Vol.:(0123456789) Environment, Development and Sustainability https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-018-0203-2 1 3 How farmers’ characteristics infuence spontaneous spreading of stone bunds in the highlands of Ethiopia: a case study in the Girar Jarso woreda Meskerem Abi 1,3  · Aad Kessler 1  · Peter Oosterveer 2  · Degefa Tolossa 3 Received: 11 September 2017 / Accepted: 16 June 2018 © The Author(s) 2018 Abstract This study aims to identify key diferences between farmers who spontaneously implement stone bunds (i.e. farmers implementing stone bunds by their own initiative) and farmers who do not. Data were collected in the Girar Jarso woreda in the central highlands of Ethi- opia, through a household survey with 80 farmers: 40 with spontaneously implemented stone bunds and 40 without. Independent samples t test, principal component analysis and regression analysis were used to analyse the data. Results show that fve key-factors explain diferences between the two groups of farmers: (1) readiness to change, (2) available resources, (3) social capital, (4) type of family, and (5) commitment. These factors together explain 73% of the variance in the data set and show that particularly characteristics related to the farmer’s intrinsic motivation play a crucial role to spontaneously implement and integrate stone bunds into the farming system. Furthermore, results show that young farm- ers are most committed to soil conservation: they are often intrinsically motivated dynamic farmers who are ready to change their future and improve productivity and food security. The study suggests that government extension programmes should therefore focus more on these young and dynamic farmers and foster their readiness to change. This implies that extension workers and government ofcials should better understand the crucial role of farmers’ intrinsic motivation when dealing with sustainable land management, and also reformulate extension strategies and messages. This is particularly important when devel- oping a scaling-up strategy that helps to sustainably increase agricultural production and achieve food security of small-holder farmers in Ethiopia. Keywords Sustainable land management · Readiness to change · Intrinsic motivation · Social capital · Extension strategies * Meskerem Abi meskerem.teka@wur.nl 1 Soil Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands 2 Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands 3 College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia