http://ir.haramaya.edu.et//hru/handle/123456789/30 2026-04-20T12:23:00Z http://ir.haramaya.edu.et//hru/handle/123456789/8385 DEVELOPING PROTOTYPE AGRICULTURAL KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR KNOWLEDGE SHARING AMONG ACTORS AT ENEBSIE SAR MIDIR DISTRICT AGRICULTURE OFFICE, AMHARA REGION, ETHIOPIA Endalew Getnet Walelign; Prof Lawrence Abraham; Prof Fekadu Beyene; Dr. Jemal Yousuf The objective of this study was to create prototype agricultural knowledge management systems allowing actors in the Enebsie Sar Midir District Agricultural Office to share knowledge. An observation checklist, questionnaire, and interview were utilized to gather data from a sample group of 191 actors, which included 39 district level experts, 15 support staff, 37 farmers, 90 Development Agents, and 10 visitors. A cross-sectional research methodology was used for the study. Both purposeful and random samplings were used in the sampling process. For the district-level agricultural experts and support staff, purposive sampling was used; however, guests were chosen at random, while DAs and farmers were chosen using simple random selection. For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics were employed. The study's findings showed that tools including mobile phones, desktop computers, and social networks were used for the management and exchange of agricultural knowledge. Although there were farmers training centers, no knowledge management systems were in place. There were discrepancies amongst actors in terms of the resources for agricultural knowledge that were available. The workplace did not connect the accessible resources, such as mobile and office phones, laptops, and social networks to a knowledge management and sharing system for sharing reasons. One of the elements impacting the sample respondents' knowledge management and sharing was their background. Other factors included capacity development and office procedures for managing agricultural knowledge. The provision of training opportunities for all age groups and educational levels was deemed vital by the sample respondents. Nevertheless, the office lacked a knowledge management system, which caused a high level of knowledge loss. Knowledge silos, a lack of alternative knowledge management methods, and lack of centrally managed documentation systems were all factors that exacerbated the knowledge loss. There were many ways to manage knowledge using mobile devices.Communications may be made and the website could be accessed using a mobile device. All places in the study district could have internet connection via mobile devices acting as hotspots. Computer systems could be used to mobilize, manage, and exchange agricultural knowledge resources. Offline access to knowledge was possible by the created agricultural knowledge management system. On the other hand, the website's dynamic nature allowed for regular communications, the mobilization of resources, and the storage of information. Thus, employing the existing knowledge management resources, such as desktop computers, was a useful strategy for managing and sharing knowledge.The developed systems could be applied at the farmers' training centers for knowledge exchange, where it would be possible to execute group actions and share resources like information and communication technology. The use of information and communication technologies facilitated the participation and decision making of of all actors in knowledge management and sharing activities. The developed systems could leverage multimedia information and knowledge supplies, availing local content for numerous participants that include farmers. The website and the prototype knowledge management system might both be used by the Enebsie Sar Midir District Agricultural Office to carry out its functions, such as communicating, sending, and sharing knowledge or information among its actors. The evaluation results indicated that system users highlyagreed and agreed with the performance and acceptability level of the website and agricultural knowledge management sy stem respectively. Nonetheless, for the implementation of website, the office must set up the required information and communication technology infrastructure, obtain an internet protocol address, and offer computer literacy training to farmers and other actors. 308p. 2023-05-01T00:00:00Z http://ir.haramaya.edu.et//hru/handle/123456789/8379 PERCEPTION ABOUT LAND DEGRADATION; AND IMPACT OF ADOPTION OF SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON SMALLHOLDER FARMERS’ CROP PRODUCTION AND INCOME IN WEST WOLLEGA ZONE, OROMIA REGION, ETHIOPIA Addisu Raga; Prof Fekadu Beyene; Prof Jema Haji; (Ph. D) Chanyalew Siyum The adoption of sustainable land management practices (SLMP) is pivotal to handling land degradation and ensuring the sustainable use of limited land resources. Despite decades of research and development efforts, land degradation remains a serious environmental problem in many parts of the world. Farmers in Ethiopia and other Sub-Saharan African countries employ a variety of agricultural land management (SLM) practices to mitigate the negative impacts of land degradation. The SLM practices were intended to increase income and crop production further ensuring food security. Despite the widespread use of these (SLM) practices, little research has been done on how it affects crop production and related income, particularly linked to the viewpoints of interdependence between SLMP adoption and perceptions of land degradation. Ethiopia has long been regarded as a hotspot for land degradation one of the major threats to agricultural productivity, long-term food shortages, rural poverty, and the dimensional vulnerability of the people. So, it is crucial to understand farmers' perceptions of land degradation and determine the impacts of SLMP on crop production and income responses that differ in temporal and regional dimensions. Hence, the objectives of this study were to identify the determinants of farmers' perceptions of land degradation, their adoption of SLMP, the impacts of SLMP on crop production and income, and their interrelationships in Oromia, Ethiopia's west Wollega zone. The researcher used cross-sectional data collected from 426 farm household heads (225 participants and 201 nonparticipants), randomly selected from five districts of the west Wollega zone of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Both descriptive statistics and econometric models were used to analyze the data. The descriptive result revealed that 58.4 %, 11.4%, 15.2%, 12.1%, and 2.91 %, of the sampled farm households, respectively, perceived negligible, minor, moderate, severe, and extreme degradation in the study area. The results also showed that the sampled household had a very low perception of land degradation in sampled districts of the study area: with 44.2%, 59.5%, 43.9%, 41%, and 51.2% of Najo, Boji, Gimbi, Mana-Sibu, and Ganji, respectively. An ordered logit was used to identify factors influencing households' perception of land degradation. The results confirmed that household education level, household size, total farmland size, experience, extension contact, access to NGOs, farmland slop type, and off/non-farm participation affected households' perception of land degradation in the study area. As a trivariate probit model shows, the likelihood that framers in the study area would choose fertilizer, area closure, SWC, crop rotation, and compost, respectively, was 37.2%, 35.3%, 40.5%, 38.2%, and 38.5%. The simulated maximum likelihood predicted joint probability of success or failure of the five SLMPs from the MVP model has shown 23% and 49.6% of the joint probability of success and failure of all SLMPs by the households in the study area. A multivariate (trivariate) probit model's findings also showed that cooperative member, off-farm participation, model farmer contact, perception of land degradation, the perceived cost of inputs, credit access, farming experiences, livestock holding, farm slopes, access to information, and the NGOS interventions had a significant positive influence on the SLMP participation decisions, while household age had a negative impact. The outcome of the impact analysis using PSM demonstrates that participation in the SLMP boosts household income and crop production while lowering land degradation risks for participant households in the study area. The significance of Breusch- Pagan's test of independence and the correlation of seemingly unrelated error factors in a trivalent. probit regression model revealed strong links between farmers' perceptions of farmland degradation, SLMP decisions, and SLMP impacts on crop and income improvement. The interdependence relationships in the study area have been positively affected by household education, access to information, total farmland size, cooperative members, farmland slop, the NGOs’ interventions, and access to irrigation, while negatively affected by age, the distance of farmland from household residence and distance to the closest market. Therefore, the study suggests that policymakers and local development experts should improve farmers' understanding of land degradation by addressing the various factors that influence farmers' perceptions of land degradation, which are distinct significantly among farm households. Moreover, the study recommended that the regional and local governments should design various specific programs to resolve the constraints for scaling up policymakers' focus on SLMP campaigning. This can be addressed by expanding the use of SLM practices by supporting more sources of income, promoting the use of labor-saving technologies, encouraging the establishment of local irrigation systems, strengthening farmers' cooperative groups, raising farmers' literacy levels, encouraging soil conservation methods, expanding the scope of rural microfinance intuition services, and establishing local information provision center in the study area 240p. 2024-06-01T00:00:00Z http://ir.haramaya.edu.et//hru/handle/123456789/8278 THE ROLE OF MOBILE PHONE FOR GROUNDNUT PRODUCTION AND MARKETING INFORMATION BY SMALL HOLDER FARMERS IN GURSUM DISTRICT, FAFAN ZONE, SOMALI REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA Mohamed Yusuf Mohamed; Dr. Jemal Yousuf; Dr. Eric Ndemo Okoyo The study intented to investigate the role of mobile phones on groundnut production and marketing information by smallholder farmers in Gursum Werada Fafan Zone in Somali region, Ethiopia.The specific objectives were assessing factors affecting the use of mobile phones to obtain groundnut production and marketing information users of mobile phone aand Challenges and opportunities use of mobile phones to obtain groundnut production and marketing information.Three kebeles from the Gursum district were selected purposively based on their groundnut production potential.A simple random sampling technique method was used to select 137 groundnut farmers.Interview schedules and key informants group discusion were used to collect data. Data were analysed using descreptive statistics including frequency percentage and standard deviation and Inferencial statstics che-squares test,andT-test were used for further more econometric(binary logistic regression model was used for analysed the data).71 (51.825%) were mobile phone users, while 66 (48.575%) were non-mobile phones.Users of and non-users of mobile phones obtained rented tractorPrices of local Marsha plow, prices of hand hoes, prices of groundnut sacks, prices of ox, prices of string, groundnut marketing prices, and informal credit money.In-kind credit local Marsha plow, fertilizer, rented camel transportation on-station demonstrate of improved groundnut varieties and on-farm demonstrate of improved groundnut varieties knowledge sharing, opportunity use of mobile phone save time, reduce the cost of transportation,save energy farmers traveling on foot far log distance in remote areas and increase in farm productivity, inrease in come farmers and participation farmers activities.The resulting model indicated that level of education, sex, age, income, family size and land size are significant variables that affect the use of mobile phone groundnut production and marketing information.It is recommended to provide adult education, electricity, mobile phone training, farmer's awareness use of mobile phone for agricultural extension information, awarness use of mobile phone for.agricultural credit information, farmers awareness use of mobile phone prices agricultural inputs information,provide agricultural extension information services supplies agricultural credit information services supplies prices agricultural inputs information services supplies .agricultural research training services, agricultural research knowledge sharing among farmers groundnut marketing price information, and give farmers mobile phone numbers to communicate with social network groundnut production information services providers and groundnut marketing prices information services users 106p. 2024-12-01T00:00:00Z http://ir.haramaya.edu.et//hru/handle/123456789/8137 IMPACT OF LIVELIHOOD DIVERSIFICATION ON RURAL HOUSE- HOLDS’ FOOD SECURITY IN AGARFA DISTRICT, BALE ZONE, OROMIA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA Ayele Diriba; .(Assis profe) Hakim Hashim; (PhD) Dereje Derso n Ethiopia, agriculture is traditionally viewed as a crucial strategy for reducing poverty and im- proving food security among rural households. However, despite the significant role of crop and livestock production, Ethiopia remains highly food-insecure and prone to famine. Livelihood diver- sification beyond agriculture is underemphasized by local communities, contributing less than 17% to the economy, despite its potential to improve rural households’ food security. The research aims to identify key livelihood diversification strategies, evaluate the extent of diversification, explore its determinants, and analyze its impact on food security. Multi-stage sampling was used to purposively select Agarfa district and then 384 sample households out of four rural kebeles both by systematic random sampling techniques. Utilizing a mixed-methods design, the study employed a cross-sec- tional survey combining quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques. Data were gathered through semi-structured questionnaires, household dietary diversity scores questionnaire, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and field observations. Descriptive statistics were ap- plied alongside inferential methods such as t-tests, Chi-square tests, and ANOVA. Econometric mod- els, including Multinomial Logit (Mlogit) and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) were also utilized. HDDS employed to measure households’ food security status. Qualitative data were analyzed through narration, conceptual generalization, and summarization. Findings reveal that rural house- holds engage in a variety of livelihood strategies beyond agriculture, such as off-farm, non-farm to achieve livelihood goals. However, agriculture remains the primary source of income, dominating over 83% of total income. The average Shannon Entropy Index (SEI) of 0.77 indicates a low level of diversification. Household dietary diversity averages 5.63 food groups, with 14.84% of house- holds classified as having low food security, while 54.95% have medium, and 30.21% enjoy high food security. The propensity score matching model result shows, livelihood diversification posi- tively influences food security, which increased HDDS by 10.02% up to 14.05% for diversified households. The multinomial logit model result depicts that factor such as household head educa- tion, family size, and access to credit drive diversification, while age, dependency ratio, livestock ownership, farm size, and market distance are constraints. The results highlight that diversified income sources can buffer against agricultural shocks and enhance food security, underscoring the need for policies that support livelihood diversification in rural Ethiopia. 115p. 2024-09-01T00:00:00Z