Pastorals and Agro-Pastorals Perception on Rainwater Harvesting Technology in Deboweyn Woreda, Qorahe Zone, Somali Regional State, Ethiopia

Rainwater harvesting could be one of the most important strategies to increase agricultural production from cropping of a given area of land more frequently and more intensively. This paper tries to study the cases of adoption of Rain Water Harvest Technology (RWHT) by pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the study area and to assess the perception of farmers on adoption of RWHT. The research method employed in this study was descriptive survey approach aimed at examining and describing the major situations associated factors affecting adoption of rainwater harvesting technology in the study area. 176 sampled households were randomly selected from the study area to generate the data set. The selected main variables were drought, low fertility of soil, high input price, lack of input supply on time and the nature of dry land utilization are persistent constraints and have resulted in considerable reduction of ecosystem productivity in the study area. Most of respondents perceived (86.3%) that the study area of arid and semi-arid rangelands are characterized by unstable climatic conditions, which make drought unpredictable, droughts result from the disruption of rainfall pattern failure or extended dry season. The majorities of sampled household were perceived that RWH technology reduces soil erosion, RWH technology decreases the effect of drought, RWH technology increases agro- pastoral production, RWH technology is consistent with existing pastorals and agro-pastorals