IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/endesu/v27y2025i1d10.1007_s10668-023-03946-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Knowledge, attitude and participation intention to use and management of wetlands: evidence from the central rift valley of Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Fitsum Dechasa

    (Bahir Dar University)

  • Feyera Senbeta

    (Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources)

  • Dawit Diriba

    (The University of British Colombia)

Abstract

Sustainability of wetlands entails resource users’ knowledge, positive Attitude and strong Intention (KAI) to wetlands and their management. This study examines households’ KAI to use and management of wetlands in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia drawing on data collected from 405 households, participatory rural appraisals and experts’ interview. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test and ANOVA were used for data analysis. The result revealed that the overall KAI of households is good; however, the proportions of households with low level of knowledge, unfavorable attitude and low intention are fairly large to hamper sustainable use and management of wetlands. Findings of the study further revealed variation in households’ levels of KAI. The difference in knowledge is explained by age, distance from wetlands, training received and contact with extension agents. Knowledge, training received, extension contact and benefit gain account for the variation in attitude and participation intention to management of wetlands. One key finding is that majority (68.2%) of the households preferred to use the wetlands either for farming or grazing purposes. Hence, there is a need to design a mix of approaches to build up and maximize communities’ KAI about wetlands and their sustainable use and management.

Suggested Citation

  • Fitsum Dechasa & Feyera Senbeta & Dawit Diriba, 2025. "Knowledge, attitude and participation intention to use and management of wetlands: evidence from the central rift valley of Ethiopia," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 1855-1875, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:27:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s10668-023-03946-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-03946-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-023-03946-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10668-023-03946-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jordi Pascual-Ferrer & Agustí Pérez-Foguet & Jordi Codony & Ester Raventós & Lucila Candela, 2014. "Assessment of water resources management in the Ethiopian Central Rift Valley: environmental conservation and poverty reduction," International Journal of Water Resources Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 572-587, September.
    2. Badal, P.S. & Kumar, Pramod & Bisaria, Geeta, 2006. "Dimensions and Determinants of Peoples’ Participation in Watershed Development Programmes in Rajasthan," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 19(01), January.
    3. Turner, R. Kerry & van den Bergh, Jeroen C. J. M. & Soderqvist, Tore & Barendregt, Aat & van der Straaten, Jan & Maltby, Edward & van Ierland, Ekko C., 2000. "Ecological-economic analysis of wetlands: scientific integration for management and policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 7-23, October.
    4. McCartney, Matthew P. & Rebelo, Lisa-Maria & Senaratna Sellamuttu, Sonali & De Silva, Sanjiv, 2010. "Wetlands, agriculture and poverty reduction," IWMI Research Reports 113010, International Water Management Institute.
    5. Honggen Zhu & Zhengfei Guan & Xuan Wei, 2016. "Factors Influencing Farmers’ Willingness to Participate in Wetland Restoration: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Schuyt, Kirsten D., 2005. "Economic consequences of wetland degradation for local populations in Africa," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 177-190, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fitsum Dechasa & Feyera Senbeta & Dawit Diriba Guta, 2021. "Economic value of wetlands services in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(1), pages 29-53, January.
    2. Everard, Mark & Harrington, Rory & McInnes, Robert J., 2012. "Facilitating implementation of landscape-scale water management: The integrated constructed wetland concept," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 2(C), pages 27-37.
    3. Laxmi D. Bhatta & Sunita Chaudhary & Anju Pandit & Himlal Baral & Partha J. Das & Nigel E. Stork, 2016. "Ecosystem Service Changes and Livelihood Impacts in the Maguri-Motapung Wetlands of Assam, India," Land, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-14, June.
    4. Chiwaula, Levison & Waibel, Hermann, 2011. "Does seasonal vulnerability to poverty matter? A case study from the Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands in Nigeria," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2011 19, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    5. Wali, E & Phil-Eze, P.O & Nwankwoala, H.O, 2018. "Saltwater - Freshwater Wetland Ecosystem And Urban Land Use Change In Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria," Earth Sciences Malaysia (ESMY), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 2(1), pages 1-7, January.
    6. Tenwalde, Tracy & Jones, Eugene & Hitzhusen, Frederick J., 2005. "An Economic Analysis of Consumer Expenditures for Safe Drinking Water: Addressing Nitrogen Risk with an Averting Cost Approach," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19431, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    7. Hassan, Suziana & Olsen, Søren Bøye & Thorsen, Bo Jellesmark, 2019. "Urban-rural divides in preferences for wetland conservation in Malaysia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 226-237.
    8. Posthumus, H. & Rouquette, J.R. & Morris, J. & Gowing, D.J.G. & Hess, T.M., 2010. "A framework for the assessment of ecosystem goods and services; a case study on lowland floodplains in England," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1510-1523, May.
    9. Duxbury, Jane & Dickinson, Sarah, 2007. "Principles for sustainable governance of the coastal zone: In the context of coastal disasters," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2-3), pages 319-330, August.
    10. Ishmael B. M. Kosamu & Wouter T. De Groot & Patrick S. Kambewa & Geert R. De Snoo, 2012. "Institutions and Ecosystem-Based Development Potentials of the Elephant Marsh, Malawi," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(12), pages 1-20, December.
    11. Turpie, Jane & Day, Elizabeth & Ross-Gillespie, Vere & Louw, Anton, 2010. "Estimation of the Water Quality Amelioration Value of Wetlands: A Study of the Western Cape, South Africa," RFF Working Paper Series dp-10-15-efd, Resources for the Future.
    12. Rodenburg, Jonne & Zwart, Sander J. & Kiepe, Paul & Narteh, Lawrence T. & Dogbe, Wilson & Wopereis, Marco C.S., 2014. "Sustainable rice production in African inland valleys: Seizing regional potentials through local approaches," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-11.
    13. Hein, Lars & van Koppen, Kris & de Groot, Rudolf S. & van Ierland, Ekko C., 2006. "Spatial scales, stakeholders and the valuation of ecosystem services," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 209-228, May.
    14. Boya Wang & Zhicheng Liu & Yuting Mei & Wenjie Li, 2019. "Assessment of Ecosystem Service Quality and Its Correlation with Landscape Patterns in Haidian District, Beijing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-34, April.
    15. Bass, Daniel A. & McFadden, Brandon R. & Messer, Kent D., 2021. "A case for measuring negative willingness to pay for consumer goods," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    16. Caroline Sullivan & Jeremy Meigh, 2007. "Integration of the biophysical and social sciences using an indicator approach: Addressing water problems at different scales," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 21(1), pages 111-128, January.
    17. Yang, Wu & Chang, Jie & Xu, Bin & Peng, Changhui & Ge, Ying, 2008. "Ecosystem service value assessment for constructed wetlands: A case study in Hangzhou, China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1-2), pages 116-125, December.
    18. Elsa Martin & Hubert Stahn, 2013. "Potential Conflict and Inefficiencies Arising in Agri-environmental Management," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(2), pages 423-445, June.
    19. Punys, P. & Radzevičius, A. & Kvaraciejus, A. & Gasiūnas, V. & Šilinis, L., 2019. "A multi-criteria analysis for siting surface-flow constructed wetlands in tile-drained agricultural catchments: The case of Lithuania," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 1036-1046.
    20. Schuyt, Kirsten D., 2005. "Economic consequences of wetland degradation for local populations in Africa," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 177-190, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:27:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s10668-023-03946-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.