Socio-economic Characterization, Identification and Prioritization of Major Constraints and Opportunities in Burka Jiren Community Watershed of Gechi District, South-western Ethiopia

Suleiman Aman; Bati Dube; Gedefa Sori; Dechasa Mangistu; Dagne Chimdessa; Mosisa Mesgebu; Nuru Temam; Taklu Bira; Amanuel Kejela; Diriba Hordofa

doi:doi:10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13

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Socio-economic Characterization, Identification and Prioritization of Major Constraints and Opportunities in Burka Jiren Community Watershed of Gechi District, South-western Ethiopia

Suleiman Aman^*

, Bati Dube

, Gedefa Sori, Dechasa Mangistu, Dagne Chimdessa, Mosisa Mesgebu, Nuru Temam

, Taklu Bira, Amanuel Kejela, Diriba Hordofa

Published in Innovation (Volume 6, Issue 3)

Received: 3 July 2025 Accepted: 14 July 2025 Published: 8 August 2025

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Abstract

Watershed management is perceived as a promising strategy to improve production and productivity. Even though numerous programs have targeted watershed management, farmers have been passive participants due to their weak identification of their watershed-related constraints and socio-economic characteristics. Therefore, the activity was intended to characterize, identify, and prioritize the existing constraints and opportunities of the Burka Jiren Community Watershed. A cross-sectional research design with multi-stage sampling was used to select 108 respondents to collect quantitative data, whereas qualitative data were collected from focus group discussions and key informants. Secondary data were collected from available published and unpublished documents. Pairwise matrix ranking and simple descriptive statistics were used. SPSS version 20 was used for data entry and analysis. The descriptive results showed that about 93.5% of the respondents were men, about 54.6% were at primary (1-6) education level, the mean age was 40.6 years, and the mean family and land size were 5.5 members and 1.6 ha, respectively. Pairwise ranking results showed soil erosion, soil fertility, and crop productivity declines were the first, second, and third major prioritized constraints in the watershed, respectively. Based on this finding, different development practitioners should emphasize the socio-economic characteristics and major constraints of smallholder households in the Watershed study.

Published in	Innovation (Volume 6, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13
Page(s)	63-72
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Community Watershed, Socio-economics, Production Constraints, Smallholder-households, Ethiopia

1. Introduction

Ethiopia has unexploited natural resource bases for agricultural development. Some of the major resource bases for agricultural development are land, diverse agro ecology, diverse soil types, water resources, bio-diversity and human resources. Despite the country has plentiful promising opportunities to transform its agriculture from subsistence level to commercial one, the natural resource degradation in general and land degradation in particular is being a common problem in Ethiopia that puts millions of rural people unable to produce more that intern leads to devastating impact on the socio-cultural, environmental and ecological setting of the country. Land degradation linked with soil nutrient loss due to continuous cropping with poor management practices

[1]

Land degradation represents a significant drag on rural growth and poverty reduction. In country, approximately 27 million hectares (ha) are considered to be significantly eroded. This comprises almost 50 percent of highland areas and affects approximately one in five people

[2]

. Of the total area degraded area, 14 million ha are seriously eroded, with over 2 million ha beyond reclamation

[3]

. For highland areas, estimates of erosion rates as measured by soil loss in tonnes per hectare per year (t/ha/yr) vary considerably across different studies

[4]

, where the recent work by

[5]

indicating an average of 29.9 tons/ha/yr. FAO conducting the survey of 38 sub-Saharan Africa countries, including Ethiopia reported the magnitude of soil nutrient loss as 41 kg N/ha/yr, 6 kg P₂O₅/ha/yr and 26 kg K/ha/yr

[6, 7]

In order to extensively address the problem of natural resource degradation, conservation schemes were introduced, especially after the occurrence drought and famines in 1970s

[8]

. Starting from 1970s and onward, a numerous programs have been participated on soil and water conservation activities, and millions of indigenous tree species were planted, through community participation covering huge area by trees, forest and community woodlots

[9, 10]

as cited

[1]

In the last decade, food for work project funded by World Food Program was implemented with the objectives to encourage farmers’ participation in the plantation, soil and water conservation activities. The drawback in the implementation of this program was its weak identification of watershed related constraints and socio-demographic characteristics of local communities, poor involvement and participation of local people in the planning and implementation of the scheme, shortage of skillful man power, ill planned and defined soil and water conservation policy, lack of commitments to address the problem, ignoring the interests of rural communities, theoretical emphasis given on natural resources conservation, lack of scientific approach and technical knowledge

[11]

. After the withdrawal of Food for Work program most of the farmers rejected to participate in the activity. Even some of the farmers removed soil and water conservation structures from their fields

[9, 12]

Currently, the government of Ethiopia reviewed such top down approach and adopted bottom-up where local communities participated in planning and management of natural resource through watershed project

[13]

. Community based participatory watershed development approach gained the prioritized attention at national, regional, zonal and community levels. Massive watershed development through mass mobilization has been started in 2009 GTP I period. As per the Ministry report, a number of community watersheds with development plans prepared and vast degraded lands were rehabilitated through area closures and cultivated lands were also covered with different physical and biological soil and water conservation measures.

Even though, significant progress has made over the past 10 years in restoring degraded natural resources across different parts of the country, the challenges of community based watershed management remains substantial. Continued soil erosion, water and land insecurity lead to land degradation with direct losses to those that rely on local natural resources for food, livelihood and energy needs. To reverse the scenarios, climate action through landscape management program deliver action on climate change through payments for results in participatory watershed management and rural land administration, broadening the geographic reach of past and current initiatives by consolidating gains through institutional reform. However, understanding the current socio-demographic characteristics of community based watershed is very important for effective, efficient and sustainable implementation of future intervention. Therefore, this baseline survey is to characterize, identify and prioritize the existing constraints and opportunities of Jiren watershed for practical intervention within the engagements of local communities.

2. Research Methodology

2.1. Descriptions of the Study Area

The watershed is situated at Gechi district of Buno Bedele zone southwestern Ethiopia (Figure 1). The specific place of the watershed is Bido Jiren kebeles and so the local communities are named the watershed as Jiren Watershed. Jiren Watershed lies between 8°12’50.4” and 8°14’52.8”N Latitudes and between 36°25’27.48” and 36°26’52.8”E Longitudes. Jiren watershed is about 15 km far from Gechi town of Gechi district and about 30 km far from Bedele town of Buno Bedele zone. Jiren watershed covers about 535.13 hectare where 148 smallholder household headed are benefitted from the watershed. According to the Google Earth Pro software, the length of Jiren watershed is about 6 kilometer from the watershed in late to outlet. Based on slope gradient Jiren watershed is characterized mostly by slop, gently slop and strongly slop. The dominant soil type of the watershed is Nitosols and the common crops produced by the communities are teff and wheat.

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Figure 1. Map of Jiren Watershed.

2.2. Research Design

Research design provides a logical structure for research data gathering and analysis

[14]

. For this study, a cross-sectional research design was used as it allows collecting data on relevant variables from a variety of people at one particular point in time. According to

[14]

, cross-sectional survey research design is the collection of data mainly using questionnaires or structured interviews to capture quantitative or qualitative data at a single point in time. It is comparatively quick and easy to implement. Thus, this study used a cross-sectional research design to collect data from targeted Jiren watershed communities to identify their socio-demographic characteristics, to characterize and prioritize the existing constraints and opportunities of the watershed.

2.3. Data Type and Sources of Data

Both qualitative and quantitative data types were collected from primary and secondary sources. A primary qualitative data were collected from focus group discussions (selective well knowledgeable respondents) and key informants (community leader, manager and DAs of Bedo Jiren kebele), whereas quantitative data were collected from targeted household headed in the watershed. The secondary data were collected from related published and unpublished documents.

2.4. Sampling Procedure and Sample Size Determination

Three-stage sampling techniques were employed for this study. At the first stage, Gechi district was selected purposively having an ample of watershed potential amidst other districts of Buno Bedele zone. At the second satage, in consultation with Gechi district office of agriculture, Jiren watershed found in Bido Jiren kebele was selected due to its proximity to Gechi town, large coverage of mono-cropping system and minimum interventions to conserve soil and water.

At the third stage (ie. last stage), the total number of households found in Jiren Wtershed was identified from kebele managers and updated unpublished documents. After then, sample size was determined using Yamane’s formula

n = \frac{N}{1 + N (e)^2}

[15]

. Where: n = sample size require, N = population size, E = Margin of error (%).

Accordingly, the total population (N) of Jiren watershed is 148 where, the assumed margin of error is 5%. Therefore, the sample size used for this study was,

n = \frac{148}{1 + 148 (0.05)^2}

= 108.

2.5. Methods of Data Collection

Data were collected using structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was prepared in English. However, it was translated to local language by enumerators during data collection for the sake of collecting quality data. Prior to data collection, enumerators were received a half-day training for common understanding on data collection process. Accordingly, the socio-demographic characteristics, existing constraints and opportunities related data were collected from targeted individual respondents (108 household headed), 5 KIs (kebele leaders, manager, 3 DAs), and 3 FGDs (from upper, middile and lower classes) of Jiren watershed.

2.6. Methods of Data Analysis

Data analysis is a critical part of the research operation. It includes data entering, editing, grouping, cleaning and interpreting. Accordingly, data was entered, grouped, cleaned and analyzed using SPSS version 20. The descriptive statistics like frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation were employed. Then the descriptive output was presented using tables and bar graph.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Socio Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

Socio-demographics can be a combination of social and demographic factors that define individuals in a particular group or population. The socio-demographic features used for this study are age, sex, marital status, family size, education level, religion, primary job, and land-livestock ownership (Table 1 and Table 2).

3.1.1. Descriptive Statistics of Continuous Variables

The descriptive statistics revealed that the age of Jiren watershed respondents ranged from 28 to 116 years with the mean age of 40.6 years (Table 1). The mean family size of the total sampled respondents was 5.5 members whereas the mean land size for all sampled respondents was 1.6 hectare.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of continuous variables.

Variables	N	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. Deviation
Age	108	18	116	40.6	15.92
Family size	108	1	10	5.5	1.99
Total land size in ha	108	.13	6.0	1.6	1.10

Source: Survey result and author’s computation 2023.

3.1.2. Descriptive Statistics of Dummy Variables

The total number of respondents was 108 among which 93.5%were male and 6.5% were female (Table 2). In relation to their marital status, about 96.3% of the respondents were married and where the majorities (91.7%) of them are Muslim followers. The result showed that, about half (54.6%) of the respondents were at primary education level (1-6 year of schooling) however about close to one-third have no formal education. Surprisingly, agriculture is the only dominant income generating activity where about 87% and 90.07% of the respondents were crop and livestock owners respectively in the study area. This implies a very high number of primary education levels of the community in the study area would not enable them to effective and efficient utilization of the available resources as well as diversify their livelihood.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics of Dummy variables.

Variables		N	%
Sex	Male	101	93.5
Sex	Female	7	6.5
Marital status	Single	3	2.8
	Married	104	96.3
	Divorced	1
Religion	Muslim	99	91.7
	Orthodox	6	5.6
	Protestant	3	2.8
Education level	No formal education	25	23.1
	Primary (1-6)	59	54.6
	Junior (7-8)	13	12.0
	Secondary (9-10)	9	8.3
	Preparatory	2	1.9
Primary job	Agriculture	108	100.0
Land ownership	Yes	94	87.0
Land ownership	No	14	13.0
Livestock ownership	Yes	98	90.7
Livestock ownership	No	10	9.3

Source: Survey result and author’s computation 2023.

3.1.3. Land Holding and Land Use Pattern of Jiren Community Watershed

Land ownership enhances effective utilization of resources for production and other purposes. From the viewpoints of community watershed, land ownership determines the participation of the community in watershed development activities to conserve, manage and use of natural resources while diversifying their means of income that are crucial for overall development of the society.

According to the primary information gathered from the Jiren community watershed, about 87 percent (N=94) of the respondents were land owners among which land under cultivation is the major land use patterns with the mean of 1.1 ha whereas grazing land and woodlots are the second and third land use patterns within the mean of 0.4 and 0.1 ha respectively. However, from Jiren community watershed land use patterns it can be observed that, farmers’ landholding status is varies from zero land holding to more than 3 ha with different land use type where non-landholders are participated in agricultural activities through land rented-in and shared-in from land owners. Whatever, the information on different land use pattern gives broad picture about the production structure of the community watershed and thereby facilitates for better intervention.

Table 3. Land use patterns.

land use pattern	N	Max.	Mean	Std. Deviation
Cultivated land	108	3	1.1	0.68
Grazing land	108	3	0.4	0.57
Woodlot	108	1.5	0.1	0.19
Rented out	108	1.5	0.0	0.14
Shared out	108	1	0.0	0.12
Fallow land	108	0.75	0.0	0.09
Plantation	108	1	0.0	0.17

Source: Survey result and author’s computation 2023.

3.1.4. Farming System and Major Crop Production of Jiren Community Watershed

This watershed is characterized by mixed farming system (Crop and Livestock). Rain-fed crop production is mainly dominated by the cereal-based production system with a small proportion of fruits. The major and dominant cereal crops produced in the watershed are teff and maize with the mean area of 0.8 ha and 0.1 ha respectively whereas the dominant fruit is avocado with the mean area of 0.1 ha. The study revealed that the major share of crop production is taken by cereals and fruits that indicate the inclination farming system to mono-cropping. This might be due to rain-fed based crop production than irrigation that facilitates alternative crop production particularly horticultural crops throughout the year. Mon-cropping system again initiate soil erosion and fertility decline in the areas.

Table 4. Major crop produced in the watershed.

Major crop	N	Max.	Mean	Std. Deviation
Tef	108	3.0	0.8	0.47
Maize	108	1.0	0.2	0.19
Barley	108	0.4	0.0	0.08
Wheat	108	0.5	0.0	0.13
coffee	108	0.8	0.0	0.09
Avocado	107	5.0	0.1	0.52

Source: Survey result and author’s computation 2023.

3.1.5. Livestock Productions

Livestock is an integral component of farming systems and plays a central role in the rural economy with high contribution to the gross domestic product. Since watershed development is expected to improve the feed and fodder situation and facilitate dairy development, special attention needs to be given on the livestock sector. Small ruminants like, sheep and goats are considered as best diversification strategy and source of regular cash income for rural poor with less investment. The year round income can be assured from these sources. The selection of appropriate livestock species matters much in improving the productivity of livestock, which is an important consideration in the development of an integrated farming system.

Table 5. Livestock production in the watershed.

Livestock types	N	Max.	Mean	Std. Deviation
Local cow	108	12	2.06	2.04
Cross breed cow	108	2	.03	0.21
Oxen	108	8	1.53	1.53
Calves	108	8	1.30	1.63
Sheep	108	6	.68	1.26
Goats	108	15	.63	1.87
Horse	108	2	.11	0.39
Chicken	108	6	.67	1.34

Source: Survey result and author’s computation 2023.

A clear account of livestock production in Jiren community watershed could be essential for this survey to take a note of changes in the composition of livestock breed and their outputs, using pre and post watershed data that quantified from landed and landless households. Accordingly, about 90.7 percent (N=98) of respondents were livestock owners where the cattle like local cows, oxen and calves are the dominant with the mean of 2.06, 1.53 and 1.30 respectively in the study community watershed.

3.1.6. Livestock Feeds and Feeding System

In Jiren community watershed a mixed crop-livestock production system in which farmers manages their livestock under poor feed resources such as grazing and crop residues is practiced. The major and dominant livestock feed sources available in this watershed are natural grass particularly private grazing land and crop residue like tef straw. The main reason behind the dominance of grazing land might be due to extensive unproductive private land as a result of soil erosion, low soil fertility and high soil acidity.

Table 6. Livestock feed types in the watershed.

livestock feed types		N	%
Natural grass	Did not have	23	21.3
	Own	72	66.7
	Purchase	4	3.7
	Gift	4	3.7
	Communal	5	4.6
Hay	Did not have	106	98.1
	Own	1	0.9
	Purchase	1	0.9
Crop residues	Did not have	51	47.2
	Own	53	49.1
	Purchase	4	3.7
Improved forage	Did not have	105	97.2
	Own	2	1.9
	Gift	1	0.9

Source: Survey result and author’s computation 2023.

3.1.7. Natural Resource and Management

Natural resource management aims for the efficient and sustainable utilization of natural resources. It is a central to sustainable economic development process however many low and middle-income earner households are highly dependent on the exploitation of natural capital to secure their needs underrating the life of future generations. In Jiren community watershed about more than half (71.3%) of the respondents did not use any types of soil conservation practice. The FGD and KIs pointed out that the major causes of soil fertility decline includes poor soil conservation practices, removal of crop residues from the fields, land fragmentation, low fertilizer inputs, plowing of marginal lands and mono-cropping. Therefore, strengthening the recommended soil conservation measures in the degraded and stabilizing with multipurpose tree species is very important for crop yield improvement.

Table 7. Soil and water conservation practice.

Types of soil and water conservation practice	N	%
I didnn't use any type	77	71.3
Physical/Mechanical	27	25.0
Biological	2	1.9
Integrated	2	1.9
Total	108	100.0

Source: Survey result and author’s computation 2023.

3.2 Major Constraints of Jiren Community Watershed

Pairwise ranking is a priority setting tool for ranking a set of options based on the preferences of the community. A pairwise ranking matrix was prepared to compare the major constraints through one to one condition (choosing one from every pair) as shown in Table 8. Since soil erosion (A) is the combined effects of all major Jiren community watershed constraints (soil fertility decline (B), deforestation (C), climate change (D), agricultural inputs (E), crop pest and disease (F), crop productivity decline (G), feed related (H), animal breed and disease related (I), grazing system related (J), credit service (K), market service (L), transport accessibility (M) and membership of cooperative (N)) based on the survey results, the first ranked constraint was given to soil erosion and measured as a highly community watershed hindering parameter followed by soil fertility and crop productivity declines, whereas transport accessibility was considered as the least rating parameter in the study area.

Table 8. The result of pairwise ranking for major Jiren community watershed constraints.

Constraints	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	Rt	Rn
A	A	A	A	A	A	G	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	12	1
B		B	B	B	B	G	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	11	2
C			D	E	C	G	C	C	C	C	C	C	C	8	5
D				E	D	G	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	9	4
E					E	E	E	E	E	K	L	E	N	8	5
F						G	F	F	F	K	F	F	F	6	7
G							G	G	G	K	G	G	N	10	3
H								I	H	K	H	H	N	3	9
I									I	I	I	I	N	5	8
J										J	L	J	J	3	9
K											K	K	K	7	6
L												L	M	3	9
M													N	1	10
N														5	8

Note: Rt = row total. Rn = rank, A = Soil erosion, B = Soil fertility decline, C = Deforestation, D = Climate change, E = Agricultural inputs, F = Crop pest and disease, G = Crop productivity decline, H = Feed related, I = Animal breed and disease related, J = Grazing system related, K = Credit service, L = Market service, M = Transport accessibility, N = Membership of cooperative.

The survey pairwise ranking result revealed that, amidst the 91 possible pair combinations (n(n-1)/2) soil erosion, soil fertility and a crop productivity declines are the alarming constraints of Jiren community watershed and requires practical intervention. The current study conducted in southwestern Ethiopia indicated that, majority of smallholder farmers (63.5%) were not practiced soil and water conservation practices

[16]

3.3. Major Opportunities in Burka Jiren Community Watershed

Despite numerous constraints, Burka Jiren Community Watershed has marvelous opportunities like a huge number of productive labor force members (youths), suitable agro-ecology, and rich water resources that facilitate irrigation and rain-fed-based crop diversification, unexploited high potential and demand for horticultural crops, proximity to Gechi and Dembi markets, as well as the asphalt road from Gembela-Metu-Bedele-Jima to Adis Abeba that enable farmers to ship their product wherever they want.

4. Conclusion and Recommendations

4.1. Conclusion

Socio-demographic characterization, constraints, and opportunity identification are central points for effective community watershed intervention. The study found that some of the major constraints in the Burka Jiren Community Watershed include soil erosion, soil fertility decline, crop productivity decline, weak on-time delivery of agricultural inputs, climate change, deforestation, poor access to credit, crop pests and diseases, animal disease, low farmers’ cooperative membership, inadequate market information, animal feed shortages, and transportation services. However, the availability of a huge number of productive labor forces (youths), suitable agro-ecology and rich water resources, the unexploited potential of horticultural crops, and the proximity to the market and main road make Burka Jiren Community Watershed suitable for improved agricultural technology dissemination.

4.2. Recommendations

Based on the findings, efforts should be made to boost agricultural production and productivity in the in the Burka Jiren Community Watershed through introducing appropriate organic fertilizer, strengthening soil and water conservation practices, introducing and demonstrating improved crop and forage technologies, improving on-time supply of agricultural inputs, improving crop and livestock diseases and pest management systems, and providing appropriate training and information in line with unexploited opportunities in the watershed.

Abbreviations

FAO	Food and Agriculture Organization
GTP I	Growth and Transformation Plan I
DAs	Development Agents
KIs	Key Informants
FGDs	Focus Group Discussions

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Climate Action through Landscape Management Program for Result (CALMP4R) for funding these research activities and Oromia Agricultural Research Institute (OARI) for attracting such life sustaining program. Bedele Agricultural Research Center (BeARC) is also appreciated for vehicle support. The heartfelt thanks goes to the team of researchers (data collectors) those invest their un-replaceable time and also our appreciation is to Gechi woreda Agricultural Office staff for their on-time facilitation and Jiren Watershed Communities for their patience while data collection.

Author Contributions

Suleiman Aman: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Bati Dube: Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Writing – review & editing

Gedefa Sori: Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

Dechasa Mangistu: Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing – review & editing

Dagne Chimdessa: Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Writing – review & editing

Mosisa Mesgebu: Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

Nuru Temam: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Software, Writing – review & editing

Taklu Bira: Data curation, Investigation

Amanuel Kejela: Data curation, Investigation

Diriba Hordofa: Data curation, Investigation

Funding

This work is not supported by any external funding.

Data Availability Statement

The data is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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Aman, S., Dube, B., Sori, G., Mangistu, D., Chimdessa, D., et al. (2025). Socio-economic Characterization, Identification and Prioritization of Major Constraints and Opportunities in Burka Jiren Community Watershed of Gechi District, South-western Ethiopia. Innovation, 6(3), 63-72. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13

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Aman, S.; Dube, B.; Sori, G.; Mangistu, D.; Chimdessa, D., et al. Socio-economic Characterization, Identification and Prioritization of Major Constraints and Opportunities in Burka Jiren Community Watershed of Gechi District, South-western Ethiopia. Innovation. 2025, 6(3), 63-72. doi: 10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13

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AMA Style

Aman S, Dube B, Sori G, Mangistu D, Chimdessa D, et al. Socio-economic Characterization, Identification and Prioritization of Major Constraints and Opportunities in Burka Jiren Community Watershed of Gechi District, South-western Ethiopia. Innovation. 2025;6(3):63-72. doi: 10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13

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@article{10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13,
  author = {Suleiman Aman and Bati Dube and Gedefa Sori and Dechasa Mangistu and Dagne Chimdessa and Mosisa Mesgebu and Nuru Temam and Taklu Bira and Amanuel Kejela and Diriba Hordofa},
  title = {Socio-economic Characterization, Identification and Prioritization of Major Constraints and Opportunities in Burka Jiren Community Watershed of Gechi District, South-western Ethiopia
},
  journal = {Innovation},
  volume = {6},
  number = {3},
  pages = {63-72},
  doi = {10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.innov.20250603.13},
  abstract = {Watershed management is perceived as a promising strategy to improve production and productivity. Even though numerous programs have targeted watershed management, farmers have been passive participants due to their weak identification of their watershed-related constraints and socio-economic characteristics. Therefore, the activity was intended to characterize, identify, and prioritize the existing constraints and opportunities of the Burka Jiren Community Watershed. A cross-sectional research design with multi-stage sampling was used to select 108 respondents to collect quantitative data, whereas qualitative data were collected from focus group discussions and key informants. Secondary data were collected from available published and unpublished documents. Pairwise matrix ranking and simple descriptive statistics were used. SPSS version 20 was used for data entry and analysis. The descriptive results showed that about 93.5% of the respondents were men, about 54.6% were at primary (1-6) education level, the mean age was 40.6 years, and the mean family and land size were 5.5 members and 1.6 ha, respectively. Pairwise ranking results showed soil erosion, soil fertility, and crop productivity declines were the first, second, and third major prioritized constraints in the watershed, respectively. Based on this finding, different development practitioners should emphasize the socio-economic characteristics and major constraints of smallholder households in the Watershed study.},
 year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Socio-economic Characterization, Identification and Prioritization of Major Constraints and Opportunities in Burka Jiren Community Watershed of Gechi District, South-western Ethiopia

AU  - Suleiman Aman
AU  - Bati Dube
AU  - Gedefa Sori
AU  - Dechasa Mangistu
AU  - Dagne Chimdessa
AU  - Mosisa Mesgebu
AU  - Nuru Temam
AU  - Taklu Bira
AU  - Amanuel Kejela
AU  - Diriba Hordofa
Y1  - 2025/08/08
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13
T2  - Innovation
JF  - Innovation
JO  - Innovation
SP  - 63
EP  - 72
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2994-7138
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13
AB  - Watershed management is perceived as a promising strategy to improve production and productivity. Even though numerous programs have targeted watershed management, farmers have been passive participants due to their weak identification of their watershed-related constraints and socio-economic characteristics. Therefore, the activity was intended to characterize, identify, and prioritize the existing constraints and opportunities of the Burka Jiren Community Watershed. A cross-sectional research design with multi-stage sampling was used to select 108 respondents to collect quantitative data, whereas qualitative data were collected from focus group discussions and key informants. Secondary data were collected from available published and unpublished documents. Pairwise matrix ranking and simple descriptive statistics were used. SPSS version 20 was used for data entry and analysis. The descriptive results showed that about 93.5% of the respondents were men, about 54.6% were at primary (1-6) education level, the mean age was 40.6 years, and the mean family and land size were 5.5 members and 1.6 ha, respectively. Pairwise ranking results showed soil erosion, soil fertility, and crop productivity declines were the first, second, and third major prioritized constraints in the watershed, respectively. Based on this finding, different development practitioners should emphasize the socio-economic characteristics and major constraints of smallholder households in the Watershed study.
VL  - 6
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Suleiman Aman

Department of Rural Development and Agricultural Extension, Bedele Agricultural Research Center, Bedele, Ethiopia

Biography: Suleiman Aman is a researcher at Bedele Agricultural Research Center, Rural Development and Agricultural Extension Depart-ment. He completed his MSc in Rural Development from Jimma University in 2023, and his BSc in Rural Development and Ag-ricultural Extension from Madda Walabu University in 2016. Recognized for his exceptional contributions, Mr. Suleiman has accumulated extensive experience in both government and non-governmental organizations. While he was working in Hunde Oromo Grass-root Development Initiative as Youth Facilitator position at West Arsi. Mr. Suleiman has been provided various training for unemployed and underemployed youths with the age of 15-29. Since employed at Bedele Agricultural Research Center, he has been conducting a participatory and problem-oriented applied research in collaboration with his esteemed colleagues and other multidisciplinary researchers in Southwestern Parts of Ethiopian. He currently serves as So-cio-economics, Agricultural Extension & Gender Research Pro-cess Owner and Southwestern Cluster Coordinator for Agricultural Transformation in Oromia Regional State.

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http://orcid.org/0009-0009-0927-5768
Bati Dube

Department of Natural Resource Management, Bedele Agricultural Research Center, Bedele, Ethiopia

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http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8117-9759
Gedefa Sori

Department of Natural Resource Management, Bedele Agricultural Research Center, Bedele, Ethiopia

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Dechasa Mangistu

Department of Natural Resource Management, Bedele Agricultural Research Center, Bedele, Ethiopia

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Dagne Chimdessa

Department of Natural Resource Management, Bedele Agricultural Research Center, Bedele, Ethiopia

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Mosisa Mesgebu

Department of Natural Resource Management, Bedele Agricultural Research Center, Bedele, Ethiopia

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Nuru Temam

Department of Agricultural Economics, Bedele Agricultural Research Center, Bedele, Ethiopia

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http://orcid.org/0009-0000-2782-9378
Taklu Bira

Department of Livestock and Range Land, Bedele Agricultural Research Center, Bedele, Ethiopia

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Amanuel Kejela

Department of Natural Resource Management, Bedele Agricultural Research Center, Bedele, Ethiopia

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Diriba Hordofa

Department of Rural Development and Agricultural Extension, Bedele Agricultural Research Center, Bedele, Ethiopia

Contact Email

http://orcid.org/0009-0005-3048-8937

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Figure 1

Figure 1. Map of Jiren Watershed.

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APA Style

Aman, S., Dube, B., Sori, G., Mangistu, D., Chimdessa, D., et al. (2025). Socio-economic Characterization, Identification and Prioritization of Major Constraints and Opportunities in Burka Jiren Community Watershed of Gechi District, South-western Ethiopia. Innovation, 6(3), 63-72. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13

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ACS Style

Aman, S.; Dube, B.; Sori, G.; Mangistu, D.; Chimdessa, D., et al. Socio-economic Characterization, Identification and Prioritization of Major Constraints and Opportunities in Burka Jiren Community Watershed of Gechi District, South-western Ethiopia. Innovation. 2025, 6(3), 63-72. doi: 10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13

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AMA Style

Aman S, Dube B, Sori G, Mangistu D, Chimdessa D, et al. Socio-economic Characterization, Identification and Prioritization of Major Constraints and Opportunities in Burka Jiren Community Watershed of Gechi District, South-western Ethiopia. Innovation. 2025;6(3):63-72. doi: 10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13

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@article{10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13,
  author = {Suleiman Aman and Bati Dube and Gedefa Sori and Dechasa Mangistu and Dagne Chimdessa and Mosisa Mesgebu and Nuru Temam and Taklu Bira and Amanuel Kejela and Diriba Hordofa},
  title = {Socio-economic Characterization, Identification and Prioritization of Major Constraints and Opportunities in Burka Jiren Community Watershed of Gechi District, South-western Ethiopia
},
  journal = {Innovation},
  volume = {6},
  number = {3},
  pages = {63-72},
  doi = {10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.innov.20250603.13},
  abstract = {Watershed management is perceived as a promising strategy to improve production and productivity. Even though numerous programs have targeted watershed management, farmers have been passive participants due to their weak identification of their watershed-related constraints and socio-economic characteristics. Therefore, the activity was intended to characterize, identify, and prioritize the existing constraints and opportunities of the Burka Jiren Community Watershed. A cross-sectional research design with multi-stage sampling was used to select 108 respondents to collect quantitative data, whereas qualitative data were collected from focus group discussions and key informants. Secondary data were collected from available published and unpublished documents. Pairwise matrix ranking and simple descriptive statistics were used. SPSS version 20 was used for data entry and analysis. The descriptive results showed that about 93.5% of the respondents were men, about 54.6% were at primary (1-6) education level, the mean age was 40.6 years, and the mean family and land size were 5.5 members and 1.6 ha, respectively. Pairwise ranking results showed soil erosion, soil fertility, and crop productivity declines were the first, second, and third major prioritized constraints in the watershed, respectively. Based on this finding, different development practitioners should emphasize the socio-economic characteristics and major constraints of smallholder households in the Watershed study.},
 year = {2025}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Socio-economic Characterization, Identification and Prioritization of Major Constraints and Opportunities in Burka Jiren Community Watershed of Gechi District, South-western Ethiopia

AU  - Suleiman Aman
AU  - Bati Dube
AU  - Gedefa Sori
AU  - Dechasa Mangistu
AU  - Dagne Chimdessa
AU  - Mosisa Mesgebu
AU  - Nuru Temam
AU  - Taklu Bira
AU  - Amanuel Kejela
AU  - Diriba Hordofa
Y1  - 2025/08/08
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13
T2  - Innovation
JF  - Innovation
JO  - Innovation
SP  - 63
EP  - 72
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2994-7138
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.innov.20250603.13
AB  - Watershed management is perceived as a promising strategy to improve production and productivity. Even though numerous programs have targeted watershed management, farmers have been passive participants due to their weak identification of their watershed-related constraints and socio-economic characteristics. Therefore, the activity was intended to characterize, identify, and prioritize the existing constraints and opportunities of the Burka Jiren Community Watershed. A cross-sectional research design with multi-stage sampling was used to select 108 respondents to collect quantitative data, whereas qualitative data were collected from focus group discussions and key informants. Secondary data were collected from available published and unpublished documents. Pairwise matrix ranking and simple descriptive statistics were used. SPSS version 20 was used for data entry and analysis. The descriptive results showed that about 93.5% of the respondents were men, about 54.6% were at primary (1-6) education level, the mean age was 40.6 years, and the mean family and land size were 5.5 members and 1.6 ha, respectively. Pairwise ranking results showed soil erosion, soil fertility, and crop productivity declines were the first, second, and third major prioritized constraints in the watershed, respectively. Based on this finding, different development practitioners should emphasize the socio-economic characteristics and major constraints of smallholder households in the Watershed study.
VL  - 6
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Constraints	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	Rt	Rn
A	A	A	A	A	A	G	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	12	1
B		B	B	B	B	G	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	11	2
C			D	E	C	G	C	C	C	C	C	C	C	8	5
D				E	D	G	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	9	4
E					E	E	E	E	E	K	L	E	N	8	5
F						G	F	F	F	K	F	F	F	6	7
G							G	G	G	K	G	G	N	10	3
H								I	H	K	H	H	N	3	9
I									I	I	I	I	N	5	8
J										J	L	J	J	3	9
K											K	K	K	7	6
L												L	M	3	9
M													N	1	10
N														5	8

Constraints	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	Rt	Rn
A	A	A	A	A	A	G	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	12	1
B		B	B	B	B	G	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	11	2
C			D	E	C	G	C	C	C	C	C	C	C	8	5
D				E	D	G	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	9	4
E					E	E	E	E	E	K	L	E	N	8	5
F						G	F	F	F	K	F	F	F	6	7
G							G	G	G	K	G	G	N	10	3
H								I	H	K	H	H	N	3	9
I									I	I	I	I	N	5	8
J										J	L	J	J	3	9
K											K	K	K	7	6
L												L	M	3	9
M													N	1	10
N														5	8

Constraints	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	Rt	Rn
A	A	A	A	A	A	G	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	12	1
B		B	B	B	B	G	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	11	2
C			D	E	C	G	C	C	C	C	C	C	C	8	5
D				E	D	G	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	9	4
E					E	E	E	E	E	K	L	E	N	8	5
F						G	F	F	F	K	F	F	F	6	7
G							G	G	G	K	G	G	N	10	3
H								I	H	K	H	H	N	3	9
I									I	I	I	I	N	5	8
J										J	L	J	J	3	9
K											K	K	K	7	6
L												L	M	3	9
M													N	1	10
N														5	8