Журнал географии и стихийных бедствий
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Assessment of Farmers’ Perception towards Soil and Water Conservation Measures at Bako Tibe District, Western Ethiopia

Getu Emiru Gonde1*, Getahun Kitila2

In Ethiopia, Soil erosion is one of the very chronic environmental problems. It needs attention to take conservation measures to tackle the problem and the conservation of the environmental resource is one of the most crucial activities. However, the study on the farmer’s perception towards soil and water conservation measures has not been investigated in the Bako Tibe district, Western Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was undertaken to assess farmer’s perception towards soil and water conservation measures in the study area. The major source of data was a formal household survey. The data was collected by field observation, administer questionnaire, semi structured interview and focus group discussions. The household survey data have been collected and analyzed by utilizing the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.0 Software. The study revealed that farmers of the study area perceived soil erosion as a problem constraining crop production and have knowledge of soil and water conservation measures. The majority of farmers in the study area have the willingness in adoption and conservation of the soil and water. This shows the sustainability of the soil and water conservation in the study area. And also, the farmers stated that they benefited in reducing soil erosion, increased soil fertility, crop production and also forage for livestock. Most of farmers of the study area were interested in adoption and conservation of the soil and water conservation structures and majority of them understood the benefits of the conservation in soil erosion control and improving the soil fertility.