This post is written by Yonas Qoricho, IWMI-Ethiopia Consultant and Dr. Amare Hailesellasie, Principal Researcher, IWMI-Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is often described as the water tower of Africa: the country boasts of 122 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) of river water, 70 BCM of lake water, and 36 BCM of groundwater across 12 river basins.

Despite its natural endowment, Ethiopia still relies heavily on rain-fed agriculture for feeding its fast-growing population. About 20 million of the population is food insecure. This fact is more vivid in the Central Rift Valley (CRV) area of the country than any other part of Ethiopia.

The CRV is rich in water resources and is home to initiatives to support subsistence smallholder rain-fed agriculture. However, such initiatives have been largely unsuccessful in alleviating regional food insecurity and livelihood challenges due to degradation of natural resources, climatic impacts, lack of irrigation technologies and shrinking landholdings.

Efforts are recently underway to promote the application of small-scale irrigation practices for cultivating staples and high-value horticulture crops through the Growth for the Future (G4F) Project. 

Small-Scale Irrigation Development and Smallholder Farming 

This solution for poor performance of smallholder farming in the CRV was devised and implemented by Farm Africa, IWMI and other consortium members, thanks to support from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).

G4F’s objective is to support rural economic development, resilience building and biodiversity conservation in the CRV by making use of small-scale irrigation practices and aligning them effectively with Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Green Economic Strategy.

Small-scale irrigation is one agricultural activity used by smallholder farmers to improve the community’s livelihood by increasing income, securing food, meeting social requirements and reducing poverty.

Concerted Actions for Improved Water Usage and Food Security

From the outset, Farm Africa, IWMI and  other consortium members engaged regional agricultural and water offices to get their buy-in and technical support. The government offices offered their cooperation while farmer selection was undertaken based on prior performance, willingness to adopt agricultural technologies and ability to work in groups or associations. 

“Based on the set criteria, 49 water users’ associations were organized with the view of improving the efficiency of water utilization and increasing the productivity of irrigation lands,” said Mr. Tilmo Mama, a Natural Resources Conservation Expert with Farm Africa.

Water users’ associations (WUAs) are normally required to empower the local community to govern irrigation land and water without depletion and to avoid water-related conflicts. Accordingly, the WUAs developed bylaws through training support they received from IWMI, Farm Africa and other stakeholders on irrigation management and marketing issues.

The WUAs also obtained support from the project champions. They were provided with water-lifting technologies and pipes to enhance the effective utilization of water resources for their farming businesses.

Motivated by the trainings and technological support, the WUAs have embarked on farming fruits and vegetables for household consumption and market selling for three cycles of cultivation in a year.

Arba and Oda Ashira is one of the WUAs established during 2017 in the Adami Tulu Jido Kombolcha District and has been functioning very well since then. The association consists of 60 diligent farmers (36 men and 24 women) and is known for farming maize on the 50 hectares of land using the water-lifting technologies they received from the G4F project.

Mr. Girshu Derishu, a Project Officer with G4F Project, said, “The project provided nine diesel generators, 44 pipes, and three solar generators to the Arba and Oda Ashira WUA and they are performing very well.”

“Our association was able to harvest unprecedented maize produce in 2021 on 50 hectares of land after we started to employ the water-harvesting technologies,” asserts Mr. Saafa’oe Gobee, chairperson of the association. He added that their association harvested 70 quintals per hectare during the same year and earned 9.4 million birr (US $17,570) from the sale of the produce. 

The change is not only about improving agricultural productivity but also increasing income gains for each association member. The association is exemplary in sharing dividends with its individual farmers. As a result, farmers are now providing sufficient food to their families, sending their children to school and constructing modern homes.

“The water-lifting technologies played an immense role in helping the WUAs efficiently utilize underground water, improve agricultural productivity, enhance food security of farming households and better the general well-being of smallholder farmers in the CRV,” noted Dr. Amare Haileselassie, IWMI Principal Researcher.