Impact of Irrigation on Poverty and the Environment in Ethiopia: An introduction to this Special Issue

Abstract

Agriculture is the mainstay of Ethiopian economy, and it is highly reliant on
rainfall. High rainfall variabi lity and drought affect agricultural production
in a significant part of the country, and hence directly affect the Ethiopian
economy. Little progress was made in improving the productivity of
farming systems in Ethiopia throughout the past 20 years. During this time,
annual productivity increase was very low, and almost growth in production
was due to the expansion of cultivated land, and not increased productivi ty
of land or water. Thus, extensification rather tban intensification of
agricultural production appears to be the nonn. Water storage per capita in
Ethiopia lags far behind that of other countries, despite abundant supplies.
Due to lack of runoff storage structurcs coupled with unimodal nature of the
rain, most parts of Ihe country produce only one crop per year. Irri gation ~
development also lags far behind potential. Ethiopia is said to have an
estimated irrigation potential of 3.7 million hectares. However, the total
estimated area of irrigated agriculture in the country in 200Sn006 was
about 0.6 million hectares, approximately 18 percent of the potential. Of
this total, almost 80% is estimated to be traditional small scale schemes.
The total current irri gated land area, hence, accounts for about 5 percent of
the total cultivated land.
Unreliable rainfall, recurrent drought and limited use of the available water
resources have contributed adversely to the economy of Ethiopia. Because
of this, irrigation development is now identified in government policy
documents as an important tool to stimulate sustainable economic growth
and rural development. It is considered as a cornerstone of food securi ty and
poverty reduction.
In this context, there is a great need for basic information on the func tioning