Linkages and determinants of investments in sustainable land management innovations among smallholder farmers in Central Ethiopia

Sustainable land management (SLM) as a strategic tool for sustainable agriculture is being developed globally and widely required and implemented in developing continents, such as Africa, to combat land degradation and enlighten agricultural productivity. Ethiopia has made remarkable efforts and brought some improvements in rural household welfare and environmental protection. However, there are constraints in sustainable land management innovations (SLMIs) investment behavior/choice among smallholder farmers. The purpose of this study was to identify the linkages and key determinants of investments in SLMIs among smallholder farmers in central Ethiopia. Analyzed data via content analysis method; descriptive statistics and Multivariate Probit (MVP) model were collected from randomly selected 190 household heads. The results of the MVP model indicated that the most commonly adopted and heavily invested SLMIs in the study area were inorganic fertilizers (78%), improved soil/stone bunds (57%), bench terraces (53%), and improved crop varieties (39%). In this regard, the pairwise correlation matrix of a model revealed complementarities among all SLMIs invested in by the farmers. Furthermore, farmers with higher education levels, male-headed households, participation in innovation platforms, credit access, incentives, and plot slopes, and who have a lower livestock size and off-farm activities, and whose farm fields are closer to their homes and younger in age, are more likely to invest in SLMIs. Hence, it is suggested that to underpin the investment in SLMIs, policymakers, project planners, and other development performers should underscore a bundle of agronomic, vegetative, and physical SLMIs prior to communicating them with smallholder farmers based on statistically identified significant factors.