Abstract:
Watersheds are tremendously degraded worldwide, largely in developing countries especially in
the Blue Nile Basin in Ethiopia. The degradation is due to several factors including pressure
from land use and economic development. The degradation might be characterized by poor water
quality, irregularity in water quantity, heavy floods that destroy life and property, sediment
deposition in streams and irrigation canals; and sediment deposition on dams etc. Studies have
suggested different watershed management interventions to end these problems, especially in
developing countries. They include reforestation; construction of stone terrace; soil bunds; water
harvesting technologies; and crop residue management. However, most landholders are not
adopting these recommended technologies mainly due to socio-economic, institutional and
policy-related issues. This paper empirically examines existing factors that are perceived to
affect landholder's decisions for adopting improved watershed management intervention
technologies in the Blue Nile Basin in Ethiopia. A multi-stage probability sampling techniques
were used to sample 300 respondents and a binary Logit model was applied to the data. Results
indicate that education, age, farm size, farmer's day/field visit, distance to nearest market,
tropical livestock unit, farmer's preference/attitude towards watershed management and fertilizer
application are found to be significant factors that influence downstream landholder's decision to
adopt improved watershed management technologies. |
