TITLE:
Participatory Land Rehabilitation Strategies in Angacha District, Kembata Zone, Central Ethiopia Region
AUTHORS:
Endale Weldeamanuel, Shuiping Cheng
KEYWORDS:
Community Participation, Rehabilitation and Degradation
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.12 No.2,
February
22,
2024
ABSTRACT: Community
participation has become widely incorporated into policies of many soil and
water conservation organizations. The purpose of this study was to assess the
community participation in the rehabilitation of degraded land. In order to
achieve the objective of the study, both primary and secondary data were
generated by employing qualitative and quantitative data. Purposive sampling
was employed to select three study kebeles (the smallest administrative structure of the country) from 16 rural kebeles in Angecha District. Simple
random sampling technique was used to select 183 household heads from the lists
of farmers in the selected kebeles for
detailed household survey. In addition to household survey, field observation
and key informant interview were also conducted to collect the necessary data.
The data were presented using descriptive statistic such as percentage,
frequency, tables and figure. The data collected through the use of household
survey questionnaires were analyzed using logit regression while data collected
through field observation and key informant interview were analyzed and
interpreted using qualitative description. The findings of the present study
revealed that population pressure, soil erosion, deforestation, overgrazing,
and over cultivation were the major causes for land degradation. Moreover, the
results of this study indicated that the main causes of the low productivity of
farmland were farmers’
involvement in off-farm activities, increase in size of human population, lack
of full cooperation of family members to involve in land rehabilitation
practices. Households participated in rehabilitation practices at different
levels, with 43.7% respondents showing intermediate participation. However,
22.4% of the farm households clarified that there is low experience sharing and
motivation to participate in the process of
implementation of rehabilitation programs. It is recommended
that, continuous training and experience sharing program,
immediate action to increase the number of literate persons, to practicing
compatible practices for the agro climatic zone such as soil bund, Fanyaaju, stone bunds, and tree
planting, extending effective practices, create opportunities for alternative
means of livelihood and promoting NGOs effort to involve in land rehabilitation
practices in the highly degraded area.