Teshome, Woldeab (PhD)Eshete, Alemayehu2018-08-092023-11-182018-08-092023-11-182006-12http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/11426Key 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.ensocio-economic lran,\jormalion,stllallholder irrig ationirrigation managementnslillllional arrangeme ntsThesis