Small-scale irrigation scheme governance - poverty nexus: evidence from Ethiopia

Fitsum Assefa Adela (), Joachim Aurbacher and Gumataw Kifle Abebe
Additional contact information
Fitsum Assefa Adela: Hawassa University
Joachim Aurbacher: Justus-Liebig University of Giessen
Gumataw Kifle Abebe: American University of Beirut

Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, 2019, vol. 11, issue 4, No 10, 897-913

Abstract: Abstract Irrigated agriculture has been popularized as a key factor to improve crop yields and enhance food security in Africa. However, empirical findings are mixed. This study analyzes determinants of small-scale irrigation adoption and the impact this may have on food security in Ethiopia, where agricultural land is extremely fragmented and densely populated. Data were collected from 240 farmers, and the findings from the survey were triangulated with focus group discussions and key informant interviews. First, the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke indices indicated high poverty levels among farmers without access to irrigation. Second, accounting for a self-selection bias by using the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model, scheme governance, perceived water scarcity, and access to information were found to have significant effects on the adoption of irrigation schemes. Model estimates further indicated that access to small-scale irrigation resulted in better living conditions for both current users and non-users when compared to their counterfactual situations. Farm income of the user households would decrease by 42% (birr 151,419 or US$ 5,500 per ha) had they not used irrigation. Similarly, farm income of the non-users would increase by 149% had they used irrigation. Per adult equivalent consumption expenditure has also shown a decrease of 35% for irrigation users and an increase of 40% for non-users compared to their respective counterfactual situations. We conclude that much of the perceived water scarcity level is attributed to existing governance regimes more than the physical scarcity of water. The study draws several implications for household food security and local-based water use policies.

Keywords: Small-scale irrigation; Ethiopia; Endogenous switching regression; Scheme governance; Poverty; Farm income (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12571-019-00953-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:11:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s12571-019-00953-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... ulture/journal/12571

DOI: 10.1007/s12571-019-00953-8

Access Statistics for this article

Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food is currently edited by R.N. Strange

More articles in Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food from Springer, The International Society for Plant Pathology
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().