Determinants for adoption of physical soil and water conservation measures by smallholder farmers in Ethiopia

Adoption rates of soil and water conservation measures remain below the expected levels in Ethiopia despite the considerable investments in reducing land degradation and improving soil fertility. This constitutes one of the key research agendas in the country. This paper underscores the need for investigating the factors hindering or facilitating the adoption of soil and water conservation measures. The study results presented in this paper are based on cross-section data collected from 408 households in eastern Ethiopia, including field observations of 790 plots selected using a multi-stage sampling procedure. A multivariate probit model was employed to analyse the determinants of adoption of three soil and water conservation measures (stone bund, soil bund, and bench terracing) at the plot level. The study findings reveal that household, socioeconomic, and institution characteristics were the key factors that influenced the adoption of soil bund, stone bund, and bench terracing conservation measures. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation among the three soil and water conservation measures, indicating that the adoption of these measures is interrelated. In particular, the results show that there was a positive correlation between stone bunds and soil bunds. However, the correlations between bench terracing and stone bunds as well as bench terracing and soil bunds were negative (implying substitutability). These results imply that the Government and other relevant organizations that are responsible for reducing land degradation in order to increase agricultural production should support the establishment and strengthening of local institutions to facilitate the adoption of soil and water conservation measures.