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IJESD 2021 Vol.12(12): 363-371 ISSN: 2010-0264
doi: 10.18178/ijesd.2021.12.12.1362
doi: 10.18178/ijesd.2021.12.12.1362
The Effect of Soil and Water Conservation Structures on the Soil Physical and Chemical Properties in the Gidabo River Sub-basin, Ethiopian Rift Valley
Getahun Hassen, Amare Bantider, Abiyot Legesse, and Malesu Maimbo
Abstract—Soil erosion is one of the global challenges noticed as a cause for unsustainable socio-economic and environmental conditions. Over the last half-century, various soil and water conservation (SWC) practices were introduced in Ethiopia, but the conservation work could not be fully achieved in many areas. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effect and constraints of physical SWC on selected soil physical and chemical properties of the Ethiopian rift valley. The primary and secondary data sources were used to answer the intended objectives. The statistical analysis of variance showed that the soil texture of the study area was affected by the type of conservation practices than agroecology. However, soil bulk density was not significantly affected at all. The study also showed that the soil's physical and chemical properties were significantly affected by the variation of agroecology and soil management practices. The overall result of the study depicted that nearly half of the conservation work failed to maintain soil fertility because the farmers have constraints to adopt and adapt the SWC work. The constraints include small land size, dependency on food aid, less productivity of the soil, youth migration, shortage of fuel wood, (high energy demand) and long lasted effect of conservation works. These constraints were seen as causes for inferior agricultural products, food insecurity, famine, migration, and frequent drought in the area. The study concluded that the SWC work of the area should focus on variation of agroecology, SWC technologies, and local constraints. Also, the policy of natural resource conservation should consider local constraints to implement the national SWC guideline.
Index Terms—Community, food security, soil nutrients, soil and water conservation.
Index Terms—Community, food security, soil nutrients, soil and water conservation.
Getahun Hassen is with the Department of Natural Resources Management, Dilla University, Ethiopia (e-mail:getahunhassen5@gmail.com).
Amare Bantider is with the Water and Land Resource Centre of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. He is also with the Center for Food Security Studies, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia (e-mail: amare.bantider@gmail.com).
Abiyot Legesse is with the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Dilla University, Ethiopia (e-mail: abiyottura@gmail.com).
Malesu Maimbo is with the Water Management Unit at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) based in Nairobi, Kenya (e-mail: M.MALESU@cgiar.org).
Cite: Getahun Hassen, Amare Bantider, Abiyot Legesse, and Malesu Maimbo, "The Effect of Soil and Water Conservation Structures on the Soil Physical and Chemical Properties in the Gidabo River Sub-basin, Ethiopian Rift Valley," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 12, no. 12, pp. 363-371, 2021.
Copyright © 2021 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).