HOUSEHOLDS’ WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR SOIL CONSERVATION PRACTICES IN ADWA WOREDA, ETHIOPIA: A CONTINGENT VALUATION STUDY

Soil erosion is one of the most serious environmental problems in the highlands of Ethiopia. The prevalence of traditional agricultural land use and the absence of appropriate resource management often result in the degradation of natural soil fertility in the country. Hence, this study assesses farm households‟ WTP for soil conservation practices through a CVM study. Double Bounded Dichotomous choice with an Open ended follow up format was used to elicit the households‟ willingness to pay. Based on data collected from 218 respondents, descriptive statistics indicated that most of the respondents have perceived the problem of soil erosion and are willing to pay for conservation practices. Probit model was employed to assess the determinants of willingness to pay. Results of the model shows that age of the household head, sex of the household head, education level of the household head, family size, perception, land tenure, Total Livestock Units and initial bid were the important variables in determining willingness to pay for soil conservation practices in the study area. The study also show that the mean willingness to pay estimated from the Double Bounded Dichotomous Choice and open ended formats was computed at 56.65 and 48.94 person days per annum, respectively. The respective total aggregate value of soil conservation in the study area (Adwa Woreda) was computed to be 1,373,592 (16,483,104 Birr) and 1,186,648.18 (14,239,778.16 Birr) per annum for five years, respectively. The results of the study have shown that socio economic characteristics of the household and other institutional factors are responsible for household‟s WTP for soil conservation practices. Therefore, policy and program intervention designed to address soil erosion problems in the study area have needed to take in to account these characteristics