A Review of Factors Influencing Adoption of Rainwater Harvesting Technology in Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopia is characterized by erratic nature of rainfall and dry spells during crop growing season. Hence, rainwater harvesting technology should support rain-fed farming in order to alleviate the moisture stress during critical crop growing season. Rainwater harvesting is a method of collecting, storing and conserving surface runoff for agricultural production and domestic uses. Although rainwater harvesting technology was introduced in Ethiopia before a decade, its adoption rate by smallholder farmers was very small. This is due to lack of farmers’ participation during the introduction of technology and presence of factors influencing the adoption of rainwater harvesting technology in Ethiopia. In this paper, major factors determining the adoption of rainwater harvesting technology in Ethiopia were reviewed. Adoption of rainwater harvesting technology in Ethiopia was determined by factors like capital ownership, household characteristics, off-farm activity, access to markets, extension, credit and inputs, social capital, and biophysical characteristics.  Therefore, rainwater harvesting technology should be transferred in the country with farmer participatory approach. Furthermore, researches need to be conducted in order to widen the water harvesting technology options.

Keywords: Rainwater, harvesting, technology, adoption, review, factors: Ethiopia