The potential of smallholder-irrigated agriculture to enhance food security and improve livelihoods has led the government of Ethiopia to invest significantly in irrigation establishment. This article aims to investigate the impact of small-scale irrigation on households' livelihood. To deal with the problems of purposive targeting and self-selection which are likely to occur for this type of intervention, we use a sophisticated econometric technique called 'propensity score matching' to study this impact. Our findings confirm the presence of a statistically significant difference in income, overall expenditure, asset accumulation and expenditures on agricultural inputs between the treated and control households. In contrast, no statistically significant differences in livestock resources, food consumption, and expenditure on education and health were found. Furthermore, the proportion of poor is respectively 20 and 30% for the treated and control households. So, overall it can be concluded that participation in the small-scale irrigation has robust and positive effect on most of the livelihood indices and that an expansion of irrigation schemes is a good strategy in the water-stressed and drought-prone areas of Ethiopia. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. RÉSUMÉLe potentiel de l'agriculture irriguée à améliorer la sécurité alimentaire et améliorer les moyens de subsistance des petits exploitants a conduit le gouvernement éthiopien à investir de manière significative dans l'établissement d'irrigation. Cet article vise à étudier l'impact de l'irrigation à petite échelle sur les moyens de subsistance des ménages. Pour faire face aux problèmes de ciblage téléologique et d'auto-sélection qui sont susceptibles de se produire pour ce type d'interventions, nous utilisons une technique économétrique sophistiqué appelée score de propension pour étudier cet impact. Nos résultats confirment la présence d'une différence statistiquement significative dans le revenu, les dépenses globales, l'accumulation d'actifs et des dépenses sur les intrants agricoles entre les ménages traités et de contrôle. Nous n'avons par contre pas trouvé de différence sur ressources en cheptel, la consommation alimentaire et les dépenses d'éducation et de santé. En outre, la proportion de pauvres est respectivement 20 et 30% pour les ménages traités et de contrôle. Donc, dans l'ensemble, on peut conclure que la participation à l'irrigation à petite échelle a un effet robuste et positif sur la plupart des indices de subsistance et que l'expansion des systèmes d'irrigation est une bonne stratégie pour gérer les stress hydrique et la sécheresse régions d'Ethiopie.
An expansion of irrigation is among the priority areas in Ethiopia although farmers’ participation is below the expectations. This paper aims to identify factors that affect farmers’ decisions to use irrigation and also estimate its role in household income. The data is collected using standardised questionnaire and analysed it using the Heckman model. Household size, rural associations, markets, information access, extension services, and rural roads are found significant factors affecting farmers’ decisions to use irrigation. Income from irrigation has accounted for 38% of total income. Use of irrigation has a significant positive effect on household income. Thus, local associations and institutions should be empowered and rural services should be expanded to induce farmers to use irrigation thereby increases their income. Key Words: Irrigation, income, Heckman model, Ethiopia
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