CONTRIBUTION OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION PRACTICE ON LIVESTOCK FEED: THE CASE OF KUYAMURA AND MURI TURKUMAWATERSHEDS, WEST GUJI ZONE, OROMIA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

ABSTRACT Soil erosion has been a problem in Ethiopian in general and BuleHora district in particular. The study attempted to assess the contribution of soil and water conservation practice (SWCP) on livestock feed at MuriTurkuma Watershed (MT) in comparison with the nearby untreated Kuyamura watershed in the study area. Both primary and secondary data were used. The primary data were generated using structured questionnaire, key informant interviews and personal observation. Accordingly, the primary data were collected from 328 farmers. Descriptive statistics was used for analyzing the data collected from farmers in the study area. The result shows that SWCP has high contribution to improve livestock feed availability. The mean feed resource harvested for livestock from SWC structures found to be 121.86 quintals in MuriTurkumaWatershed whereas in Kuyamura watershed it was found to be 34.001quintal per annum. The result also indicated that the types of improved and traditional SWC structures implemented in study area are;improvedsoil levelbund, improved cutofdrain,Fanyajuua n d traditionalditches,traditionalstonebund,makingtrashlines,leavinggr assstrips on the field respectively. The study also revealed that there is a significant difference in livestock feed between treated and untreated watersheds in the district. Soilandwaterconservationshouldbegivenmoreattention by Government.