Poverty is of multidimensional characteristics affecting nearly a billion world population. Especially, a third of sub Saharans fall under poverty. The emergence of climate change coupled with the incidence of drought, are worsening the situation. The only option to escape this challenge is through the development of water resource projects. In attempting to do so, Ethiopia has yet developed not more than 5% of the irrigation potential. Much of this is owned and poorly managed by small holder farmers. The purpose of this study is thus to investigate whether small scale irrigation schemes contribute to poverty reduction or not. Based on 313 sample households from the Rift Valley Lake Basins, it was observed that irrigation improved household income and contributed to poverty reduction. However, the enhanced poverty impact of irrigation was constrained due to unsatisfactory performance and imperfect market. Thus, enhancing the capacity of water user associations through provision of training, market linkage and finance are a necessary step to improve irrigation performance towards poverty reduction.

Appraisals of irrigation water management scenarios are crucial in project performance monitoring. A comprehensive irrigation water management study has been conducted on four small scale irrigation schemes in the Ethiopian rift valley lake basin. It is observed that from 147 irrigators 68% faced irrigation water supply unreliability, 79.1% encountered unfair distribution of water and 66 % underwent through timeliness problem in water distribution occasionally. All the investigated schemes witnessed a weak (50 % of all scheme users noted poor) organization of irrigation scheme administration. The Water Users Associations (WUAs) lack clear laws/by-laws and strategies to lead small or major canal operations and maintenances. Without a strong WUA it is impossible to think of filling farmer's skill gap, to have a working maintenance strategy, fair distribution of irrigation water, reliable irrigation water supply and timely delivery of irrigation water.

This research project explored how refugee community organisations (RCOs) could become more involved in the government's health agenda to improve the level of consultation and responsiveness in the design and provision of mental health services for ethnic minorities. The method involved a review of relevant literature, interviews with refugee community organisation leaders and community workers, and a survey of refugee service users' involvement with RCOs. The research found that the causes and effects of mental ill health in refugees as understood by interviewees were consistent with much of the literature in this area.The mental health needs of refugees are very similar across nationalities and ethnicities, and distinct from those of the general population and of other migrant groups. Appropriate responses, as understood by community leaders and professional community workers, are currently only partly and insufficiently provided by statutory health services, and there is extensive unmet need.