Analysis Gender Role and Factors Affecting Soil and Water Conservation Adoption in Kersa Districts of Eastern Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia: The Case of Fanya Juu, Soil and Stone Bund Measure

Soil conservation is the only known way to protect the productive land. In countries like Ethiopia, where droughts and floods cause food scarcity problem, soil and water conservation not only increases crop yield, but also prevents further deterioration of land. Soil and water conservation preserve soil moisture and drain water sustainably to avoid soil erosion and depletion of soil nutrients. As such, the main objectives of this study are to analysis factors affecting soil and water conservation adoption and to identify gender role in soil and water conservation practice in the study area. Both primary and secondary data were collected for the study. The data were collected by means of a semi-structured questionnaire during the period of January 20-February 20, 2017.The study implemented binary logit regression model to identify factor affecting adoption of soil and water conservation practice. Binary logit regression estimation also revealed that soil and water conservation practice is significantly influenced by five explanatory variables. Level of formal education, market distance, labor force, slope of the farm land and size of livestock in tropical livestock unit were significant variables which are found to affect the soil and water conservation practice of household in study area. The t-test shows that there is significant difference in formal year of schooling between soil conservation adopter and non-adopter households. Level of education was related with adoption of conservation structures, because literate farmers are in a better position to get information and use it in such a way that it contribute to their best farming practices as well as more concerned about soil and water conservation than illiterate ones. Therefore, designating and implementing adult education should be encouraged by the government. In addition, soil bunds, Fanya juu and stone bunds are the major soil and water conservation measures that are widely implemented by farmers in the area.