The Role of Small-Scale Irrigation in Household Food Security in Dugda Woreda East Showa Zone, Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia
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Date
2021-08
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Irrigation can stabilize agricultural production and mitigate the adverse consequences of
low or variable precipitation. Small-scale irrigation production will also contribute to
fast population growth. Population growth causes farming operations to expand into
marginal land, contributing to the destruction of forests, land, and water. The general
objective of the study was to carry out a comparative study of the influence of small-scale
irrigation adoption and non-adoption on the food security of households. To achieve the
set objectives, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. In the research, there
were 73 irrigation adopters from Guyo Gabriel and 74 from Shubi Gemo (n=147), with
an equal number of non-adopters, or individuals who did not participate in irrigation.
The participants in this study were drawn at random from both groups, for a total of 294
individuals. The main sources of data were household surveys, key informant interviews,
focus group discussions, and direct observation. The data collected from the above was
analyzed quantitatively by using correlation and regression analyses. For compiling and
analyzing the data, multiple regression models were employed. The investigators utilized
frequency tables to describe in frequency and percentages the demographic features of
the sample respondents. In order to assess the influence of small-scale irrigation on the
food security of households, the mean and standard deviation for sample respondents
were computed in the woreda. HFIAS (Household Food Insecurity Access Scale) model
was used to assess the status of food security among the two groups. Fear of market
failure is a constraint to adopting irrigation. 70.7% of vegetable producer households
were food secure. 16.3% of them were mildly food insecure, while 7.5% and 5.44% of
them were moderately and severely food insecure respectively. 34.1% of irrigation nonadopters were food secure, while 25.1% were mildly food insecure. Another 25.1% of
irrigation non-adopters were moderately food insecure, and the rest, 15.6% of irrigation
non-adopter households were severely food insecure because they were cutting back on
meal size or the number of meals. Agricultural office and stakeholder increase their
support for farmers on technical small-scale irrigation adoption issues in order to
increase the number of farmers engaged in small-scale irrigation in order to reduce food
insecurity households through increased production.
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Keywords
small-scale irrigation, household food security