Determinants of Farmers Willingness to Participate in Soil Conservation Practice (In Case of Dale Wabera Woreda)

The objective of this study was identifying the determinants of farmers willingness to participate in soil conservation practice. This research was conducted by using simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through structured interview from a total of 98 farmers. Descriptive statistics were used to describe sample respondents in terms of some desirable variables. Econometrically a binary logit model was employed to analyze determinants of farmers willingness to participate in soil conservation practices. A total of nine explanatory variables were included in the model of which five were significant at less than 10 % probability levels. The significant variables were age, sex, education level, soil fertility forgone and attitude. And all the significant variables were positively related with the dependent variable while the rest four variables (family size, dependency ratio, assistance and technological awareness) were insignificant. Policy makers and government better to encourage and provide technical advice to farmers who are practicing soil conservation at their own initiative and using their indigenous knowledge. More specifically, as farmers are well adapted to the local ecology and the farming systems, incorporating their indigenous practices would increase acceptability and sustainability of soil conservation.