Land degradation in the form of soil erosion is the most constraining factor of agriculture in thernfoothills of Entoto Mountain. It is increasingly understood that sustainable land managementrn(SLM) is required, not only to balance land for food and nature, but also to unlock paths tornsustainable development. However, several challenges impede its success fit! promotion. Thus,rnidentification of these challenges is of paramount importance. Therefore, this study was aimed tornjill this gap by investigating challenges of SLM in terms of the perception of farmers on thernproblem and causes of soil erosion; constraints of the existing SLM practices; and bio-physical,rnsocia-economic and institutional challenges of promoting successfid SLMrnTo achieve these objectives, personal interview of 108 households was condue/ed in the selectedrnsLt peasants 'gats' at the foothills of Entoto Mountain using structured questions. Proportionalrnsill1ple random sampling technique was used to select the households. In addition, jieldrnobservation, focus group discussion and key informant interview were conducted. Descriptivernstatistics were employedfor data analysis inline with the objectives of the study.rnThe result discloses that farmers have good perception of the problem of soil erosion. But theirrnperception on the extent/severity of soil erosion is lirnited to visual authentication such as gulliesrnand gives more emphaSiS to long time than shari term indicators. Farmers' perception ofrnpopulation growth as a cause of soil erosion is also hardly longed-for. As most femners have arngood perception of controlling soil erosion, they use contour plowing, traditional terraces,rntraditional waterways, traditional ditches, unplowed strips, traditional check dallls, andrnplantations. Moreover, manure, composting and fertilization are used to augment production.rnHowever, the existing practices are not effectively applied to control soil erosion due to varimlsrnconstraints of the technologies such as land shortage, labor shortage, rodents, conflict, erosionrnrisk, lock of knowledge, high opportunity cost, loll' durability, high cost, and materials.rnDerived , by bio-physical, socia-economic and institutional forces: heavy run-off; Fee andrnunregulated grazing, cereal mono-cropping, prevalence of production oriented land use changes,rnengagement in non-sustainable off-farm income diversification activities such as sale of stone, filelrnvood and dung cake, tenure insecurity, strategic problems, low resource endowment, and /Oll'rncredit and extension services constrained the promotion of success fit! SLM by distressing the levelrnof investment households commit to SLMpractices.rnThe study suggests the follOWing implications which help to meet the challenges of sustainablern7a)Jd management in the foothills of Entoto Mountain. Extensive farmers ' education for bellerrnelucidation of land degradation processes and I'nanagement; technical support tofarmers toward,'rnintegration, design and specifications of SLM practices; non-politically demarcated integratedrnwatershed management; introduction of modern SLM practices which have ecological andrneconomical effectiveness; literacy campaign and family planning; environmental Fiendly ojj-jimnrnopportunities; environmentally Fiendly alternative sources of energy; long-term lease tenure;rnintegrated credit and extension services; and policies and strategies that coordinate and makernstrong both rural and urban systems.