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Farmers' participation in soil and water conservation activities in the Chemoga Watershed, Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia

Soil erosion by water constitutes a threat to the maintenance of the subsistence living of the Ethiopian rural population. Past efforts at Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) did not bring about significant results, mainly because of the top‐down approach pursued. Uprooting this past oversight and instating a participatory approach has since then been strongly recommended as the correct strategy. This paper analyses the extent of farmers' participation in current SWC activities in the Chemoga watershed, East Gojjam Zone, Amhara Regional State. Formal household survey, informal and focus group discussions and field observation were used to generate the data. The results indicate that the majority of the farmers participated in the SWC against their will. The most important factor discouraging them from participating freely was the perceived ineffectiveness of the structures under construction. Awareness about soil erosion as a problem, labour shortage and land tenure insecurity were found to be less important in providing an explanation for the disinterest shown by most of the farmers towards the SWC activities. Therefore, the important factors that need immediate consideration for SWC efforts in the study area or the region at large are: (1) SWC structures have to be carefully designed and constructed taking into account ground realities, and (2) participation of the farmers has to be through their own conviction regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of the technologies. Alternative SWC technologies will have to be considered in this regard. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.