IMPACT OF SMALL-SCALE IRRIGATION TECHNOLOGIES ON HOUSEHOLDS FARM PRODUCTIVITY: THE CASE OF ADAMI TULU AND LEMO WEREDA, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Small-scale irrigation is widely recognized as one of the means by which agricultural production and productivity can be increased to meet the growing food demands in all regions. This study aims at analyzing the impact of small-scale irrigation technologies on household farm productivity in Adami Tulu Oromia State, and Lemo SNNP State, Ethiopia. To this end, primary data were collected from 399 sample households using structured questionnaire. The analysis used logistic regression to assess the factors that affect participation in small-scale irrigation technology, and performed propensity score matching to estimate the impact of small-scale irrigation technologies on household farm productivity. The Result revealed that access to small-scale irrigation technology has intense impact on improving household income and farm productivity. It was observed that among the variables in logistic regression family size, education level, total livestock holding (in TLU), total cultivated land size have affected positively, while age of the household head, off-farm income and distance from the household residence to district market affected participation in small-scale irrigation technology negatively and significantly. Propensity score matching method results also revealed that households who participated in small-scale irrigation technology practice have got an improvement of 7.86 quintal per hectare, which is 59.7 percent more than their counterparts and 10,432 more crop income than those households that were not participated. Thus, the result of ATT shows a significant difference in household farm productivity and crop income. It shall be great and rewarding if policy makers, designers, implementers, and any funding agencies with similar interest further capitalize and scale up the program to achieve the development plan and objective.