Determinants of Soil Water Conservation and Nutrient Flow Management in Bufundi Sub- Catchment, Kabale District, Uganda

Abstract

Soil erosion and declining soil productivity still continue to manifest in most of the agricultural systems found in Sub-Sahara Africa and this has threatened the agricultural productivity, biodiversity, water quality and availability as well as the livelihoods of the poor who depend on land. In Uganda, this has been attributed to poor land use practices with inadequate SWC measures and persistent nutrient mining of the soils with little or no replenishment. Highland areas of Kabale are reported to be severely affected by soil erosion and declining soil fertility despite continued efforts by farmers to conserve soil and water resources. The study examined the determinants for SWC and nutrient flow management in Bufundi sub-catchment. The study was premised on analyzing physical, institutional and social economic factors as they were perceived to strongly influence SWC and nutrient flows within the different farm slope positions of Bufundi sub-catchment. Ninety five (95) structured questionnaires, key informant interviews and transects were conducted in the month of January 2011. Also 30 soil samples were collected from agricultural fields on the predominant SWC measures (terrace benches) in addition to nutrient monitoring using the NUTMON questionnaires, transfer functions and a NUTMON monitoring guide. Data analysis was done using SPSS 17.0, E-view 3.0 and NUTMON 3.6 software for the different types of data. The results of the survey show that family size, age, land tenure, perception of soil erosion, sources of income, formation of Innovation Platforms (IPs), farm size, collective marketing under IP, slope, collective action and training in SWC are among the major factors that positively and significantly influence adoption and use of soil and water conservation measures. Education, sex, off-farm activities, visits by extension agent, showed no significant influence on adoption and use of soil and water conservation measures. Soil data in the predominant SWC measures (terrace benches) revealed that: pH, organic matter, and nitrogen were below the critical values on all the terrace farms. It was revealed that organic manure (IN2) was significant at (p