This is a chapter in a book entitled "Agricultural Investment and Productivity: Building Sustainability in East Africa" edited by Gunnar Köhlin and Randall Bluffstone, 2011.
Adoption and success of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) technologies have been limited, with a common explanation being that SLM investments may not be profitable for average farmers. Analyzing returns of too often very costly SLM investments is therefore of primary importance.
The objective of this chapter is to use plot-level data to examine the economic performance of stone bunds and reduced tillage in low rainfall areas in Tigray Regional State and higher rainfall areas of Amhara Regional State in the highlands of northern Ethiopia.
Results indicate that productivity impacts of SLM technologies are likely to be agro-ecology specific. Stone bunds have a positive significant yield impact in low rainfall areas. However, this impact is not observed in higher rainfall areas. This finding highlights that importance of developing and disseminating agro-ecology specific soil conservation technologies that actually increase agricultural productivity.
