Abstract

Land degradation is one of the major challenges in agricultural production in many parts of the world, especially in developing nations, including Ethiopia. A number of soil and water conservation methods were introduced to combat land degradation but adoption of these practices remains below expectations. The main objective of the study is to assess determinants of soil and water conservation techniques in Western Ethiopia. For this purpose, household questionnaire, key informant interview and observation were used to generate both qualitative and quantitative data. Field survey was conducted to collect the necessary data from sample households, which were selected via simple random sampling. The quantitative data have been tabulated and summarized by utilizing the statistical package for social science (SPSS 17). The study revealed that factors such as slope of the area, contact with extension workers, tenure status, age, size of house hold and training influenced farmers to adopt soil and water conservation methods.

Key words: Adoption, soil and water conservation techniques, Goromti Watershed.