Small-scale irrigation and its effect on food security of rural households in North-West Ethiopia: A comparative analysis

Abstract

<jats:p>Agriculture is a limiting factor for food security in Ethiopia as more than 80% of the population depends on it for livelihoods. In many parts of the country, the frequency and distribution of rainfall and the principal source of water for crop production are getting more unreliable and inadequate and frequent droughts, make irrigation farming indispensable. Despite the high potential for irrigation, the study area remained to be one of the food insecure districts in the region and currently it is supported by the productive safety net program. Information is also missing on the extent to which households who have access to irrigation produce more than those who depend on rainfed agriculture. The study contributes to a comparative analysis of the effect of small scale irrigation. The aim of the study was to analyze the effect of small scale irrigation on the food security of rural households. Data were collected from 185 randomly selected rural households in the Goncha-SisoEnesie district of northwest Ethiopia. Descriptive analysis, household food balance model and binary logit regression were employed as tools of data analysis. The result revealed that out of all sampled households, 74% were food secured and 26% were not. The gap in food calorie availability was high ranging from 753-6659 kcal/adult equivalent/day in the study area. Out of 84 irrigation users, 84.5% of them were food secured; whereas only 65.3% of the total 101 non-irrigation users were food secured. In this study, household size, farmland size, access to irrigation, access to credit services, and income from rainfed crop production were the determinant factors of household food security. Small scale irrigation had a direct and indirect positive effect on enhancing household food security status. Thus, the concerned development partners and policymakers should consider the promotion and expansion of irrigated farming in the area.</jats:p>

Impact of Small-Scale Irrigation on Household Food Security in Central Highlands of Ethiopia: Evidences from Walmara District

“…Therefore, as presented in Table 4, the calorie amounting 529kcal was the pure effect of participation in small scale irrigation and this means, household members of irrigation users on average consumed more energy of 529 kilocalories than the family members of irrigation non-users and this difference was significant at 5 percent. This result is similar to the results reported by Beneberu andBiazin, 2020 andAbdisa et al 2017 Similarly, household members of irrigation users have a better food consumption score profile than irrigation non-users, and the difference is 3.69 on average, and this difference was significant at 5 percent probability level. Therefore, controlling for pre-intervention differences using propensity score matching, participation in small scale irrigation improved household food security measured in both daily calorie intake and household food consumption score.…”

Smallholder irrigation and poverty reduction in developing countries: a review

“…There is evidence which suggests that irrigation contributes to household food security [ [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] ], livelihoods of the rural poor [ [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] ], agricultural intensification and productivity [ [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] ], and poverty reduction [ 9 , 26 , [45] , [46] , [47] , [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] ]. Among other factors like type of system, availability of water resources, soil fertility, access to credit and markets, the socio-economic impact of smallholder irrigation largely determines the success and sustainability of the project [ 16 ].…”

“…Food stability means a population, household or individual must have access to adequate food at all times and must be able to withstand sudden shocks [ [55] , [56] , [57] ]. Smallholder irrigation has been shown to positively impact food security [ [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] ]. Table 2 shows the characteristics of the published studies on smallholder irrigation and food security that were reviewed.…”

Evaluating land suitability and water availability for surface irrigation in the Abbay basin of Ethiopia

“…The crop production system is mainly on rain-fed agriculture with limited irrigation practice [ 3 , 4 ]. Rainfall variability frequently hampers the rain-fed production system in the nation [ 5 , 6 ]. Consequently, food insecurity and frequent drought caused by the unreliable rainfall distribution are common, which affect the livelihoods of the rural community [ 7 , 8 ], depicting the need to expand irrigated agriculture for sustainable food supply in the nation [ 9 , 10 ].…”