The Role of Water Resources Development in over Coming Household Food Insecurity: the case ofTebi Irrigation Scheme, in Mekedela Werec/a, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

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Date

2009-06

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Addis Ababa University

Abstract

The study is conducted in Mekedla wereda took Tebi irrigation scheme as a case study, and the main objective is to explore the role of access to irrigation on to household food security through increasing production or food availability, increasing income or food accessibility and improve the household daily food status and also identify challenges of irrigated agriculture development of the study area. In order get sample households, a two stage sampling producers was employed and select 150 sample households (i.e. 103 irrigation users and 47 nonusers randomly and proportionally). The basic data used for the study were both qualitative and quantitative ill nature and collected by using sample household survey, focus group discussions alld key informants interview. Descriptive statistics were employed for data analysis by using SPSS. Indicators that used to see the role of irrigated agriculture to households' food security were household's productivity, income; assets andfood consumption. The result of the study shows that irrigation users are relatively better in their food security status as compared to nonusers (i.e. 74% of users and 52% of nonusers are food secure). More-over, irrigation users have opportunity of producing high value crops and generating more income from market; accesses to round year production that they can harvest at least twice a year and low vulnerability of environmental risk particularly short and erratic rain condition. Regarding challenges of the water resources development, the study is identified many constraints illcluding management, economic and institutional. But lack of investment is one and main challenge of the development. At last, the study concluded that policy maker and other development partners must give attention and high priority in improving economic access of resources like small scale irrigation to poor small scale households, which enable them out from the prison of poverty and food insecurity.

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Role of Water Resources Development

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