Cause of Land Degradation and Rehabilitation Practices in Case of Amba Sidist Western Ethiopia

Abstract

In Ethiopia, land degradation has become a serious problem affecting all spheres of social, economic and political life of the population. It is one of the major challenges to agricultural development and food security of the country. In order to solve the problem of land degradation, a lot of efforts have been made since 1970s. However, at the end the intervention couldn’t be sustainable and able to bring the intended impact. Thus, identification of challenges in relation to land rehabilitation practices is of paramount importance. The study was undertaken in Amba 6 kebele. In order to achieve the objective of the study, both primary and secondary data were generated by employing qualitative and quantitative data. Stratified sampling technique was used to select 76 household heads were selected from on Amba 6 by using stratified random sampling as it is believed that the households are similar with respect to the characteristics that influence the research output. The process of analysis of the study was carried out using qualitative description and quantitative analysis. The quantitative data was analyzed using frequency, percentage and mean when appropriate. The qualitative data was discussed to substantiate the study. The findings of the study indicated that decrease in productivity of farm land, involvement in off-farm activities, increase in size of human population, lack of full cooperation of family members to involve in land rehabilitation practices, low assistance gained from neighbor-hoods, less access to extension service and inadequate attention from woreda Agriculture and Rural Development office are the major challenges encountering the implementation of land rehabilitation practices in effective way.