Abstract:
The main objective of this research was to investigate factors influencing the sustainability of management practices (soil and water), to identify the role of land size in sustainable utilization of the management practices and as well as the role contribution of recognizing the indigenous knowledge of the community during management practices. To obtain the necessary data for the study, a Household survey questionnaire and Focus Group Discussion was used to answer objectives of the research. The questionnaire developed by the researcher was based on available literature related to nature of the problem under investigated. The data source for this study was both primary and secondary data. Both quantitative and qualitative raw data gathered from the respondents (calculated sample size 232) was analyzed by using logistic regression model and STATA software and descriptive statistics such as frequency, Percentage, Mean and Standard Deviation applied and the change in probability of dependent variable as independent variable changes was presented in table format.
The major findings from the study was that factors influencing sustainability (positively and negatively) of management practices are Age, sex, family size, distance of farm land from homestead, membership in community based organization (idir), engagement in off-farm activities, slope, extension contact/training, ownership right, education level, supporting with biological measures or not, Fertility, livestock size, perception, heterogeneous indigenous knowledge and land size. The size of land was found positively associated with sustainable use of conservation structures and statistically insignificant.
Recognizing heterogeneous indigenous knowledge of farmers during management practices was positively associated with sustainable utilization of management measures and statistically insignificant. The development bodies and concerned organizations should consider the driving factors that influence sustainability of management practices before implementation.
Recognizing the heterogeneous indigenous knowledge of farmers during conservation measures and planning, and land size were positively correlated with sustainability of management structures and determinant factors of sustainability
