DEBRE MARKOS UNIVERSITY

BURIE CAMPUS
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

SENIOR SEMINAR ON

THE ROLE OF SMALL-SCALE IRRIGATION ON INCOME GENERATION FOR

RURAL FARMS IN ETHIOPIA

BY: ID

HABTAM NIGUSIE 1202/11 ADVISOR:ANIMUT (Msc)

A Senior Seminar Paper

Submitted to the Department of Natural Resource Management,

in Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Course Senior Seminar (NaRM)

MARCH:/2021

Burie, Amahara , ETHIOPIA

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Table of Contents

Acronyms.........................................................................................................................................................IV
Acknowledgement............................................................................................................................................V

Abstract.............................................................................................................................................................VI

1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................................7

1.1 Objective................................................................................................................................................8

1.1.1 General Objective...............................................................................................................................8

1.1.2 specific Objectives......................................................................................................................................9
2. Literature review............................................................................................................................................9
2.1 Irrigation Agriculture in Ethiopia...................................................................................................................9
2.2 .Irrigation development................................................................................................................................9
2.2.1 Rational for Irrigation Development....................................................................................................11
2.3. Irrigation resources development of Ethiopia............................................................................................12
2.3.1 over view of Irrigation development in Ethiopia..................................................................................12
2.4. Irrigation schemes classification................................................................................................................13
2.4.1. Large scale-scheme:-...........................................................................................................................13
2.4.2. Medium-scale scheme........................................................................................................................13
2.4.3.Small-scale scheme.............................................................................................................................13

2.4.4. Micro-irrigation:..................................................................................................................................13
2.5. Irrigation Techniques.................................................................................................................................14
2.5.1. Surface irrigation:................................................................................................................................14
2.5.2. Sprinkler irrigation:.............................................................................................................................14
2.5.3. Drip/trickle irrigation:.........................................................................................................................14
2.5.4. Subsurface irrigation:..........................................................................................................................14
2.6. Irrigation Impact on House Hold Income...................................................................................................16
2.7. Irrigation utilization and development in Ethiopia.....................................................................................17

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2.8 crops grown under irrigation..................................................................................................................18
3. Small- scale irrigation schemes.........................................................................................................................20
3.1 Small-scale Irrigation and Food Security.....................................................................................................21
3.2 Small-scale Irrigation and Employment generation....................................................................................22
3.3. Problems and constraints of small scale irrigation.....................................................................................22
4. Conclusion........................................................................................................................................................23
6. Recommendation.............................................................................................................................................24
7. Reference..........................................................................................................................................................25

III
 Acronyms
CSA ----------------------------------------- Central Statistics Authority

FDRE--------------------------------------Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

MOFED ----------------------------------Ministry of Finance and Economy Development

MoWE------------------------------------Ministry of Water and Energy

GoE---------------------------------------Government of Ethiopia

NGOs------------------------------------Non-Governmental Organization

IWMI-------------------------------------- Integrated Water Management Institute

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 Acknowledgement
First of all, I would like to thank my Supreme and Almighty GOD forever who help me
in all everything and to reach here. Secondly I would like to thank my advisor:
Animut(Msc) who helps me by spending his golden time and gave me unlimited
advice and much information in preparing this seminar. Finally, I would like to express
my Family inorder to support Economically and multi way.

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 ABSTRACT

Ethiopia is a country located in the horn of east Africa. The economy of the country is mainly
dependent on agricultural sector. The cultivation is rain fed rather than irrigation. Irrigation is one
means by which agricultural production can be increased to meet the growing food demands in
Ethiopia. The most successful households have increased their asset; the government has also made a
huge investment in irrigation infrastructure and created an enabling institutional and economic
environment for the development and success of irrigation. Irrigation development in Ethiopia has
been focused on the agronomic, engineering aspects, with little consideration to issues of water
management, beneficiary participation and availability of institutional support services. Small-scale
irrigation is a policy priority in Ethiopia for rural poverty alleviation, and growth as well as climate
adaptation. Small scale irrigation improved income generation, employment generation and overall
food security. Small scale technology can be based on farmers’ existing knowledge, local technical,
managerial and entrepreneur skills. The application of improved seed varieties is better in irrigated
farms than
rain-fed farms. Availability of adequate water resource is very important for the irrigation development.
Farmers have faced some challenges to expand and diversify the irrigation scheme because of scare
water availability. Historical experiences showed that effective local institutions (formal and informal)
are important for the success of small scale irrigation schemes. Generally, small scale irrigation systems
may have greater advantages than large scale systems.

Key terms: small-scale irrigation, rain fed agriculture, food security and household inc

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 1. INTRODUCTION

Ethiopia is a country located in the horn of east Africa. The country has an abundance water resource,
cultivable land, and good climatic environment. The economy of the country is mainly dependent on
agricultural sector. The cultivation is rain feed rather than irrigation. Most of the farmers usually do not
practice irrigation at all. Because of this, food availability, food self sufficiency, and food security is the
great challenge of the nation. The Ministry of agriculture designed to implement different irrigation
method though out the country (Asayehegn et al. 2011).
Irrigation is one means by which agricultural production can be increased to meet the growing food
demands in Ethiopia. Ethiopia indeed has significant irrigation potential. Realizing the potential
irrigation development can contribute towards food security and improved welfare. The Government of
the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE), has embarked on wide range of water
development efforts throughout the country. A separate Ministry of Water Resource Development has
been established. Poverty alleviation during the past half century has been largely a result of economic
growth. Developing countries that promote sustainable economic growth often reduce their poverty
levels and can strengthen their democratic and political stability (Roemer and Gugerty, 1997).
Irrigation development in Ethiopia has been focused on the agronomic, engineering and technical
aspects of water projects, with little consideration to issues of management, beneficiary participation
and availability of institutional support services. Moreover, in many developing countries the success of
irrigation systems is highly affected by policy, institutional and social factors much more than technical
issues (Gebremedhin and Peden, 2002).
Small-scale irrigation is a policy priority in Ethiopia for rural poverty alleviation and growth (MOFED,
2006), as well as climate adaptation (GoE, 2007). Only around 5% of Ethiopia’s irrigable land is
irrigated (World Bank, 2006), and less than 5% of total renewable water resources are withdrawn
annually so there is considerable scope for expansion (FAO, 2005).
It enables households to generate more income, increase their resilience, promote rural food security,
and in some cases transform their livelihoods. Irrigation has the potential to stimulate rural growth and
generate new employment opportunities, irrigating households reported an average 20% increase in

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annual income since adopting irrigation, and in some cases up to 300%, due to cultivation of higher
value crops, intensified production and reduced losses. Nutrition was said to have improved as various
fruit and vegetables became locally available. The most successful households have increased their
asset; the government has made a huge investment in irrigation infrastructure and also created an
enabling institutional and economic environment for the development and success of irrigation.
Nongovernmental and other concerned organizations have also encouraged allocating more budgets and
investing in irrigated agriculture (Laced 2004).
Based on this, the federal and the regional governments associated with other international and local
NGOs have significantly supported technically and financially to rural farmers to participate and use
irrigation farming. As a matter of fact, the irrigated farmland, irrigation production and the number of
irrigation farmers in the country have notably increased, up to 80%, between 1990 and 2010 (CSA,
2012).

1. 1.Objective

1.1.1 General Objective ;

 to review the role of small scale irrigation in income generation in rural households.
1.1.2 Specific Objectives
 To determine factors that affect small scale irrigation.
 To identify the importance of small scale irrigation for farming.

2. Literature review
2.1 Irrigation Agriculture in Ethiopia

According to (MoWE, 2012), the history of irrigation in Ethiopia traced to the first century where the
ancient people produced subsistence food crops and fruits along the river banks. Irrigation is an ancient
agricultural practice which was extensively used by a number of early civilizations such as the ancient
Egyptians and Ethiopians. The modern irrigation in Ethiopia, however, documented in the 1960s where
the government designed large irrigation projects in the Awash Valley to produce food crops for

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domestic consumption and industrial crops for exports. The first-five-years national policy in 1950s
(1957-62) prioritized to the development of the infrastructure services. The second-five-years plan
(1963-67) focused on manufacturing, minerals and electric power development. Both gave less
attention to agriculture by assuming that the sector was self-sufficient in supplying food for the ever-
growing population and raw materials to the emerging industries. However, the outcome of the policy
was different from the expectation and the sector was not self-sufficient. Ethiopia has turned from food
self-sufficiency to food import and food aid in its history (Lakew, 2004).

2.2 .Irrigation development

Irrigation is generally defined as the application of water to the land for the purpose of supplying
moisture essential to plant growth. It is an age-old art. Irrigation was practiced for thousands of
years in the Nile Valley. Egypt claims to have the world's oldest dam built about 5000 years ago
to supply drinking water and for irrigation. At that time basin irrigation was introduced and still
plays a significant role in Egyptian agriculture. According to Zewdie et al. (2007) irrigation has
been practiced in Egypt, China, India and other parts of Asia for a long period of time. India and
Far East have grown rice using irrigation nearly for 5000 years. The Nile valley in Egypt, the
plain of Euphrates and Tigris in Iraq were under irrigation for 4000 years. Irrigation is the
foundation of civilization in numerous regions. Egyptians have depended on Nile’s flooding for
irrigation continuously for a long period of time on a large scale. The land between Euphrates
and Tigris, Mesopotamia, was the bread basket for the Sumerian Empire. The civilization
developed from centrally controlled irrigation system (Schilfgaard 1994).

Evidence also shows that irrigation in China was begun about 4000 years ago. There were
reservoirs in Sri Lanka more than 2000 years old. As far back as 2300 BC, the Babylonian Code
of Khammurabi provided that 'If anyone opens his irrigation canals to let in water, but is careless
and the water floods the fields of his neighbor, he shall measure out grain to the latter in
proportion to the yield of the neighboring field.' Other indicator for irrigation development is found in
the stony-gravel limestone desert of the Negev area in Israel. Remnants of these ancient
irrigation systems date back from the Israelite period (about 1000 BC) and from the Nabataea-

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Roman-Byzantine era (300 BC to 600 AD). In the absence of permanent water sources, the
ancient farmers developed 'runoff' farm systems that used sporadic flash floods for irrigating
(Shanan 1987).

Ethiopia has a long history of traditional irrigation systems. Simple river diversion still is the
dominant irrigation system in Ethiopia. According to Gebremedhin and Peden (2002), the
country’s irrigation potential ranges from 1.0 to 3.5 million hectares but the recent studies
indicate that the irrigation potential of the country is higher. According to Tilahun and Paulos
(2004) as cited by Awulachew et al. (2010), estimates of the irrigation potential of Ethiopia may
be as large as 4.3 million hectares. Traditional irrigation schemes cover more than 138,000
hectares whereas modern small-scale irrigation covers about 48,000 hectares. The total current
irrigation covers only about 6% of the estimated potential land area.

According to the MOA (2005) and Awulachew et al. (2007), Amhara region has 770,000
hectares of irrigation potential. Different development activities have been underway to utilize
these resources. Currently, there are 310 irrigation schemes operating in the Amhara region. The
irrigation schemes developed cover an irrigated area of 8,469 hectares with 17,443 beneficiaries.
Of these total irrigated areas, 5,719 hectares are from small-scale and 2,751 are from medium-
scale irrigation schemes.

2.2.1 Rational for Irrigation Development

Irrigation development has attention and support of policy makers and international donors. A
World Bank country study on Indonesian strategy for sustainable poverty reductions put
irrigation as the most powerful single tools for reaching poor farmers, as the only way in which
the earning power of very small plot of land, over a large area of country can be dramatically
increased. Irrigation provides for small farmers as an opportunity to increase cropping intensity
and double or triple the effective size of holding (World Bank; country study, 1990)

The role of irrigation is meeting world food needs. In this connection, production thinking which
sees production as a sufficient and in itself, contrasts with livelihood thinking which sees production as
a means of enhancing the well being and livelihoods especially for the poorer
people. With livelihood thinking irrigation is assessed in terms of the adequate and secures

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livelihoods that putting anti-poverty effect. An adequate and secure livelihood can be defined
here as a level of asset and stockers and flows of food and cash which provides physical and
social well being for household and protection against improvements. This applies to all
members of household and especially to women, who are most deprived (chamber, 1988).

2.3. Irrigation resources development of Ethiopia

Ethiopia has substantial potential for irrigated agriculture. The traditional irrigation is very old in
the country. The traditional small-scale scheme consists in general, simple river diversion
structures that are rudimentary and subjected to frequent damage by flood. Modern irrigation is
the most recent phenomenon in the country and it was started at the beginning of 1960s by
private investor in the middle of awash valley where big sugarcanes, fruits and cotton firms are
found. With 1975 rural land proclamation, the large irrigated farms were placed under the
responsibility of the ministry of state farms (MSF). Almost all small-scale irrigation schemes
built after 1975 were organized in to producer's cooperatives (World Bank, 2005).

2.3.1 over view of Irrigation development in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has a total land area of about 113,000,000 hectares; out of the total land area more than
50% is regarded to be sustainable for cultivations. The country has substantial potential for
irrigation .The traditional irrigation is very old in the country. The small -scale scheme consist in
general , simple river diversion structure , that are rudimentary and subjected to frequent damage
by flood .Modern irrigation is the most recent phenomena in the country and it was started at the
beginning of 1960s by private investors in the middle of Awash valley where big sugar canes ,
fruits and cotton firms are found .Ethiopia has an estimated potential irrigable land of 3.5 million
hectares of land ,out of which up to 4000 hectares can be developed for small-scale irrigation
scheme. Estimated actual irrigated land area is only about 3% of the potential whatever the
development is 74% of the irrigated land are served by the medium and large scheme were
located in Awash valley. Annual potential of water resources is about 110 billion meter cube of
which about 2.6 billion meter cube is from underground water which may be used for irrigation too
currently,

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 2.4. Irrigation schemes classification
There are 3 types of irrigation development schemes in Ethiopia .these are:

2.4.1. Large scale-scheme:-

Are centrally managed state farms for commercial productions and
covering 3000 hectares or more to be designed by water resource development authority and
constructed under its supervision?

2.4.2. Medium-scale scheme:

it exists with the size less than 3000 hectares and 2,920 hectares under construction in 1990.The size of
the scheme ranges between 200 hectares and 300 hectare extends beyond one peasant association,
requiring a greater degree of government developments provided through the water resource authority.
At first it intended as self help low cost development, it latter modified to include commercial
production such as coffee, sugarcanes and
2.4.3. Small-scale scheme:-

The size extending up to 200 hectares and involves about 35,900 beneficiary farmers in the area. It is
used for production of food crop and vegetables cotton.

2.4.4. Micro-irrigation:
It is very small in size sometimes called localized irrigation, low volume irrigation, or trickle
irrigation is a system where water is distributed under low pressure through a piped network, in a pre-
determined pattern, and applied as a small discharge to each plant or adjacent to it. Traditional drip
irrigation using individual emitters, subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), micro-spray or micro-sprinkler
irrigation, and mini-bubbler irrigation all belong to this category of irrigation methods.

2.5. Irrigation Techniques

2.5.1. Surface irrigation:

It consists of abroad classification methods which water is distributed over the surface
of soil by gravity flow. The irrigation water is introduced into level or graded furrows or

6
basin using siphons, gated pipes or turn out structures, and it allowed to advance across
the field. Surface irrigation is the best suited to flat lad slopes and medium to fine
textured soil types which promote the lateral spread of water down the furrows across
the basin

2.5.2. Sprinkler irrigation:

Is method of Irrigation which water is sprayed or sprinkled though the airs in the rain like drops. the

spray and sprinkling devices can be permanently set in space (soil set) temporarily set
and then moved after given amount of water has been applied ,they can be mounted on
booms pipe lines that continuously travel across the land surface(wheel roll, linear move,
center pivot)

2.5.3. Drip/trickle irrigation:

Systems are methods of micro irrigation where water is applied through emitters to the
soil surface as drop or small streams. The discharge rate of the emitters slow so this
irrigation method can be used on all soil types.

2.5.4. Subsurface irrigation:

Consists of methods where by irrigation water is applied below the soil surface. The
specific type of irrigation method varies depending on the depth of the water table.
When the water table is well below the surface, drip or trickle irrigation emission
devices can be buried below the soil surface (usually within the plant root zone) .

The following table shows the list of main projects in ethiopia

 Kessem Tendaho

 Koga irrigation and watershed

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 Lake tana shore irrigationirrigation

 Raya valley pressurized irrigation

 Zawey irrigation

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 2.6. Irrigation Impact on House Hold Income

In general maximum yield under irrigation require loss inputs of additional water and marginal
increase in output are often low. In addition irrigation crops tends to respond to increase inputs
of fertilizer especially nitrogen, even at relatively low level of soil moisture, there may be mark
increase in yield when fertilizer are applied largely because the availability of moisture facilitates
the uptake of nutrient. Thus, there are often benefits in irrigation in association with fertilizer
application particularly, where soil available to be dry (Garwood, 1979).

House hold income is complex. it can be generated from farm and off farm activities. Cost
benefit analysis can be computed taking in accordance to all costs and benefits. Cost benefit
analysis and annual household requirement was then cultivated on rain fall and irrigation
agriculture. To see the impact of irrigation on household income lack of income buy the farmers, no
crop rotation long time taking, lack of sufficient funds for service and repair, poor
organization of the world and direct cost of crop production were considered, investment as
government expenditure, other infamies from farm activities were ignore to minimize the
complex nature of household behavior (Onoo, 2000).

2.7. Irrigation utilization and development in Ethiopia

Irrigation is the artificial application of water to soil for the purpose of crop production.

Irrigation water is supplied to supplement the water available from rainfall and the contribution
to soil moisture from the ground water. In many areas of the world the amount and timing of
rainfall are not adequate to meet the moisture requirements of crops and irrigation is essential to
raise crops necessary to meet the needs of food and fiber

Irrigation is an age-old art, as old as civilization. The increasing need for crop production for the
growing population is causing the rapid expansion of irrigation statistics. In Ethiopia Water, being a
limited resource, its efficient use is basic to survival of the ever increasing population of the world. Our

9
aim to day is to increase agricultural productivity per unit area of cropped land, per unit time. In
Ethiopia a study conducted by Woldeab,(2003) identified that in Tigray irrigated agriculture
has benefited some house hold by provide an opportunity to increase agricultural production
through double cropping and by taking advantage of modern technologies and high crops that
called intensive farming.
Scientific management of irrigations water provides the best insurance against weather induced
fluctuations in total food production. This is the only way in which we can make our agriculture
competitive and profitable.

2.8 crops grown under irrigation

 Pastures
Perennial pastures are most commonly irrigated for dairy cattle. The aim is to maintain growth of the pasture
species in a vegetative phase, and minimize water stress during the irrigation season.

Pastures should comprise a mix of perennial species that will be productive. This includes for example white
clover, perennial ryegrass and cocksfoot.

The root zone of perennial pastures typically extends to about 15-30 cm depending on a number of factors such
as soil pH, soil fertility status, rainfall, irrigation level and strategy and aluminum and manganese levels.

 Sugarcane
Sugarcane is one the main crops grown under irrigation. Sugarcane is globally the main source of commercial
sugar, accounting for nearly 70% of the world sugar production. In the last decade global sugar consumption has
been increasing at a steady rate of 2% per year.

In the 21st century, sugarcane has emerged as the most efficient source of ethanol. Per-unit-area yields of ethanol
from sugarcane are at least double that produced from wheat or maize. Sugarcane is a multipurpose crop that also
provides a series of added-value products such as animal feed, antibiotics, particle board, biofertilizer and raw
material for generating electricity.

 Fodder Crops

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The most commonly irrigated fodder crops are brassica’s sown in spring, oats and short-tem ryegrass
varieties/clover mixes. These are generally sown to target a specific pasture deficit, and generally benefit from
irrigation. On many dairy farms the use of effluent can result in substantial increases in the yield of fodder
crops. There are a number of commonly grown brassica fodder crops with turnips being the most common for a
number of reasons.

Brassica fodder crops respond poorly to irrigation prior to bulb initiation (usually the first 6 weeks of growth)
and as a result there is a large potential to waste a lot of water in this period. Crops that successfully germinate
can be expected to go without water for the first 6 weeks unless conditions are extremely dry.

 Cereals

Cereals such as spring sown barley commonly suffer moisture stress in December. At this time a number of
factors work together to make this a critical period;

 Weather conditions are becoming warmer and dryer, and water demands peak.
 Crop leaf areas are high, so there is potential for high rates of water use.
 Yields are very susceptible to water stress at flowering; in spring sown barley for example flowering
occurs in early December.

As a result of these influences, yields of barley in many districts are strongly related to the amount of rainfall in
the first 2 weeks of December. You might think, therefore, that this is the best time to irrigate, and in some years
this is true. A complicating issue is that if conditions are dry earlier in the season and the crop is stressed for
water before ear emergence, then irrigation at this time is very likely to cause “second growth”.

 Potatoes – commercial & seed crops

Profitable potato production depends on an adequate supply of water to the roots throughout the growing season.
Water is a major constituent of potato plants, making up 90 –95 % of green tissues and 75 – 85% of tubers.A
growing potato crop uses a lot of water. In average conditions a well growing potato crop will use 6+ mm of
water per day.

Crop water use is generally expressed as evapotranspiration. This is the sum of evaporation from the soil and
transpiration from the plants.

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  Pome fruit, apples and pears

Apples and pears have a large demand for water to support all physiological processes required for fruit and tree
development and to ensure good bud formation for the return crop. Water has a direct impact on yield and
quality parameters - fruit size, colour, soluble solids and keeping quality.

One tone of fruit contains 850L of pure water. To grow this crop the trees need 85000L of water during the
growing season. This means that only 1% of water is retained in the crop, while the tree parts hold less than
0.5%. In high producing intensive plantings a 50t/ha crop will require 4.25 megalitres of water.

The moisture regime affects the overall rate of fruit growth but not at the same level during the season. As the
diameter gets larger constant increase in diameter is reflected in much larger gain in fruit volume. Therefore, the
impact of water stress will be more pronounced during the latter stages of fruit growth. This is a very important
point in irrigation management. In seasons when irrigation water storage is limited we must make sure that
adequate water volume is reserved for the period four to six weeks prior to harvest.

3. Small- scale irrigation schemes

It includes traditional small–scale schemes up to 100 hectare and modern communal schemes up to 200
hector. There might also be especial instances, such as the traditional spate irrigation in Tigray which
would cover up to 400 hectare. The construction of these kinds of schemes is initiated by farmers with
limited assistance from the government. The farmers manage it through their own water users
association. Water user associations have long existed to manage traditional schemes. They are well
organized and operated effectively. There is strong social capital in such areas; therefore, there is not a
problem of information asymmetry. The associations handle construction, water allocation; operation
and maintenance functions. Small-scale modern schemes can be also constructed by the Federal or
Regional government in order to overcome the catastrophic climatic change and drought since 1973.
Such schemes involved dams and the diversion of streams and rivers. Generally, small scale systems
may have greater advantages than large scale systems.
Small scale technology can be based on farmers existing knowledge, local technical, managerial and
entrepreneur skills. Migration and resettlement of the labor is not usually required, planning can be
more flexible. In addition, social infrastructure requirements are lower. On the other hand, large

12
projects can ensure the benefit of the surrounding population by providing employment opportunities.
However, the successfulness of the irrigation system is not determined by its size but by its
institutional, physical and technical factors.

3.1 Small-scale Irrigation and Food Security

This reviewed the economic contribution of small scale irrigation on household income, employment,
modern farm input uses and food security. G/egziabher, (2008) compared farm production in irrigation
and rainfall-based areas of Tigray and found that the rain-fed areas produced subsistence crops and
encountered a chronic food deficit while the irrigation-based areas produced cash crops with surplus
production due to post-harvest storage facilities, and doubling or tripling effects of irrigation.
Construction of 126 surfaces and 54 sprinkler irrigations in the Arab countries also led to the
cultivation of high-value horticultural crops such as tomatoes, peas, green peppers, groundnuts, maize,
cucumbers and rape (Singh et al. 2009). Small-scale irrigation in Ethiopia enabled households to
diversify production to new types of marketable crops like fruits, cash crops and vegetables (Eshetu
2010).
Farmland and also generates employment. It encourages farmers to produce two or three times in a year
and use more of chemical inputs. Studies show that small scale irrigation in developing countries was
counted on to increase production, reduce the dependence effects of unpredictable rainfall and provide
jobs to the poor (Chazovachii2012, Torell and Ward 2010).

3.2 Small-scale Irrigation and Employment generation

According to (BoARD ,2012) Unemployment problem- the proportion of the working population who
is actively looking for a paying job and ready to work at the prevailing wage but couldn’t find a job- is
a formidable challenge in all regions. The problem of unemployment is higher in rural areas than urban
areas and sometimes reaches 25%, though the trend has been recently changing because of rural
urbanization and expansion of non-farm businesses in rural areas. Expansion of irrigated agriculture is
one of the government strategies to solve unemploymentproblem. For example, with erratic and
seasonal rainfall, farmers are often remained idle during the dry-season. After construction and
involvement in irrigation, the irrigation water can supply year-round production so that the rural

13
farmers can enable to operate year round accordingly. Thus, irrigation schemes can generate
employment to some members and nonmembers.

3.3. Problems and constraints of small scale irrigation

Farmers have faced some challenges to expand and diversify the irrigation schemes. The farmer survey
indicated that the constraints of the irrigated agriculture in the study area are lack of sufficient water
and conflict over water uses, lack of effective marketing system, lack of input supply and irrigation
facilities, weak and ineffective water users’ association, lack of money for operation and maintenance,
presence of pests and diseases, and unclear land tenure system. Lack of knowledge, low level of
education, Lack of effective marketing system is another constraint for irrigation sector. They have no
appropriate irrigation infrastructures (e.g. cold storage services, transport, post-harvest handling and so
forth). There are also no agro- processing industries in the region. As a result, farmers have suffered
during excess production. For example, prices immediately go down with high supply so the farmers
couldn’t store to sell latter due to lack of storage facilities. They couldn’t sell their produces elsewhere
because of lack of transport services. They couldn’t contact wholesalers/retailers on account of weak
bargaining and lack of market information. The farmer survey also shows that the products don’t meet
the requirements of product range, quality, and continuity due to lack of market infrastructure and lack
of market knowledge. The farmer survey confirms that the supply of improved seeds and chemical
inputs is limited, on the one hand, and beyond the affordability of the local farmers, on the other hand.
The limited supply of modern farm inputs for irrigation of agricultural inputs and financial resources to
afford the expensive price of farm inputs are among the major constraints for the growth of irrigation
sector in the woreda. Because of the unavailability of chemical inputs, often occurrence of pests and
diseases is also against the irrigation farming. Government ownership for land, that gives the right to
use but not the right to completely own, discourages farmers to undertake long term investment in
irrigation schemes (e.g. planting permanent fruits, construction of canals, etc.). Thus, shortage of input
supply, lack of money for inputs and land ownership are among the constraints for irrigation sector.

4. Conclusion

As we conclude that there are still many rural peoples who are not participating in small-scale irrigation
although they have irrigated farms. This is because of lack of access to information, education and
other awareness enhancing systems. Thus, government associated with other organizations should give

14
priority to strength the local rural associations and different social and physical infrastructure services
(e.g. schools, training centers, etc.) wherein the communities can easily get knowledge and skills about
the significance of small scale irrigation through formal education, exposure visits, public meeting,
panel discussion, demonstration and other means.

Historical experiences explained that effective and strong local institutions (formal and informal) are
important for the success of small scale irrigation schemes. Hence, the establishment and empowerment
of the local institutions (e.g. water associations) should be given priority in the community-based
developmental programs to properly and effectively manage the irrigation water; provide timely and
relevant input and output market information; follow up the maintenance and operation of the irrigation
schemes; guide and teach (with the extension workers) the rural people about the application of
chemical inputs, importance of irrigation, and appropriate planting dates of crops and seedling; and
prohibit conflict on water uses.

6. Recommendation

The following recommendations would helps to ensure that investments in small scale irrigation are
equitable, poverty-reducing and have sustainable impact in a variable climate zone.
 Minimizing poverty impacts
Ensuring small scale irrigation development is accompanied by complementary investments in market
development, transport infrastructure and communications in rural areas. Without these, irrigation
development will bring limited returns and will not generate the desired rural growth.
 Provide ongoing support for farmers following construction of irrigation schemes. This should
include agronomy training, marketing support, and support for management and maintenance of the
irrigation scheme.
 Targeted efforts should be made to include women and female headed households. Plans to
intensify extension provision and create demonstration centers, Small scale irrigation will facilitate
both upgrading of agriculture and diversification into new activities by improving the market power

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of small farmers. This includes supporting farmer organizations, cooperatives and contract farming
arrangements, and installing crop storage facilities to allow bulk sales and reduce post-harvest
losses.
 Environmental sustainability
 Assessments should ideally make use of hydro geological expertise, e.g. from a university;
otherwise the reliability of nearby schemes in dry seasons and drought years, as well as the
depth of the water source, can serve as a guide.
 Scheme maintenance or upgrading and parallel soil water conservation measures will enhance
water availability. Developing small scale irrigation projects in the context of wider natural
resource management planning, considering the sustainability of the water resources being used.
 Works should be targeted to fill critical infrastructure gaps such as access to irrigation, road
links with market centers or soil water conservation, based on an assessment of constraints to
long-term poverty reduction.

7. Reference

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