Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of the Local Community on Watershed Management at Kindo Koysha Woreda of Wolayta Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

The aim of this study is assessment of farmers’ participation in watershed development in case of Kindo Koyisha Woreda since there was no thorough study conducted so far on farmers’ knowledge, Attitude and practice of the watershed management. The study also deals with, identifying factors influencing watershed development in the study area. A purposive sampling procedure was applied to select two kebeles and 120 sample respondents. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The methods of data collection employed include sample survey by administering an interview schedule and focus group discussions.  Participation index, descriptive statistics and ordered logit model were used to analyses the collected data. The result descriptive statistics also showed that 27, 52 and 41 respondents were with low, medium and high levels of participation. The estimation of the ordered logit model revealed that out of 17 variables included in the model, 9 variables were found significant at different probability levels. Age, education level of respondents, sex, family size, farm size, extension service and training were positively and significant related to farmers’ knowledge, Attitude and practice of the local community on watershed development. Results of this research and other observations revealed that watershed development activities could only be successful with active participation of the community. For this, raising the awareness and enabling of the community at large and specifically farmers’ at woreda level providing short and long term training and education are required until they reach sustainability and to develop sense of ownership in the development practices. Thus, comprehending the driving factors of  farmers’   knowledge, Attitude and practice on watershed development is crucial to improve the response mechanisms related to sustainable management of natural resource in the study area.