| Abstract: | The paper is aimed at determining the factors that influence farmers’
decision to use two categories of sustainable land management (SLM)
practices as climate change adaptation strategy in the Dabus sub-basin. It is
based on analysis of data collected from farm household heads and
employed probit regression model to analyze the determinants of adaptation
to climate change through SLM measures. Based on the model result,
factors like perception of climate change, exposure to adaptation
techniques, education, perception of land degradation, slope, land prone to
degradation; number of parcels, crop enterprise income, land size, farm
distance, economically active family size, and agro-ecology are found to be
important in determining farmers’ decision to use structural land
management practices. Likewise, perception of climate change, exposure to
adaptation, farming experience, slope, crop enterprise income, land prone
to degradation and agro-ecology are found important in affecting farmers’
decision to use non-structural land management practices as adaptation
measure. Therefore, in line with the findings of the analysis, any
intervention that promotes use of SLM practices as adaptation strategy
should take in to account agro-ecology specific factors that are relevant to
the nature of the land management practices. Moreover, since scaling up of
SLM practices is resource intensive, it requires both public and non-public
investment for providing technological support and raising awareness.
Failure to do so would adversely affect crop productivity and exacerbate
food insecurity problems at farm household level. |
