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Agricultural lands in many developing countries are increasingly declining primarily because of land degradation, which is a major cause of poverty in the rural areas. Of all the problems, soil erosion by water is the most threatening and widespread ecological process that adversely affect rural population by reducing productivity and resource degradation. This is more serous in some agrarian countries like Ethiopia specifically the high lands. Soil erosion is not only the burning issue of today but also a menace to the future. To curve this tragedy, numbers of soil and water management activities have been extensively carried out in the Ethiopian highlands. However, such tremendous efforts were not able to attain the objectives anticipated. Hence, this book is devoted to assess the numbers of interrelated factors that shared their respective roles in aggravating soil erosion, and adversely affecting the effectiveness of the conservation measures practiced in the study area. And, it is believed that the book will be helpful for researchers, planners, and people working in resources conservation and related aspects in Ethiopia.

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Yechale kebede is a research scholar in the department of Environmental Sciences, Andhra University, India, and Lecturer in Arba Minch University.

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