Effectiveness of Community-Based Soil and Water Conservation in Improving Soil Property in Damota Area, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Soil and water conservation (SWC) is being advocated as an integral part of agricultural land management as it not only controls/minimizes soil erosion but also restores/rehabilitates the degraded lands. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of soil and water conservation practices in improving soil fertility in the agricultural landscapes of the Damota area, southern Ethiopia. Forty-eight soil samples (both disturbed and core samples) were collected from the conserved and adjacent nonconserved plots. The significance analysis test was performed using analysis of variance. The result of the study showed that higher mean values of soil physicochemical properties were observed in the conserved plot than its nonconserved counterpart. The mean differences of organic carbon, total nitrogen, cation exchange capacity, and exchangeable K+ and Ca2+ between conserved and nonconserved plots were statistically significant at the P < 0.01 level. Besides, available phosphorous and bulk density were significant at P < 0.05 , but the effect of SWC practices was not found significant on soil texture, soil pH, and exchangeable Na+ and Mg2+ content of the soil in the Damota area. Community-based soil and water conservation practices have improved the soil fertility in agricultural landscapes, although significant results have been observed in some fertility indicators. Therefore, strengthening the implementation of conservation measures by participating in all stakeholders is recommended. Supporting physical structures by agronomic and vegetative measures and continued maintenance can bring better results.

Household determinants of continued adoption of sustainable land management measures in central Ethiopia

“…Despite its substantial contribution to livelihoods, the sector faces a persistent challenge due to land resource degradation [ 1 ]. Among many forms of land degradation, soil erosion by water is the most severe factor threatening the production potential of farmers operating at a subsistence level [ 4 , 7 ]. Estimates show that 27 million hectares (50%) of the highland area have faced considerable erosion; 14 million was highly eroded, and over 2 million hectares of farmland was significantly eroded beyond recovery [ 8 ].…”

“…Recognizing land degradation as a primary environmental and socioeconomic challenge, the Ethiopian government has implemented numerous sustainable land management (SLM) measures since the 1970s [ 7 , 12 ]. The purpose was to improve land productivity, food insecurity, and rural livelihood by reducing the incidence of land degradation [ 12 , 14 ].…”

“…Other studies in this regard found high adoption performances in the low-potential regions of the country [ 17 ]. Thus, the statements mentioned above indicate that the effectiveness of conservation technology acceptance and achievements varies across agro-ecosystems [ 5 , 7 , 21 ]. There are also variations in the relative importance of factors determining the continued adoption of measures across agro-ecological and socio-economic systems [ 6 , 13 , 17 , 18 ].…”

Effect of Agricultural Land Management Practices on the Selected Soil Quality Indictors: Empirical Evidence from the South Ethiopian Highlands

“…In addition, implementations of ALM strategies vary by agro-ecological conditions and type of practices (Haregeweyn et al 2015 andMamush et al 2021). Thus, the site-speci c effects of ALM practices are essential to evaluate the performance of land rehabilitation measures (Land et al, 2017 andTanto et al, 2019).…”

Corrigendum to “Effectiveness of Community-Based Soil and Water Conservation in Improving Soil Property in Damota Area, Southern Ethiopia”

“…In the article titled "Efectiveness of Community-Based Soil and Water Conservation in Improving Soil Property in Damota Area, Southern Ethiopia" [1], Dr. Mengie Belayneh is to be removed from the author list. All authors have agreed with the updated author list, which is shown in the author list given above.…”