Watershed management extension and advisory services in Adama District, East Shoa Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY OF SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE. MOROGORO, TANZANIA.

The agricultural extension and advisory system in Ethiopia is at a crossroads towards pluralistic agricultural extension and advisory services. The natural resource management is the top agenda in the agricultural extension and advisory services of the country. Although various watershed management activities have been implanting in order to overcome the impact of floods, all efforts did not bring the desired results in terms of reducing floods. One possible reason could be the activities being done by respective organizations might be without much coordination. The study used agricultural innovation systems to analyzing the complex interplay between various actors in the context of watershed management extension and advisory services. The overall objective of this study was to explore the nature and process of the watershed management extension and advisory services in overcoming the problem of floods. The study used a cross-sectional research design and case study. Adulala watershed was selected for this study and 120 farmers, 22 VEWs and 19 SMSs were selected as respondents. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources using questionnaire, self-administered questionnaire and checklist. Both quantitative and qualitative analysis methods were used to analyze the data. Some of the key findings of the study include: majority of extension personnel reported that they provided the required watershed management extension and advisory services for farmers. However, association members were able to receive better watershed management services than non-members. Majority of farmers were satisfied with the types of services provided by various stakeholders. However, coordination, collaboration and linkage among key stakeholders were weak in the study area, which affects the nature and process of watershed management extension and advisory services. Hence, for effective delivery of integrated watershed management extension and advisory services, it is recommended to organize farmers into watershed management association; furthermore, participatory and systematic planning, designing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation is necessary for future sustenance to ensure high participation and create sense of ownership. It is also recommended that the both federal Government and regional Government should take the lead establishing watershed management stakeholders’ platform to ensure coordination and collaboration among actors.