Impact Of Small-Scale Irrigation On Smallholder Farmers’income: The Case Of Shebe Sombo District, Jimma Zone, Ethiopia

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.