Gully rehabilitation in southern Ethiopia – value and impacts for farmers

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cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Water Management Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Aberdeenen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationSouthern Agricultural Research Institute, Ethiopiaen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationHawassa University, Ethiopiaen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationStellenbosch Universityen_US
cg.contributor.donorEconomic and Social Research Councilen_US
cg.coverage.countryEthiopiaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2ETen_US
cg.coverage.subregionAba-Bora Watersheden_US
cg.coverage.subregionHalabaen_US
cg.creator.identifierWolde Mekuria: 0000-0001-5252-4795en_US
cg.creator.identifierDagmawi Melaku Abegaz: 0000-0003-0000-3220en_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-637-2024en_US
cg.identifier.iwmilibraryH053130en_US
cg.identifier.projectIWMI - D-0286en_US
cg.isijournalISI Journalen_US
cg.issn2199-398Xen_US
cg.issue2en_US
cg.journalSOILen_US
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen_US
cg.volume10en_US
dc.contributor.authorMekuria, Woldeen_US
dc.contributor.authorPhimister, E.en_US
dc.contributor.authorYakob, G.en_US
dc.contributor.authorTegegne, Desalegnen_US
dc.contributor.authorMoges, A.en_US
dc.contributor.authorTesfaye, Y.en_US
dc.contributor.authorMelaku, Dagmawien_US
dc.contributor.authorGerber, C.en_US
dc.contributor.authorHallett, P. D.en_US
dc.contributor.authorSmith, J. U.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-09-30T20:05:52Zen_US
dc.date.available2024-09-30T20:05:52Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/152511en_US
dc.titleGully rehabilitation in southern Ethiopia – value and impacts for farmersen_US
dcterms.abstractGully erosion can be combatted in severely affected regions like sub-Saharan Africa using various low-cost interventions that are accessible to affected farmers. For successful implementation, however, biophysical evidence of intervention effectiveness needs to be validated against the interests and priorities of local communities. Working with farmers in a watershed in southern Ethiopia, we investigated (a) the effectiveness of low-cost gully rehabilitation measures to reduce soil loss and upward expansion of gully heads; (b) how farmers and communities view gully interventions; and (c) whether involving farmers in on-farm field trials to demonstrate gully interventions improves uptake, knowledge, and perceptions of their capacity to act. On-farm field experiments, key-informant interviews, focus group discussions, and household surveys were used to collect and analyse data. Three gully treatments were explored, all with riprap, one with grass planting, and one with grass planting and check-dam integration. Over a period of 26 months, these low-cost practices ceased measurable gully head expansion, whereas untreated gullies had a mean upward expansion of 671 cm, resulting in a calculated soil loss of 11.0 t. Farmers had a positive view of all gully rehabilitation measures explored. Ongoing rehabilitation activities and on-farm trials influenced the knowledge and understanding of similar gully treatments among survey respondents. On-farm experiments and field day demonstrations empowered farmers to act, addressing pessimism from some respondents about their capacity to do so.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationMekuria, Wolde; Phimister, E.; Yakob, G.; Tegegne, Desalegn; Moges, A.; Tesfaye, Y.; Melaku, Dagmawi; Gerber, C.; Hallett, P. D.; Smith, J. U. 2024. Gully rehabilitation in southern Ethiopia – value and impacts for farmers. SOIL, 10(2):637-654. [doi: https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-637-2024]en_US
dcterms.extent637-654en_US
dcterms.issued2024-09-10en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.publisherCopernicus GmbHen_US
dcterms.subjectgully erosionen_US
dcterms.subjectwatershedsen_US
dcterms.subjectsoil lossen_US
dcterms.subjectfarmersen_US
dcterms.subjecton-farm researchen_US
dcterms.subjectcheck damsen_US
dcterms.subjectstakeholder engagementen_US
dcterms.subjectcost benefit analysisen_US
dcterms.subjectlocal communitiesen_US
dcterms.subjectinterventionen_US
dcterms.subjecthousehold surveysen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

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