Pathways how irrigation water affects crop revenue of smallholder farmers in northwest Ethiopia: A mixed approach

Zewdie, Markose Chekol; Passel, Steven Van; Moretti, Michele; Annys, Sofie; Tenessa, Daregot Berihun; Ayele, Zemen Ayalew; Tsegaye, Enyew Adgo; Cools, Jan; Minale, Amare Sewnet; Nyssen, Jan

doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106101

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Assuming that the main role of extension agents is to help farmers to have the best farming practices and improve their efficiencies, the statistical insignificance of the extension variable is surprising. However, as is explained by Zewdie et al [12], agricultural extension workers in the study area are involved in activities that are not related to their normal duties. While Turner [45] found mixed cropping practice resulting in statistically significant positive effects on the TE of Australian smallholder farmers, in our study, mixed cropping practice is not statically significant.…”

Section: Econometric Results Of the Technical (In) Efficiency Modelmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…However, the irrigation facilities are not as well developed as in the Mecha district, where Koga large-scale irrigation farming is operational. In the Fogera small-scale irrigation scheme, the majority of the canals are earthen, most of the cemented canals are broken and are not well constructed, and some of the farm plots are far from the sources of irrigation water [12,20]. In the Mecha district, on the other hand, irrigation water-based on gravity-flows from the reservoir to the farm plots via long and well-constructed cemented canals, which provide water for around 7000 hectares of land during the dry season [11].…”

Section: Description Of the Study Area And The Data Usedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, little attempt has been made to understand the performance of large and small-scale irrigation user farmers as compared to the nonuser farmers in Ethiopia. Previous studies focused on the difference between irrigation user and non-user farmers in income [11][12][13], quality of life [11,12,14] and the impact of having access to irrigation on poverty [15,16] and food security [17] without considering the differences in the technical efficiency (TE) of smallholder farmers. The results of these studies have shown that irrigation user farmers produce more, earn a better income, have a relatively better life, and are relatively rich and food-secure than the non-user smallholder farmers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agricultural Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

Zewdie

Moretti

Tenessa

et al. 2021

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In the past decade, to improve crop production and productivity, Ethiopia has embarked on an ambitious irrigation farming expansion program and has introduced new large- and small-scale irrigation initiatives. However, in Ethiopia, poverty remains a challenge, and crop productivity per unit area of land is very low. Literature on the technical efficiency (TE) of large-scale and small-scale irrigation user farmers as compared to the non-user farmers in Ethiopia is also limited. Investigating smallholder farmers’ technical efficiency (TE) level and its principal determinants is very important to increase crop production and productivity and to improve smallholder farmers’ livelihood and food security. Using 1026 household-level cross-section data, this study adopts a technology flexible stochastic frontier approach to examine agricultural TE of large-scale irrigation users, small-scale irrigation users and non-user farmers in Ethiopia. The results indicate that, due to poor extension services and old-style agronomic practices, the mean TE of farmers is very low (44.33%), implying that there is a wider room for increasing crop production in the study areas through increasing the TE of smallholder farmers without additional investment in novel agricultural technologies. Results also show that large-scale irrigation user farmers (21.05%) are less technically efficient than small-scale irrigation user farmers (60.29%). However, improving irrigation infrastructure shifts the frontier up and has a positive impact on smallholder farmers’ output.

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Section: Econometric Results Of the Technical (In) Efficiency Modelmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Description Of the Study Area And The Data Usedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agricultural Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

Zewdie

Moretti

Tenessa

et al. 2021

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“…Several rivers (including the Gumara, Ribb and Koga) flow through the study areas, so many North Mecha and Fogera farmers are engaged in small-scale irrigation farming [73]. More than two thirds (71%) of respondents reported having access to irrigation, which tended to enhance interactions with various extension agencies.…”

Section: Statistical Summary For Discrete Variables Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of Farmers’ Level of Interaction with Agricultural Extension Agencies in Northwest Ethiopia

et al. 2021

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This research identifies critical determinants for interactions between farmers and extension agencies. Cross-sectional farm household-level data from three hundred household heads were collected between September 2019 and March 2020 and triangulated with data from workshops with farmers and extension agents. The data were analyzed using Spearman’s correlation coefficient, Kruskal–Wallis analysis of variance and the ordered probit model. Farmers’ socio-economic characteristics significantly affect their degree of interaction with extension agencies. Recognition of the determinants of the level of farmers’ interactions can inform policymakers about how to formulate and improve the effectiveness of extension programs, enhance information and knowledge dissemination and facilitate development in collaboration with local communities by focusing on a better interaction between farmers and extension agencies. The level of a farmer’s interactions is based on a systematic decision-making process. Although personal and demographic characteristics are important, farmers’ interaction levels require conducive institutional and household assets, groups/social capital and access to extension agents’ contexts. These contexts will differ by household, country and region. Therefore, extension agencies should create and design contextually appropriate strategies for substantial interactions with farmers for the dissemination of farm information. This research is original and valuable in identifying the factors associated with the level of farmers’ interactions with extension agencies in the Amhara region, Ethiopia. It also provides a new pathway for operationalizing farmer-oriented agricultural extension policies and strategies and to help agricultural policymakers formulate extension service programs.

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“…Ethiopia depends on rain-fed agriculture with limited use of irrigation for agricultural production (Awulachew et al, 2010). It is estimated that more than 90% of the food supply in the country comes from low productivity rain-fed smallholder agriculture, and hence rainfall is the single most important determinant of food supply and the country's economy (Mati, 2006;Manaswi and Thawait, 2014;Zewdie et al, 2020). Gebre et al (2015) investigated the effects of climate on water availability in the Dhidhessa River basin and noted the effects of spatial and temporal variations in rainfall on agricultural production.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smallholder Farmer's Adaptability to Anthropogenic and Climate-Induced Variability in the Dhidhessa River Sub-basin, Ethiopia

et al. 2021

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Ethiopia depends on rain-fed agriculture with limited use of irrigation for agricultural production. More than 90% of the food supply in the country comes from low productivity rain-fed smallholder agriculture. Since the livelihoods of many farmers depend on rainfed agriculture, this paper investigates how smallholders adapt to climate variability. Dhidhessa sub-basin of the Blue Nile river basin is home to many vulnerable immigrant smallholders from other parts of Ethiopia. Our study focuses on this sub-basin to understand how crop production and patterns have depended on rainfall. Secondary data on land cover and croplands, the number of households growing crops, crop yields, crop prices and area covered by three major crops (teff, maize, and sorghum) are analyzed over a period 2000–2019 and interpreted in light of a primary household survey of 135 farmers in the basin. Results show that almost 40% of the basin is under crop cultivation, and the area under cultivation has been growing 8.6‰ per year. Irrespective of rainfall variability, the number of households practicing crop cultivation has also been growing over the years. This means that more farmers are moving into the basin to cultivate. Analysis reveals that adaptation strategies are at play. Farmer decisions to grow which crops are sensitive to rainfall and their expectations of crop prices resulting from rainfall variability. Their decisions and crop prices are endogenous to the smallholder sociohydrology of the basin, leading more farmers to grow Teff relative to other crops in years of lower rainfall. These decisions are due to the lower sensitivity of Teff prices to rainfall variability and farmers' expectations of higher Teff prices relative to other crops as rainfall decreases. Such behavior also induces climate resilience, enabling farmers to respond to climate variability rather than migrating out of the basin. Moreover, it allows more farmers to migrate in and engage in crop cultivation within the basin. Such an adaptive strategy based on past experiences offers a way forward to incorporating adaptation mechanisms in sociohydrological models to simulate and assess water futures for similar basins worldwide.

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Pathways how irrigation water affects crop revenue of smallholder farmers in northwest Ethiopia: A mixed approach

Cited by 22 publications

References 29 publications

Agricultural Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

Agricultural Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

Determinants of Farmers’ Level of Interaction with Agricultural Extension Agencies in Northwest Ethiopia

Smallholder Farmer's Adaptability to Anthropogenic and Climate-Induced Variability in the Dhidhessa River Sub-basin, Ethiopia

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