Makoto Nohmi

TL;DR: In this paper, a detailed survey of 300 households and 1010 farm plots was conducted to analyze the underlying factors that affect the adoption of sustainable land management (SLM) technologies.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluated the effect of agricultural extension program participation on farm productivity taking three case study kebeles (peasant associations) in Ethiopia and found that extension participation increases farm productivity by about 6%.

Abstract: Soil erosion is a significant problem in the Ethiopian highlands. The objective of this study was to investigate how farmers perceive the severity of soil erosion in the Upper Blue Nile Basin. The study is based on a detailed survey of 300 households and 1,010 plots owned by these households in three watersheds. Descriptive statistics and a partial proportional odds model were applied to analyze factors that affected farmers' perceived soil erosion severity at the plot-level. Results showed that variables such as plot distance from the residence, plot shape and position on hill slopes affected farmers' perceptions of soil erosion severity, as well as the amount of rainfall during the growing season. Farmer interaction with extension service agents also affected farmers' perception of soil erosion severity. Despite their expected importance, education and number of livestock owned had no effect on the farmers' perception of soil erosion. The results indicate that farmers' perceptions generally match empirical and theoretical findings on soil erosion determinants; thus, farmers should be considered as important partners not only to counter soil erosion, but also to obtain local expertise on soil erosion severity and restoration of degraded land. © 2016 The Authors. Land Degradation and Development published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined farmers' overall satisfaction with agricultural extension services and its determinants using data collected from 150 beneficiary farmers in North West Ethiopia, and found that about 55 percentage of the interviewees were satisfied whereas 45 percentage of them were dissatisfied with the extension services, implying that the program still has a lot of room for improvement.

TL;DR: In this article, a Tobit regression model was used to determine predictor variables for farmers' decisions to allocate land to planting Acacia decurrens (J.C. Wendl.) and at what density trees are planted on the respective plots.