Tesfaye Beshah

Understanding Farmers: Explaining Soil and Water Conservation in Konso, Wolaita and Wello, Ethiopia Tesfaye Beshah

Understanding Farmers: Despite massive efforts to promote soil and water conservation (SWC) measures in developing countries, their acceptance so far has been very poor. A number of studies were carried out world-wide to understand the reasons for the failures. Unfortunately, their contributions in shaping soil and water conservation initiatives fall-short of the expectations. Despite widely observed problems of soil erosion in Ethiopia, the performance of many soil conservation projects with support from international donors, largely failed to respond to the country?s conservation needs. This book uses various perspectives to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the problem in different agro-ecological systems in the country. The book vividly demonstrates that farmers' behaviour on SWC is a result of the interplay among social, economic, institutional and technical factors that in turn requires an integrated approach. The book is written with a rich text that balances qualitative and quantitative analysis on the subject. Hence, it is relevant for conservation practitioners, researchers, extensionists, policy-makers, project managers and teachers in higher education.