Farmers' Perceptions of Erosion Hazards and Atiitudes Towards Soil Conservation in Gununo, Wolaita, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

The newly introduced stmctural conservation measures, i.e. the fanya juu and the nonnal bUilds, did not manage to command widespread acceptance and adoption by GWIUIIO fan1lers, despite the fact that the region experiences one of the very severe cropland erosion  The fanners were of the opinion that the conservation stmctures have very serious constraints and limitations. They reported that the conservation stmctllres Pllt large areas of land out of production, make oxen ploughing very difficult, harbor rodents that attack crops, and encourage mnnillg grass to grow and spread ill to the famis. A combination of these constraints, which severely affect crop production, have led to development of negative
attitudes towards the soil conservation stmctures. The paper concludes that it is these negative attitudes, rather than improper perception of the erosion hazard and wrong conceptualization of the latter's threat to soil productivity, that have led to poor adoption of the conservation measuresill the study area