Imagination, Reaction, and Practices of an Irrigation Project in the Upper Awash Valley of Ethiopia
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Date
2024-03-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Large-scale agricultural schemes in Ethiopia’s pastoralist lowlands have historically been
part of state consolidation, resource expropriation, and the strategy of transforming
pastoralist livelihoods. Although successive regimes implemented pastoralist development
projects with a highly centralized and top-down approach, this research shows that state
development intervention is highly contested within state institutions and among local
communities. Based on fieldwork among the Karrayu pastoral communities in Ethiopia’s
Oromia region, this dissertation explores how a large-scale irrigation project, exemplifying
pastoral development, has been differently imagined by the regional state, the federal
government, and the local people, as well as how its outcomes have been negotiated on the
ground. The study employed multi-method of data collection such as focus group discussion,
in-depth interviews, and observation which were then analyzed using a thematic data
analysis strategy. The project was initially viewed as a symbol of ‘autonomy’ and an
instrument of poverty reduction for the regional state, but was a ‘waste of money’ for the
federal government, whereas the local community blamed it as a consolidation of land
alienation. However, while this was eventually considered a 'success’ and an ‘achievement’
of development by the regional and federal administrations, it became a source of
unhappiness and confusion for some local people, mainly in the downstream villages. In
contrast, other locals in the upper stream and some in downstream villages still believe the
project is a prospect of betterment and economic improvement. The project linked to
privatizing communal land has excluded many pastoral individuals and groups from
accessing their ancestral land. Some were not allocated land; all, including those who were
allocated a parcel, lost access to the rest of the land to which they previously had access; and
some of those who were granted ownership rights were also unable to reap the full benefit of
their land. The project has also radically altered the traditional value, understanding, and
pattern of interactions centered on natural resources in the area. Natural resources, water,
and land have gained significant economic value. Access to water (for irrigation) has grown
more competitive than ever before, and sometimes even conflictual, making the equitable
distribution and allocation of irrigation water critical, often in opposition to the persistent
tradition of water sharing and utilization in the area. The implementation of the project has
also reinforced exploitative economic interactions mediated through sharecropping
arrangements involving multiple actors and marketing relationships. Landowners and
pastoralists have marginally benefited, while capitalists maximize wealth without displacing
locals from their land, i.e., accumulation without dispossession. Finally, the study suggests a
policy implication targeted at increasing households' capacity and negotiating power, as well
as ensuring equitable land allocation, so that local pastoralists and disadvantageous
members get maximum benefit from the project.
Key words: Pastoral development, Ethiopia, Karrayu, Irrigation project, Sharecropping
Description
Keywords
Pastoral development, Ethiopia, Karrayu, Irrigation project, Sharecropping