ASSESSING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PROGRAM: THE CASE OF NANSABO WOREDA, WEST ARSI ZONE, OROMIA NATIONAL REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract Watershed development program has served as the foundation for local community efforts to promote rural development. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the contributionsof community participation in watershed management programs in Nansaboworeda,Oromia regional state. Mixed research approach and concurrent research design were used.In order to select and determine the sample kebeles from the woreda, agro - ecological zone was set as criteria and employed stratified random sampling. Then, one kebele from each homogenous agro-ecology was selected by simple random sampling. Namely; Gerenbamo from dega, Badesa from kola , and Hurobaro from woinaDega agro-ecologies.From the selected kebeles 316 houshold heads were selected by simple random sampling.Data were collected through household questionnaire survey, focused group discussion and informant interview. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in analyzing the information collected using different instruments and presented by using tables. The findings of the study indicated that, the overall community participation index onwatershed development and management in the study area was computed as 39.13%. This showed that the level of community participation in the study area fall within moderate level category. The result of the study confirmed that demographic and socio economic related factors were the major determinants that affect adoption decision of watershed management practices. The finding of the study also revealed that watershed management practices have a significant role in improving the livelihood and their income.Finally,capacitating the community through practical based training and scaling up strategies ofeffective watershed management practices need emphasis of the regional, zonal anddistricts government and NGOs. 1