the support of inter... more Several natural resources management (NRM) efforts have been undertaken with the support of international donors since 1980s. However, only a few of these efforts have been successful. The lack of integration from different disciplines, sectors and limitedparticipation of stakeholders are among the constraining factors contributed to low level of success. Farmers’ involvement in problem identification, priority setting, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of the programs has been minimal. The conventional fragmented and linear research approach has also been weak to address the overall viability of the agricultural system due to the complexity of the NRM problems and the need for collective action in addition to individual solutions. This calls for a concerted effort of farmers, researchers, governmental and non-governmental institutions and a need for the interaction among biophysical, social, technological, economic and policy dimensions on NRM. Therefore, an in...
Ext ensive outfield areas in highland Ethiopia are underutilized and highly degraded. While house... more Ext ensive outfield areas in highland Ethiopia are underutilized and highly degraded. While household landholdings are some of the highest in eastern Africa, yield and soil fertility levels are extremely low. Causes include the effect of re-peated land reforms and public land tenure on perceived tenure security (and willingness to invest); a free grazing system that threatens perennial vegeta-tion and conservation structures; and increased use of dung for fuel, diverting valuable nutrient resources from agricultural fields. Adoption of soil and water conservation measures is negligible due to farmers' unwillingness to invest in activities with medium-and long-term benefits and the perception that outfield investments are made impossible by the free grazing system. Small landholdings and land fragmentation create addi-tional challenges in con-structing waterways to drain excess water from the landscape, because these basis, or on a collective basis through imposition by the gover...
The effects of soil bunds on runoff, losses of soil and nutrients, and crop yield are rarely docu... more The effects of soil bunds on runoff, losses of soil and nutrients, and crop yield are rarely documented in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia. A field experiment was set up consisting of three treatments: (i) barley-cultivated land protected with graded soil bunds (Sb); (ii) fallow land (F); and (iii) barley-cultivated land without soil bund (Bc). For 3 years (2007–2009), the effect of soil bunds on runoff, losses of soil and nutrients, and crop productivity was studied. Daily runoff and soil and nutrient losses were measured for each treatment using standard procedures while barley yield was recorded from the cultivated plots. The results showed that Sb brought about significant reduction in runoff and soil losses. Plots with Sb reduced the average annual runoff by 28 per cent and the average annual soil loss by 47 per cent. Consequently, Sb reduced losses of soil nutrients and organic carbon. However, the absolute losses were still high. This implies the need for supplementing Sb with biological and agronomic land management measures to further control soil erosion. Despite these positive impacts on soil quality, Sb do not increase crop yield. Calculated on a per-hectare basis, Sb even reduce crop yield by about 7 per cent as compared with control plots, which is entirely explained by the reduction of the cultivable area by 8Á6 per cent due to the soil bunds. Suitable measures are needed to compensate the yield losses caused by the construction of soil bunds, which would convince farmers to construct these land management measures that have long-term beneficial effects on erosion control.
Although there has been a considerable effort to reduce soil erosion and improve land productivit... more Although there has been a considerable effort to reduce soil erosion and improve land productivity in Ethiopia, farmers’ investments in SWC remain limited. There is a long and rich tradition of empirical research that seeks to identify the determinants that affect farmers’ investments in SWC practices. Nevertheless, the results regarding these determinants have been inconsistent and scattered. Moreover, the impacts of different SWC practices have not been reviewed and synthesized. Thus, this paper reviews and synthesizes past research in order to identify determinants that affect farmers’ investments in SWC practices, and to also assess the impact of SWC practices within the framework of ecosystem services, particularly in relation to provisioning and regulating ecosystem services. The review identified several determinants that affect farmers’ investments in SWC practices, which are categorized into two groups: (i) factors that are related to farmers’ capacity to invest in SWC prac...
ABSTRACT Although there has been several efforts made to reduce land degradation and improve land... more ABSTRACT Although there has been several efforts made to reduce land degradation and improve land productivity in Ethiopia, farmers’ investments in sustainable land management (SLM) remain limited. Nevertheless, the results regarding determinants of farmers’ investments in SLM have been inconsistent and scattered. Moreover, these factors have not been reviewed and synthesized. Hence this paper reviews and synthesizes past research in order to identify determinants that affect farmers’ investments in SLM practices and thereby facilitate policy prescriptions to enhance adoption in Ethiopia, East Africa and potentially wider afield. The review identifies several determinants that affect farmers’ investments in SLM practices. These determinants are generally categorized into three groups. The first group is those factors that are related to farmers’ capacity to invest in SLM practices. The results show that farmers’ investments in SLM practices are limited by their limited capacity to invest in SLM. The second groups of factors are related to farmers’ incentives for investments in SLM practices. Farmers’ investments in SLM are limited due to restricted incentives from their investments related to land improvement. The third groups of factors are external factors beyond the control of farmers. The review also shows that farmers’ capacities to invest in SLM and their incentives from investments have been influenced by external factors such as institutional support and policies. This suggests that creating enabling conditions for enhancing farmers’ investment capacities in SLM and increasing the range of incentives from their investment is crucial to encourage wide-scale adoption of SLM practices.
Several natural resources management (NRM) efforts have been undertaken with the support of inter... more Several natural resources management (NRM) efforts have been undertaken with the support of international donors since 1980s. However, only a few of these efforts have been successful. The lack of integration from different disciplines, sectors and limitedparticipation of stakeholders are among the constraining factors contributed to low level of success. Farmers’ involvement in problem identification, priority setting, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of the programs has been minimal. The conventional fragmented and linear research approach has also been weak to address the overall viability of the agricultural system due to the complexity of the NRM problems and the need for collective action in addition to individual solutions. This calls for a concerted effort of farmers, researchers, governmental and non-governmental institutions and a need for the interaction among biophysical, social, technological, economic and policy dimensions on NRM. Therefore, an in...
Ext ensive outfield areas in highland Ethiopia are underutilized and highly degraded. While house... more Ext ensive outfield areas in highland Ethiopia are underutilized and highly degraded. While household landholdings are some of the highest in eastern Africa, yield and soil fertility levels are extremely low. Causes include the effect of re-peated land reforms and public land tenure on perceived tenure security (and willingness to invest); a free grazing system that threatens perennial vegeta-tion and conservation structures; and increased use of dung for fuel, diverting valuable nutrient resources from agricultural fields. Adoption of soil and water conservation measures is negligible due to farmers' unwillingness to invest in activities with medium-and long-term benefits and the perception that outfield investments are made impossible by the free grazing system. Small landholdings and land fragmentation create addi-tional challenges in con-structing waterways to drain excess water from the landscape, because these basis, or on a collective basis through imposition by the gover...
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