National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia (INAT), National Institute of Agronomic Research of Tunisia (INRAT) Laboratory of Rural Economy, Tunis, Tunisia. 1
Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank, Tanzania. 2
Landscape degradation by soil erosion has increased considerably in Ethiopian lands due to deforestation of natural mountain forests and the cultivation of large areas resulting in a serious environmental problem threatening the sustainability of agriculture and population food security. In Boset Wareda (in Ethiopia), farmers are producing for subsistence and exerting an increasing erosion of the land. Nevertheless, soil and water resources degradation addicted by natural and anthropologic activities are usually controlled by soil conservation techniques and water harvesting constructions. This study has contributed knowledge on social, economic and technical factors affecting adoption of CTs among household farmers in Ethiopia. CT development in the rural sector is not possible without addressing the current challenges identified in this study such as household heads farming experience, household size, and access to extension services, high costs of adoption, labour costs, and size of land owned by a household head. To reach this goal, econometrics analysis was derived from cross-sectional data for a single time period of production. Probit and Tobit models were econometrically estimated to evaluate rate of adoption (i.e., participation in conservation techniques) and intensity of adoption (i.e., allocation of land for conservation techniques) by the interviewee farmers.
Contribution/ Originality
This study contributes to the existing literature about the willingness of farmers to adopt soil and water conservation techniques. This study uses estimation methodology using econometric models: Tobit and Probit. The paper's primary contribution is finding that some farmers are not aware about erosion and land degradation problems. While other farmers are aware but financial and material constraints discourage them to install these conservations facilities.
This study received no specific financial support.
Competing Interests:
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Acknowledgement:
Authors thank very much Mr. Solomon Abdeta, an agro-engineer and economist from Adama, for his valuable assistance and economic advices. Without him, this work could not be achieved. Also, Authors thank Mr. Jibicho Geleto, an engineer from Adama agricultural office for his precious help all the time of our visit in Adama (Boset) at the inquiry process to collect the required data.
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