Informal Survey of Yeju Farming Systems

Abstract

Surveys of farming systems are inevitable, especially in developing countries like Ethiopia where so few basic data on the field are available. Information assembled during the surveys permited the calculation of efficiency of resource use and indicated resource bottlenecks inhibiting productivity or the adoption of new technology (Dixon, 1979). Effective planning depends up on the information developed during the initial diagnostic activities (Tripp and Wooley, 1989). According to Collisons study (1987), identifying farmers' management strategies and understanding how they compromise production methods is a pre requisite for evaluating new techniques proposed for the system. The description of farmers circumstances is attained through the review of secondary data and various kinds of surveys. Yeju awraja has never been surveyed so far. No information on the farming systems of the area is available except the study made at a micro level by the Technical Committee of Agroforestry of Ethiopia which identified this area as one of the area having a potential for improvement of productivity and sustainability through agroforestry interventions. Therefore, problems should be recognized and the root causes, both physical and socio-economic, which triggered off these problems should be assessed in detail at a micro level and subsequent actions should then be prioritized accordingly.