Lack of Communication
Access to information and contact with DA has a role in the practice of
SWC measures. Communication between farmers and extension agents in the
study area was poor and not built up very much. The study revealed that
about 37.5% of the farmers had contact with development agents. Of
these farmers, 25% have good contact and practiced SWC measures on
their land. About 11.8% of the farmers practiced SWC measures on their
fields with the assistance of DA (Table 6). However, 62.5% of
respondents had poor or no contact with development agents and had poor
supervision and support from extension agents. Extension services are
important to enhance farmers’ confidence in SWC activities and to
encourage them take possible risks associated with the initiatives
(Biratu and Asmamaw, 2016).
Having good relations with DA helps farmers in reducing hazards
associated with soil erosion and conservation by providing information.
This shows that it is not sufficient to have extension support but the
aim or purpose of the extension service should also relate to the
continuation of expressed satisfaction with the technical support are
not more involved in the continued work. This is in line with the study
by Chomba (2004) who got a large proportion of farmers who had limited
contact with conservation workers.
Farmers’ perception on the causes of land degradation
The farmers’ perceived that their land is being degraded. About 60%
responded that decreased crop productivity was the consequence of land
degradation, and about 85% of the respondents agreed the degradation
was more severe in the last five years (Table 7). The result indicated
that the main causes of land degradation was population growth responded
by 77.78% of the population, over-cultivation (76.07%), overgrazing
(73.50%), poor farming practices (54.70%), and poverty responded by
51.28% of the sample households. This showed that relatively the
majority of the farmers were aware of the causes of land degradation. It
is worth that population growth may not be the cause of land degradation
but rather the land use activities or practices adopted by that
population. It was reported that a high population can be an incentive
for SWC practice (Tiffen et al. 1994).