Factors Influencing Smallholder Farmers’ Attitudes Towards Integrated Soil Fertility Management: Case Study of the Wanka Watershed, Northwestern Highlands of Ethiopia

Abstract

This paper explores factors influencing smallholder farmers’ attitudes towards integrated soil fertility management (ISFM). ISFM is paramount to improve soil fertility for sustainable agricultural productivity, especially in contexts where smallholder agriculture is an important local livelihood and economic activity, as in many countries of the Global South. Alongside the development and availability of new technologies to enhance soil fertility, smallholder farmers’ attitudes towards these innovations in specific contexts are key to determining the extent and outcomes of their uptake. A better understanding of these is thus essential to inform measures to increase ISFM practices among smallholder farmers.

Keywords

• small-scale agriculture
• land management
• organic and chemical fertilizer
• farmer behavior
• socioeconomic factors
• sub-saharan africa