Determinants of Farmer's Willingness to Participate in Soil Conservation Practices the Case of Sabata Hawas Woreda, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

Soil erosion is one of the most serious environmental problems in the highlands of Ethiopia. The prevalence of traditional agricultural land use and the absence of appropriate natural resource management often result in the degradation of land in Sabata Hawas Woreda. Hence, this study assessed farm households WTP for soil conservation practices through a Contingent Valuation Method study. Based on data collected from 129 respondents, descriptive statistics indicated that 90% of the respondents have perceived the problem of soil erosion and are willing to pay for conservation practices. The econometric bivariate probit model was run to estimate both mean WTP and to identify the determinant factors for farmers` WTP for soil conservation. The mean WTP for the double bounded bivariate probit estimate with covariates ranged from 3.3 days/week to 1.95days/week for the initial bid and for the follow up bid amount respectively. A total of fifteen explanatory variables were included in the model of which nine were significant at less than 5% probability levels. Sex of households, Marital status, Social position of the household head, family size, perception of the soil erosion hazard, Labour shortage, Total income, Access to credit service and household owner of Tropical livestock unit were highly important in influencing WTP in soil conservation practices. Therefore, taking these factors into account in planning soil conservation measures may help policy makers to come up with projects that can win acceptance by land users. This study also attempted to assess farmers’ willingness to pay money and spend time on soil conservation practices by applying the Contingent Valuation Method. The result showed farmers’ willingness to pay money for soil conservation practices was very low as compared to their willingness to spend time due to the face shortage of cash. Hence, if soil conservation projects are to make farmers participate, they should target labor contribution than financial contribution.