The role of participatory watershed management practices for sustainable rural livelihood improvement in Handosha Watershed, Gibe district, Southern Ethiopia
Paper Details
The role of participatory watershed management practices for sustainable rural livelihood improvement in Handosha Watershed, Gibe district, Southern Ethiopia
Abstract
The sustainability of environmental management practices such as watershed management intervention strategies relies on the understanding of the connection of the rural community’s participation, and livelihoods. However, there have not been many efforts effort to document the relationship between watershed management and sustainable livelihoods. In line with this, the research has assessed the role of participatory watershed management practices for sustainable rural livelihood improvement in Handosha Watershed, Gibe district, Southern Ethiopia. To address the above objective, household survey, focus group discussion and key informant interview were employed to collect and analyze the data from 122 randomly selected households in four sub-watersheds. Descriptive analysis, independent t-test and chi-square test were applied to analyze the data. The result of the study indicated that the collective value of overall livelihood assets and the specific major components that encompass crop diversification, food availability, land productivity, and physical assets were better after watershed intervention than before watershed intervention. The key finding of the research presents that due to different interventions the livelihood of the community was diversified and enhanced especially; profits, soil fertility, crop productivity, forest, water and food availability become enhanced. Findings of the study suggested that further emphasis is needed to enhance the households’ livelihood assets for sustainability of livelihoods. Local administrators and development agents need to recognize socio economic and topographic specific features as well as the constraints to involve society fully in various activities of participatory watershed management activities.
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Melese Gogo Massamo, Mulugeta Abebe Mamo (2022), The role of participatory watershed management practices for sustainable rural livelihood improvement in Handosha Watershed, Gibe district, Southern Ethiopia; JBES, V21, N5, November, P198-216
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