Socio-Economic Impacts, and Factors Affecting Adoption of Watershed Management Practices Between the Treated andUntreated Micro-Watersheds in the Chirachasub-Watershed of Ethiopia

Abstract

Present study concerned with the impact of watershed management practices on the peoples’ life and environs, and to know the factors responsible for positive and negative impacts. The study was conducted in the Chiracha sub watershed of Kuyu district of North Shoa Zone of the Oromia regional State of Ethiopia. Out of 11 micro watersheds of Chiracha, two similar micro watersheds (one treated - Dima Bite, and one untreated-Finchawa) were purposively selected, and change was studied through the comparison between the two.Watershed management practice was taken as the basic operational unit to rehabilitate the degraded land and improve agricultural productivity of land in Ethiopia. This study was designed to assessfarmers’ perception on impact of watershed management practices and identify the factors that affect the adoption of soil and water conservation practices based on comparative analysis between Dima Bite (treated) and Finchawa (untreated) micro-watersheds. Data were collected from (n=123) sample respondents using probability proportional to sample size method. Descriptive and inferential statistics and binary logistic regression model were used to analyze the dataWatershed management practices have bio-physical, socio-economical and environmental impacts. The results indicated that due to watershed management practices the availability of water, income per household from crop production by 26%, livestock productivity, employment opportunities, environmental quality were increased. It also reduced runoff, soil loss, and land degradations. The logistic regression model predicted four factors influencing the adoption of soil and water conservation including farm size, farming experience, the distance from home to farm plot and slope of land in the two micro-watersheds.Therefore, intervention of watershed management practices, and awareness of local community need to be encouraged to ensure sustainable watershed development.