Farmers' investments in land management practices in the CRV of Ethiopia

ABSTRACT In order to combat land degradation in the form of water erosion and fertility depletion in the Central Rift Valley (CRV) of Ethiopia farmers are of crucial importance. If they perceive land degradation as a problem they will be more willing to invest in land management measures. This study presents farmers’ perceptions of land degradation, respective investments, and factors influencing their investments in land. In this study, water erosion and fertility depletion are taken as main indicators of land degradation. Results show that farmers perceive water erosion and soil fertility depletion as problems that have intensified over the last decade. However, despite awareness of these problems, farmers’ investments to control soil erosion and soil fertility depletion are very limited. This study shows that the major factors that positively influence farmers’ investments in land management practices are households’ resource endowments, access to information, social capital and availability of family labor. For sustainable land management strategies this implies that these should (i) be integrated within a comprehensive rural development strategy that generates improvements of farmers’ livelihoods and their financial capacity, (ii) trigger social capital and create enabling conditions for farmers to participate in different groups, cross site visits and farmer-to-farmer experience sharing, and (iii) stimulate collective action within the villages in order to enhance access to labor which is crucial for carrying out land management practices. Key words: Land degradation, farmers’ investments, sustainable land management, socioeconomic factors, factor analysis