Irrigation and agricultural transformation in Ethiopia

Climate change forecasts for Ethiopia predict higher temperature and rainfall and increased variability in rainfall with periodic severe droughts and floods. The increased weather variability threatens the extent of Ethiopia’s agricultural transformation unless it is supported with improved agricult...

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Autores principales: Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework, Abate, Gashaw T., Yimam, Seid
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140827
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author Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Abate, Gashaw T.
Yimam, Seid
author_browse Abate, Gashaw T.
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Yimam, Seid
author_facet Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Abate, Gashaw T.
Yimam, Seid
author_sort Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Climate change forecasts for Ethiopia predict higher temperature and rainfall and increased variability in rainfall with periodic severe droughts and floods. The increased weather variability threatens the extent of Ethiopia’s agricultural transformation unless it is supported with improved agricultural water management such as irrigation to make smallholder farming resilient to adverse weather events. This study analyzes the role of irrigation on agricultural transformation in Ethiopia by systematically comparing households with irrigated and non-irrigated plots on key agricultural transformation and welfare indictors (i.e., intensification, commercialization, and consumption expenditures). The study used a representative data from the four main agriculturally important regions of the country and employed an endogenous switching regression approach that addresses potential biases from placement of irrigation schemes and the self-selection of farmers to adopt irrigation on their plots. This approach allows for counterfactual analysis on the effect of irrigation if it is adopted on plots or in households without current irrigation as well as the counterfactual realizations of outcome variables if irrigated plots were not irrigated or irrigating households were relying only on rainfed agriculture. The main results show a positive and significant effects of irrigation on intensification, commercialization, and household welfare. Specifically, the results show that farm households with irrigated plots (i) use more fertilizer and agrochemicals, (ii) sell sizable shares of their harvest, and (iii) spend more on food and non-food expenditures. The counterfactual analysis on what would have been the effect of irrigation on currently non-irrigated plots indicate a stronger result across our outcome indicators which further suggest the importance of expanding irrigation in accelerating agricultural transformation and welfare improvement in Ethiopia.
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spelling CGSpace1408272025-12-02T21:03:03Z Irrigation and agricultural transformation in Ethiopia Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework Abate, Gashaw T. Yimam, Seid weather hazards climate welfare capacity development agriculture irrigation intensification commercialization climate change Climate change forecasts for Ethiopia predict higher temperature and rainfall and increased variability in rainfall with periodic severe droughts and floods. The increased weather variability threatens the extent of Ethiopia’s agricultural transformation unless it is supported with improved agricultural water management such as irrigation to make smallholder farming resilient to adverse weather events. This study analyzes the role of irrigation on agricultural transformation in Ethiopia by systematically comparing households with irrigated and non-irrigated plots on key agricultural transformation and welfare indictors (i.e., intensification, commercialization, and consumption expenditures). The study used a representative data from the four main agriculturally important regions of the country and employed an endogenous switching regression approach that addresses potential biases from placement of irrigation schemes and the self-selection of farmers to adopt irrigation on their plots. This approach allows for counterfactual analysis on the effect of irrigation if it is adopted on plots or in households without current irrigation as well as the counterfactual realizations of outcome variables if irrigated plots were not irrigated or irrigating households were relying only on rainfed agriculture. The main results show a positive and significant effects of irrigation on intensification, commercialization, and household welfare. Specifically, the results show that farm households with irrigated plots (i) use more fertilizer and agrochemicals, (ii) sell sizable shares of their harvest, and (iii) spend more on food and non-food expenditures. The counterfactual analysis on what would have been the effect of irrigation on currently non-irrigated plots indicate a stronger result across our outcome indicators which further suggest the importance of expanding irrigation in accelerating agricultural transformation and welfare improvement in Ethiopia. 2022-12-31 2024-04-12T13:36:43Z 2024-04-12T13:36:43Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140827 en https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.315339 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136461 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Abate, Gashaw Tadesse; and Yimam, Seid. 2022. Irrigation and agricultural transformation in Ethiopia. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2159. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136517.
spellingShingle weather hazards
climate
welfare
capacity development
agriculture
irrigation
intensification
commercialization
climate change
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Abate, Gashaw T.
Yimam, Seid
Irrigation and agricultural transformation in Ethiopia
title Irrigation and agricultural transformation in Ethiopia
title_full Irrigation and agricultural transformation in Ethiopia
title_fullStr Irrigation and agricultural transformation in Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Irrigation and agricultural transformation in Ethiopia
title_short Irrigation and agricultural transformation in Ethiopia
title_sort irrigation and agricultural transformation in ethiopia
topic weather hazards
climate
welfare
capacity development
agriculture
irrigation
intensification
commercialization
climate change
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140827
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