Determinants of Soil and Water Conservation Adoption and its Impact on Livelihood, in Wogdie District, South Wollo, Amhara Regional State Ethiopia

Abstract

One of the most concerning environmental issues is soil deterioration, which jeopardises the extremely limited natural resources that are necessary for crop production. In Wogdie district of South Wollo, Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia, this study sought to determine the factors that influence the adoption of soil and water conservation and its effects on livelihood. The survey design utilised in the study was cross-sectional that data was- collected through Key informant interviews, focus groups, and structured interviews with 339 sample respondents were conducted. The adoption of soil and water conservation and its influence on livelihood practises in the research area were determined using descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression model. That the findings demonstrated 78.8% of the heads of households had implemented water and soil conservation measures. The distribution that results indicates, among respondents in the study area, stone faced soil bunds were adopted by 28% and soil bund types by 22.1%) of respondents, respectively, as soil and water conservation practises. These were followed by stone bunds, check dams, hillside terraces and cut-off drain conservation practises, which accounted for 18.3%, 15.3%, 12.4% and (4.1%) of respondents, respectively. Additionally, the conventional methods of conserving water and soil of the respondents in the research area, 41.3% and 32.2% were adopted. The remaining 26.3% of respondents used contour ploughing, Weber and Debe kinds of soil and water conservation techniques, respectively. The implementation of soil and water conservation practises is significantly and favourably impacted by variables such a land holding certificate, an adequate labour force, technical training ,slope of farmland, soil and water conservation practice difficult in labour, access of credit service and revenue from non-farm activities . When these independent variables rise, farmer households are less likely to adopt soil and water conservation practises, according to odds ratio data.