Farmers’ perception on land degradation in northern Ethiopia: Implication for developing sustainable land management

This study showed that there was significant variability in the socioeconomic, farm, biophysical and institutional factors among farmers’ that led to have different views on land degradation. The farmers’ participated during the walks identified low, medium and high degradation classes. Significantly higher proportions of respondents perceived that deforestation (100%), followed by overgrazing (98%) and improper soil management (97%) are the main direct causes of degradation; whereas poverty (100%) followed by population pressure (98%) are the most commonly identified indirect causes of land degradation. The most frequently used indicators of degradation by farmers are soil depth (100%), soil erosion (95%) and soil fertility (95%). The respondents’ perception on land degradation trend varied significantly by slope steepness. The logistic regression model result indicated that farm and biophysical explanatory variables showed the highest likelihood for farmers’ to perceive land degradation. Attention should be given to such factors while formulation promising landscape management strategy that considers suitability and adaptability to local conditions.
Source: The Social Science Journal - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research