Determinants Of Agroforestry Practices By Smallholder Farming Households In Ambo District, West Shoa Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

The role of forests and forest products to household food security and to the national economy is indispensable. Agroforestry system based integrated development is a strategy that seeks to reconcile the goals of natural resource conservation and improved livelihoods for the local communities. However, the types of agroforestry practices applied, the tree species planted and the determinants of this action have not been studied and documented at the study area. Hence, this study focuses on analyzing the determinants of agroforestry practice adoption among farming households of Ambo district. Total samples of 184 farming households were selected from both agroforestry practice adopters and non-adopters. Sample kebeles and households were selected through purposive and stratified multi-stage sampling method respectively. Sources of data were both the primary and secondary sources. The primary data were collected through Interview schedule, FGD and KIIs methods. Quantitative data were analyzed by descriptive and binary logistic model. The result of the descriptive statistic reveals that the Home garden, Woodlot, Live fencing, Windbreak and Boundary are the mostly practiced agroforestry at the study area which account for 38.04%, 27.17%, 18.48%, 8.70% and 7.16% respectively. The result from the binary regression revealed that the age of household head, the number of labor force, the market price of tree product, farm land water logging and perception of deforestation were statistically significant and positively influence the household agroforestry practice adoption. Finally the researcher recommended that the Government organization and others development practitioners should educate the series multi-faceted problems of deforestation for farm households as this help to initiate the adoption of agroforestry practice among farming households