Soil erosion is the driver of food insecurity and environmental
degradation affecting the lives of smallholder farmers. To tackle soil
and water degradation government-led large-scale soil and water
management programs have been introduced at a watershed scale. The
long-term viability of those practices in the Gumara watershed remains a
major challenge. The objective of the study was to better understand the
general approaches used to implement and design watershed management
practices so that soil and nutrient transport to downstream water bodies
could be managed. Sub watersheds from the large Gumara watershed were
identified for detailed study based on erosion hotspots using the SWAT
model. These sub-watersheds represent communities organized for
conservation works in the absence of food assistance programs. The data
were collected from four focus groups of fifty participants each, field
observation, and desk-level meetings with experts. A structured
questionnaire was used to get relevant information to the participating
farmers. According to the findings, each of the selected watersheds used
similar approaches to implement conservation activities. The community
withdrew from conservation efforts, even on their farm fields, since the
success rate was below the expectation. At this spot realizing the
long-term benefits of watershed development activities stayed
challenging. The smallholder farmer, on the other hand, clearly relies
on rain-fed agriculture and hopes to see immediate results to feed his
family. In conclusion, government-led development programs have not been
evaluated, technically supported, lack trusted in the community and
hence development efforts were put in jeopardy.