Irrigation Management and Institutional Arrangements: The Case of Two Smallholder Irrigation Schemes in Middle Awash, North Eastern Ethiopia
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Date
2006-12
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Key words: socio-economic lran,\jormalion, stllallholder irrig ation, irrigation management, Inslillllional
arrangeme nts
Smallholder irrigalion developmenl al Middle Awash areas including the case sludy areas is Ihe resull and part
of an ongoing politico and so cio -economic transforlllation undertakings. Until 1980.1', livestock produclion has
been Ih e backbone afth e Afar economy when Ihey used to pursue Ihe pasloralway of life . Their livestock wealth
was considerable and Ihey were almosl enlirely dependenl on il for subs islence. However, Ihis produclion
system had been undergoing pressure over Ihe last fo ur decades and highly aggravaled since Ihe end of 1980s
as a result its vulnerability 10 environmental slresses has increased
Therefore, because of Ihese ecological and environmenlal crises and olhers external faclors logelher wilh Ih eir
changing perceptions on the value of their land the communities res iding near Ihe two sides of Awash river
banks have slarled crop-lives lock mixed production sys lem. Sabure and Gelee la Dora smallholder irrigalion
schemes are traditional irrigalions syslems inilialed by the Agro-paslorals Ihemselves since 1990s.
With this sludy, great efforl has been made to clarifY Ihe slale of irrigalion management practice s and Ihe major
institulional arrangements in Ihe two study schemes. To me et the objeclive, a household survey was conducled
du ring April 2006. Two Iraditional smallholder irrigation schemes from two different livelihood zones have
been selected as a case study. These are Sabure irrigali on scheme from Awash Fentale district and Geleela
Dora schemes, from Ge wane districi. Siratified proporlionate sampling method was us ed to select sample
households based on Ihe irrigalion organizalion of the irrigalion systems. In addilion, key informant and ex perl
interview, focus group discussion and dire ci observations were made 10 coileci dala and informal ion from
relevanl sources. For data analysis, bOlh qualitative assessmenl and descriptive quantitalive analysis
techniques were used in combinalion.
The survey resull revealed Ihat Ih e organization in charge of irrigalion managemenl allhe two case sludy areas
is Ih e basic Afar lradilional resource managemenl inslitulion following wilh Iheir prinCiple of rationality
ideology for wal eI' allocalion and dislribulion al local level. However, Ihe survey findings show Ihal lack of
formally eSlablished WUAs althe two schemes has negaliv ely affecled the nego tialing power of Ihe slallholders '
informal organizations wilh othe r waler users and eX Iernal instilutions in relalion 10 Iheir waler righls.
Another major finding by this study is Ihal lack of beller inslitulional arrangemenl (for waler and land uses) al
Middle Awash including al the two case study areas, is Ihe major challenge for the productivity of Ihe
smallholder irrigalion sub-sector. The legal and inslitulional problems in Ihe water sector has resulted in
artificial water scarcity for Ih e smallholder irrigators and has negalively affecting the produclivity and
cropping pat/ern of the sub-sector. Finally, a number of conclusions and recommendations have bee n drawn
ab oul requirements for beller performance and sustainability of the smallholder irrigation sub-sector at M iddle
Awash as a whole including at the two case study areas.
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Keywords
socio-economic lran,\jormalion,, stllallholder irrig ation, irrigation management, nslillllional arrangeme nts