Abstract: Soil erosion and its consequences is one of the more serious problems in Ethiopia. Various forms of efforts to control the soil erosion through introduced Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) measures have been underway for nearly four decades. Farmer’s adoption rates and effects of SWC on soil loss, moisture retention, labour demand and crop yield have been reviewed here. Literature shows that SWC measures have promising effects on reducing soil loss, trapping a significant quantity of sediment at early stages and improving soil moisture. Crop yield improvement was repeatedly reported especially after two to five years of the structure and frequently in low rainfall areas. But an intensive labour requirement and other biophysical and socioeconomic factors discourage farmer’s adoption of SWC structures. In the conclusion and recommendations section, major constraints of past approaches and amendment possibilities are discussed.