Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for Improved Soil Conservation Practices in Kuyu Woreda, North Shoa Zone of Oromia, Ethiopia: Application of Contingent Valuation Method

Abstract

Land degradation particularly soil erosion is one of the most severe environmental problems in Ethiopia. Achieving sustainable pathways out of land degradation problem and poverty require active participation of people in conservation practices and understand how farmers value the soil conservation. The objective of this study is to investigate the farmers' willingness to pay for improved soil conservation practices on communal land in Kuyu woreda, North Shoa, Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia. Double-bounded dichotomous format of contingent valuation method is used to elicit respondents' WTP. Data collected from 184 households were used for analysis. Both the Probit and Bivariate Probit models were estimated. The result of the study indicated that most of the respondents have perceived soil erosion problem and are willing to pay for conservation practices. Factors like sex, education, livestock, income, slope of land, perception, and the frequency of extension visit have a positive and significant influence on the probability of WTP for soil conservation. The study also shows that the mean WTP estimated from the Double Bounded Dichotomous Choice formats was 85.36 Labor days per annual. The total aggregate value of soil conservation in the study is 10,909,349 person days per annum (196,368,282 ETB) from double bound CVM. The study concluded that farmers have perceived soil erosion problem and they are willing to pay in terms of labor contribution for improved soil conservation practice. Therefore, policy implication suggested was any policy intervention designed to address soil erosion problems have needed to take in to account these characteristics.