Exclosures in people’s mind: perceptions and attitudes in the Tigray Region

Abstract

The paper examines the perceptions and attitudes of local people living next to nine exclosures in the Tigray RegioninEthiopia.Socialexchangetheorywasusedastheoreticalframeworkanddatawerecollectedfrom446 farminghouseholds.Factoranalysis,multiplelinearregressionandbinarylogisticregressionwereappliedtothe data to identify factors that influenced local household heads’ perceptions of and attitudes towards existing exclosures and further expansion of exclosures. Household heads’ perceptions of exclosures could be grouped undersocial,economicandecologicaldimensions.Somehouseholdheadsexpressedpositiveattitudestowards theexistingexclosures,whilesomewereconcernedaboutthefutureexpansionoftheexclosures.Thefindings alsorevealedthathouseholds’socio-economicprofile,households’knowledgeaboutexclosures,theecological conditionsofexclosures,andthegeographicalattributesofexclosuresallplayedimportantrolesinshapinglocal household heads’ perceptions of exclosures. Moreover, their perceptions of exclosures were significantly correlated with tangible benefits and costs associated with exclosures. Thus, improvement in local communities’ attitudes towards and support for exclosures would follow if exclosures contributed more directly to people’s livelihoods.However,thelevelofsupportforexclosuresisremarkablegiventhefactthattheyhavebeenclosed forgrazingandotheruses.