COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

DEPARTMENT OF SOIL RESOURCE AND WATERSHED MANAGEMENT

SENIOR SEMINAR PAPER ON
FACTORS AFFECTING IRRIGATION PRACTICE IN ETHIOPIA
 1 Introduction
 Irrigation is vital for realizing the full potential of the agricultural
sector and is an essential means of achieving food security in
many arid and semi-arid countries, including Ethiopia.
 In Ethiopia, irrigation development is a priority for agricultural
transformation,but poor practices of irrigation management
discourage efforts to improve livelihoods, and expose people and
the environment to risks.
 Cont…
The Ethiopian government is investing in the development of small-
scale community irrigation schemes with the aim to
reduce food insecurity
Poverty reduction and livelihood improvement
Improve the nutritional level of the rural community.
Irrigation use in Ethiopia dates back several centuries and continues
to be an integral part of Ethiopian agriculture.
 Cont…
1.1 Objective
• The overall objective of this seminar paper was to assess factors
affecting irrigation practice in Ethiopia.
 Cont…
2 History of Irrigation in Ethiopia
 In Ethiopia, traditional irrigation was practiced for centuries.
Moreover, in the highlands of Ethiopia, irrigation practices have long been in use
since ancient times for producing subsistence food crops.
Different stressed that supplementary irrigation has been practiced by
smallholder farmers of Ethiopia for centuries to solve their livelihood challenges.
This irrigation system has been used for water harvesting from flush floods
flooded from larger catchments at upper streams
 Cont…
• According to the Ministry of Agriculture, in Ethiopia, there were
modern water storage and water management systems for irrigation
purposes. This includes
water diversion schemes,
water storage dams,
micro irrigation systems,
rainwater harvesting, and
groundwater harvesting techniques
 Cont…
2.1 Development of Irrigation in Ethiopia
Irrigation development is vital to sustainable and reliable agricultural
development in Ethiopia.
• Subsistence-dominated smallholder farmers' economy can be improved
through the use of irrigation in Ethiopian agriculture.
• Similarly, making use of irrigation agriculture is going to be a means for
increased agricultural production to meet the growing food demands of
rapid population growth.
• Irrigation development is a key to sustainable and reliable agricultural
development, leading to overall development in Ethiopia.
 Cont…
• According to the Ministry of Water Resources of Ethiopia irrigation
development in Ethiopia is classified based on the size of the
command area, into three types
a) Small-scale irrigation systems (<200 hectares (ha)),
b) Medium-scale irrigation systems (200-3,000 ha) and
c) Large-scale irrigation systems (>3,000 ha).
 Cont…
2.2 Factors Affecting Irrigation Practice
 The performance of irrigation schemes depends on: cropping pattern,
market accessibility, maintenance and spare parts, social and political,
and land tenure policies
 There are Some major factors negatively affect irrigation
develovement in Ethiopia
environmental,
social,
economic and political
 Cont…
2.2.1 Environmental impact
• Salinity and Sodicity/alkalinity are the major problems that resulted in
the valley due to irrigation practices in the enterprise.
• Water borne diseases are also an environmental impact resulting
from irrigation projects are examples of diseconomies external costs
imposed by the project to the society.
• Water withdrawn for irrigation impacts the naturally occurring
environmental services provided by free-flowing rivers as do changes
in flow regimes caused by associated dams.
 Cont…
2.2.2 Social and climate-related impacts
• Increases in standing water associated with irrigation, especially when
systems are poorly managed, can serve as a breeding-ground for
disease vectors including Anopheles mosquitos, contributing to
increases in malaria and other disease.
• Irrigation with un- or minimally treated wastewater can increase
exposure of both producers and consumers to pathogens resulting in
schistosomiasis, diarrhea or other ailments.
• Irrigation with chemically contaminated water, either natural as in
arsenic or human induced has clear health implications.
 Cont…
2.2.3 Economic and political impact
• Irrigation influenced changes in agricultural productivity have been shown
to impact overall growth through multiplier effects and can free human and
financial capital for industry and services stabilize rural populations and
impact foreign exchange earnings and budgets via export taxes.
• Irrigation may also influence overall governance structures. While
governance change may typically be a by-product of irrigation, it can also be
an explicit objective.
• Similarly, electricity reform to support overall economic growth is
complicated by the political economy of power subsidies and groundwater.
 Cont…
3 Conclusion and recommendations
3.1 Conclusion
• Irrigation is vital for realizing the full potential of the agricultural sector
and is an essential means of achieving food security in many arid and
semi-arid countries, including Ethiopia.
• In Ethiopia, irrigation development is a priority for agricultural
transformation, but poor practices of irrigation management
discourage efforts to improve livelihoods, and expose people and the
environment to risks.
 Cont…
• In generally the factors affecting the practice of irrigation practice in
Ethiopia: cropping patterns, market accessibility, maintenance, and
spare parts, social and political, and land tenure policies, and some
major factors like environmental, social, economic and political are
negatively affected irrigation development in Ethiopia
 Cont…
3.2 Recommendation
The general recommendation from this study is to advise policy
makers, development agencies and irrigation administrators challenge
factors affecting, so that irrigation development performance can be
improved.
• An inventive approach to irrigation management is necessary. This
inventive approach should be farmer centered. In this respect,
attention needs to be paid on empowering farmers through trainings,
provision of special irrigation focused credit services and legalizing
water use systems.
 Cont…
Factor like, environmental factor, social and climate-related factor,
economic and political factor also affect irrigation development in
Ethiopia.
• Therefore, the country have to design an irrigation projects with an
integrated way, which consider the factors affects the practice of
irrigation.