Price, credit or ambiguity? Increasing small-scale irrigation in Ethiopia

Governments in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are keen to expand irrigation to improve food security and are placing particular emphasis on adoption and use of smallholder private groundwater irrigation. Yet private irrigation is a multi-stage technology, the adoption of which is affected by...

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Autores principales: Balasubramanya, Soumya, Buisson, Marie-Charlotte, Mitra, Archisman, Stifel, D.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126347
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author Balasubramanya, Soumya
Buisson, Marie-Charlotte
Mitra, Archisman
Stifel, D.
author_browse Balasubramanya, Soumya
Buisson, Marie-Charlotte
Mitra, Archisman
Stifel, D.
author_facet Balasubramanya, Soumya
Buisson, Marie-Charlotte
Mitra, Archisman
Stifel, D.
author_sort Balasubramanya, Soumya
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Governments in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are keen to expand irrigation to improve food security and are placing particular emphasis on adoption and use of smallholder private groundwater irrigation. Yet private irrigation is a multi-stage technology, the adoption of which is affected by fiscal support and extension services offered on different investment stages but also by uncertainties around actions that need to be undertaken in these stages. Groundwater-based irrigation in Ethiopia presents a case where policy has focused on fiscally easing the purchase of pumps while considerable ambiguity (unquantifiable uncertainty) exists around the outcomes of drilling boreholes (reaching water). In this paper, we examine farmers’ willingness to adopt smallholder private irrigation packages in response to lower pump prices following tax breaks, loan availability, and reduction in ambiguities related to borehole drilling, using a discrete choice experiment (DCE) in two districts of Ethiopia. The results indicate that the provision of loans and reduction in ambiguities related to well drilling have the greatest effect on the probability of farmers adopting irrigation packages. Lowering pump prices has the smallest effect. Pump-type has a small effect, with energized pumps preferred over manual ones. In exploring heterogeneity in preferences, we find that farmers without irrigated plots and those with greater market access have a greater preference for the provision of loans, while those with greater market access also have greater preferences for reductions in well drilling ambiguities. The results of this choice experiment suggest that reducing ambiguities around well drilling (initial investments) is an essential and cost-effective step toward expanding groundwater-based irrigation in Ethiopia.
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spelling CGSpace1263472025-10-26T13:02:01Z Price, credit or ambiguity? Increasing small-scale irrigation in Ethiopia Balasubramanya, Soumya Buisson, Marie-Charlotte Mitra, Archisman Stifel, D. small-scale irrigation smallholders farmer-led irrigation groundwater irrigation pumps prices credit boreholes water drilling taxes loans Governments in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are keen to expand irrigation to improve food security and are placing particular emphasis on adoption and use of smallholder private groundwater irrigation. Yet private irrigation is a multi-stage technology, the adoption of which is affected by fiscal support and extension services offered on different investment stages but also by uncertainties around actions that need to be undertaken in these stages. Groundwater-based irrigation in Ethiopia presents a case where policy has focused on fiscally easing the purchase of pumps while considerable ambiguity (unquantifiable uncertainty) exists around the outcomes of drilling boreholes (reaching water). In this paper, we examine farmers’ willingness to adopt smallholder private irrigation packages in response to lower pump prices following tax breaks, loan availability, and reduction in ambiguities related to borehole drilling, using a discrete choice experiment (DCE) in two districts of Ethiopia. The results indicate that the provision of loans and reduction in ambiguities related to well drilling have the greatest effect on the probability of farmers adopting irrigation packages. Lowering pump prices has the smallest effect. Pump-type has a small effect, with energized pumps preferred over manual ones. In exploring heterogeneity in preferences, we find that farmers without irrigated plots and those with greater market access have a greater preference for the provision of loans, while those with greater market access also have greater preferences for reductions in well drilling ambiguities. The results of this choice experiment suggest that reducing ambiguities around well drilling (initial investments) is an essential and cost-effective step toward expanding groundwater-based irrigation in Ethiopia. 2023-03 2022-12-28T06:06:47Z 2022-12-28T06:06:47Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126347 en Open Access Elsevier Balasubramanya, S.; Buisson, Marie-Charlotte; Mitra, Archisman; Stifel, D. 2023. Price, credit or ambiguity? Increasing small-scale irrigation in Ethiopia. World Development, 163:106149. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106149]
spellingShingle small-scale irrigation
smallholders
farmer-led irrigation
groundwater irrigation
pumps
prices
credit
boreholes
water drilling
taxes
loans
Balasubramanya, Soumya
Buisson, Marie-Charlotte
Mitra, Archisman
Stifel, D.
Price, credit or ambiguity? Increasing small-scale irrigation in Ethiopia
title Price, credit or ambiguity? Increasing small-scale irrigation in Ethiopia
title_full Price, credit or ambiguity? Increasing small-scale irrigation in Ethiopia
title_fullStr Price, credit or ambiguity? Increasing small-scale irrigation in Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Price, credit or ambiguity? Increasing small-scale irrigation in Ethiopia
title_short Price, credit or ambiguity? Increasing small-scale irrigation in Ethiopia
title_sort price credit or ambiguity increasing small scale irrigation in ethiopia
topic small-scale irrigation
smallholders
farmer-led irrigation
groundwater irrigation
pumps
prices
credit
boreholes
water drilling
taxes
loans
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126347
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AT buissonmariecharlotte pricecreditorambiguityincreasingsmallscaleirrigationinethiopia
AT mitraarchisman pricecreditorambiguityincreasingsmallscaleirrigationinethiopia
AT stifeld pricecreditorambiguityincreasingsmallscaleirrigationinethiopia