Abstract:
Even if irrigation plays a significant role in increasing smallholder farmers’ income, a
detailed comparative analysis studies are scarce on the impact of small-scale irrigation on
household income in the study area. This study was conducted to identify factors that affect
smallholder farmer’s participation in small-scale irrigation and to estimate the impact of
participation in small-scale irrigation on smallholder farmers’ income in the district. In this
study, a two-stage sampling technique was used to select sample households. In the first
stage, two Kebeles were selected purposively based on their irrigation potential. In the
second stage, by stratifying the sampling frame into two groups (participant and nonparticipant), 186 household heads were selected and interviewed. Data for the study were
collected from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data was collected using
structured questionnaire and conducting focus group discussions and key informant interview.
Various documents were reviewed to collect the secondary data. Descriptive and inferential
methods of data analysis were used to analyze the data. The logit model was employed to
identify factors that determine small-scale irrigation participation of smallholders’ farmer.
Propensity score matching was used to estimate the impact of small-scale irrigation on their
income. The logit result shows that education level of the household head, total landholding
size, extension contact, distance from market, total livestock owned, distance of plot of land
from water source, access to input and use of credit significantly affect participation in smallscale irrigation. The propensity score matching result shows that there is a significant
difference on the income of smallholder farmers’ between participants and non-participants
due to participation in small-scale irrigation farming. Therefore, to improve small-scale
irrigation participation, the Government, especially Agriculture and rural development Office of
the district and other stakeholders should attempt to hamper factors that hinder participation
in small-scale irrigation and improve factors that initiate participation in small-scale
irrigation identified in the study area.
