Assessment of smallholder farmers’ demand for and adoption constraints to small-scale irrigation technologies: Evidence from Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Vol 250 ◽  
pp. 106855
Author(s):  
Meneyahel Z. Tesfaye ◽  
Bedru B. Balana ◽  
Jean-Claude Bizimana
Keyword(s):  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Irrigation Technologies ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

scholarly journals Agricultural Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 246
Author(s):  
Markose Chekol Zewdie ◽  
Michele Moretti ◽  
Daregot Berihun Tenessa ◽  
Zemen Ayalew Ayele ◽  
Jan Nyssen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Approach ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

In the past decade, to improve crop production and productivity, Ethiopia has embarked on an ambitious irrigation farming expansion program and has introduced new large- and small-scale irrigation initiatives. However, in Ethiopia, poverty remains a challenge, and crop productivity per unit area of land is very low. Literature on the technical efficiency (TE) of large-scale and small-scale irrigation user farmers as compared to the non-user farmers in Ethiopia is also limited. Investigating smallholder farmers’ TE level and its principal determinants is very important to increase crop production and productivity and to improve smallholder farmers’ livelihood and food security. Using 1026 household-level cross-section data, this study adopts a technology flexible stochastic frontier approach to examine agricultural TE of large-scale irrigation users, small-scale irrigation users and non-user farmers in Ethiopia. The results indicate that, due to poor extension services and old-style agronomic practices, the mean TE of farmers is very low (44.33%), implying that there is a wider room for increasing crop production in the study areas through increasing the TE of smallholder farmers without additional investment in novel agricultural technologies. Results also show that large-scale irrigation user farmers (21.05%) are less technically efficient than small-scale irrigation user farmers (60.29%). However, improving irrigation infrastructure shifts the frontier up and has a positive impact on smallholder farmers’ output.

scholarly journals The Diffusion of Small-Scale Irrigation Technologies in Ethiopia: Stakeholder Analysis Using Net-Map

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bryan ◽  
Fitsum Hagos ◽  
Dawit Mekonnen ◽  
Demie Abera Gemeda ◽  
Seid Yimam
Keyword(s):  
Stakeholder Analysis ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Irrigation Technologies ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

scholarly journals The contribution of small-scale rural irrigation schemes towards food security of smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Smart Mhembwe ◽  
Newman Chiunya ◽  
Ernest Dube
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
The Status ◽  
Midlands Province ◽  
Observation Method ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

Smallholder farmers across Zimbabwe have been facing a problem of food insecurity because of climate-induced droughts and lack of effective use of irrigation schemes. Rainfall patterns in the country have become more unpredictable and inconsistent with the traditional farming seasons. Faced with such challenges, many smallholder farmers in Shurugwi district in the Midlands province of Zimbabwe adopted small-scale irrigation schemes to improve food security. The principal objectives of this study were to examine the status of the irrigation schemes in the district; analyse the need to rehabilitate small-scale irrigation schemes; assess the initiatives towards the revival of irrigation schemes; establish the benefits that can accrue to smallholder farmers from small-scale irrigation schemes and discuss challenges faced by smallholder farmers in the running of small-scale irrigation schemes in rural areas. This qualitative study employed literature and interviews to obtain data from 40 purposively selected participants. The direct observation method was used to compliment the interviews. The findings of the study were that small-scale rural irrigation schemes have the capacity to significantly transform the lives of rural farmers through earning increased reliable income from farming if institutional and capacity issues of the farmers are addressed. Furthermore, the study found that small-scale irrigation schemes can also be a panacea to food security challenges mainly faced by rural households. As such, the article concluded that irrigation schemes are fortress and antidote to the effects of climate change. The study calls for capacity promotion on technical skills for the farmers, the establishment of many new irrigation schemes and the rehabilitation of the existing small-scale irrigation schemes in the country as well as calling on the farmers to adopt climate-smart irrigation.

scholarly journals Sources of Inefficiency in Small-Scale Irrigation in Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teshager Sisha ◽  
Surafel Dillie
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Household Head ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
Irrigation Technologies ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

Abstract Increased production, food security, poverty reduction, and rural economic development can be supported by increasing efficiency in the use of scarce resources and technologies. Promoting small-scale irrigation practices may provide opportunities to improve the efficient utilization of land and labor. This paper assesses the extent of technical efficiencies of two household irrigation technologies: rope & washer and pulley practiced by farmers in two pilot areas of rural communities in Ethiopia. Stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) was used to estimate efficiency levels and identify the factors affecting inefficiencies. Labor and land are found to have contributed a greater share in the quantity of production of the crops under study. Plough repetition and experience in irrigation also contributed significantly to increased output. The results obtained from the stochastic frontier analysis indicate that farmers are operating at a significantly lower mean efficiency level of 70%, indicating the existence of room for increased production without additional investment. Distance to the nearest market, female household head, higher dependency ratio and using rope & washer (compared to pulley) increases the likelihood of being inefficient, whereas higher educational attainment of the head of the household and irrigation experience reduces the probability of inefficiency.

scholarly journals Stakeholder Roles and Perspectives on Sedimentation Management in Small-Scale Irrigation Schemes in Ethiopia

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 6121
Author(s):  
Zerihun Anbesa Gurmu ◽  
Henk Ritzema ◽  
Charlotte de Fraiture ◽  
Mekonen Ayana
Keyword(s):  
Action Planning ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Irrigation Season ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
Irrigation Technologies ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation ◽  
Blue Print ◽  
Rural Appraisal

Irrigated agriculture, particularly small-scale irrigation (SSI), is a mainstay for sustainable livelihoods in the developing world. In Ethiopia, SSI sustainability is threatened mainly due to excessive sedimentation. Stakeholders’ perceptions of the causes of sedimentation and how they sustain SSI under excessive sedimentation conditions were investigated in two SSI schemes in Ethiopia. A participatory rapid diagnosis and action planning was implemented, consisting of a literature review, participatory rural appraisal, and semi-structured interviews. Results show that farmers slightly differed in perception of excessive sedimentation drivers. Farmers reported design problems as the main cause of excessive sedimentation (64%), followed by poor operation and maintenance (O and M) practices (21%) and external factors (15%). In contrast, 62% of the interviewed engineers indicated erosion and irrigation technologies as the main causes of excessive sedimentation, while few reported poor design (13%). In addition to an intensive desilting campaign, farmers delayed the start of the irrigation season to avoid the intake of highly sedimented water. Local social capital and knowledge appeared to be more important than formal knowledge and blue-print institutions for dealing with sedimentation problems. Well-organized structure and extra time devoted by famers were vital for SSI sustainability. Integration of the farmers’ knowledge with that of the engineers could yield more effective ways to deal with sedimentation problems.

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