Exploring the scaling-up of sustainable land management in the Central highlands of Ethiopia

Participatory agent-based modelling for sustainable watershed management in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

“…This confirms the widely held views that watershed management initiatives should not only focus on conservation of natural resources, but also on building the capacity of local institutions and livelihood of the people concerned (Kerr, 2002;Shiferaw et al, 2009;Leta et al, 2018). However, integrating multiple interventions would require huge resources and collaboration among various actors, which is lacking in the current CBWM program in the country (Abi, 2019). A more efficient strategy is to focus only on enhancing the commitment of local government actors through capacity building, since this scenario produces reasonable outcomes and yet requires lower investment.…”

“…The participation of farmers was highest at the implementation stage, in which all adult farmers are required to participate in campaign works. Similar to conclusions by Abi (2019), the main shortcomings of the campaign works have been a shortage of labor and working tools, a lack of follow-up or technical support by higher government authorities, low knowledge and commitment of local government actors, and use of coercive measures to mobilize farmers. Compared to other stages, the participation of farmers at the post-implementation stage was moderate.…”

“…However, according to Kebele administrators, three strategies have been effectively employed to enhance participation in campaign works: labeling farmers who fail to participate; reprimanding or scolding farmers; and excluding non-participating farmers from different services such as food aid, improved seeds, fertilizers, and other aids sponsored by Non-Governmental Organizations. As shown by Abi (2019), these strategies are essentially coercive and less likely to ensure intrinsic motivation and genuine participation in the program. However, both key informants and farmers (from individual case studies) stated that the timing of the campaign work is generally convenient as the activities are carried out either after harvesting (constructing SWC structures) or cultivation (planting tree seedlings) periods.…”

“…Such interventions are more likely to ensure collective action for watershed management, spreading of the SWC structures to other localities and sense of ownership of the structures among local actors (Desta et al, 2005), and even spillover effects to other similar sectors (Abi et al, 2019). The main challenge, however, is that implementing these strategies requires considerable resources and collaboration among various actors (higher government authorities, sectoral offices), which is lacking in the current CBWM program in the country (Abi, 2019).…”