Irrigation schemes in Ethiopia’s Awash River Basin: An examination of physical, knowledge, and governance infrastructures

Using a representative sample of irrigation schemes, the study documents the physical, knowledge, and governance infrastructures of irrigation schemes in Ethiopia’s most intensively used river basin, the Awash. The findings show that about 20 percent of the equipped area of irrigation schemes in the...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework, Yimam, Seid, Arega, Tiruwork, Alemu, Tekie, Gonfa, Kidist H., Ringler, Claudia
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/158200
_version_ 1855542037904883712
author Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Yimam, Seid
Arega, Tiruwork
Alemu, Tekie
Gonfa, Kidist H.
Ringler, Claudia
author_browse Alemu, Tekie
Arega, Tiruwork
Gonfa, Kidist H.
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Ringler, Claudia
Yimam, Seid
author_facet Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Yimam, Seid
Arega, Tiruwork
Alemu, Tekie
Gonfa, Kidist H.
Ringler, Claudia
author_sort Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Using a representative sample of irrigation schemes, the study documents the physical, knowledge, and governance infrastructures of irrigation schemes in Ethiopia’s most intensively used river basin, the Awash. The findings show that about 20 percent of the equipped area of irrigation schemes in the basin is not being irrigated, while the number of actual beneficiaries on average exceeds the number of planned beneficiaries. The results also show significant knowledge gaps among irrigation scheme managers, extension agents, and leaders of water users’ associations (WUAs): 96 percent of them do not know the total water withdrawals or the irrigation water requirement per season. About 14 percent of the surveyed irrigation schemes have neither traditional water committees nor WUAs, and only 21 percent are organized in legally registered WUAs despite a substantial number of identified benefits of these organizations. Moreover, only 58 out of 489 irrigation schemes have women committee members. Many schemes lack a clear strategy for covering maintenance costs: almost 40 percent of schemes collect contributions from members only when the system fails, while 17 percent report no contributions for maintenance at all suggesting considerable risk of system deterioration and failure. The results challenge some of the assumptions about irrigation infrastructure in Ethiopia and confirm and quantify other assumptions in the literature.
format Artículo preliminar
id CGSpace158200
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher International Food Policy Research Institute
publisherStr International Food Policy Research Institute
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1582002025-12-08T09:54:28Z Irrigation schemes in Ethiopia’s Awash River Basin: An examination of physical, knowledge, and governance infrastructures Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework Yimam, Seid Arega, Tiruwork Alemu, Tekie Gonfa, Kidist H. Ringler, Claudia irrigation schemes infrastructure Awash River river basins advisory officers water user associations women Using a representative sample of irrigation schemes, the study documents the physical, knowledge, and governance infrastructures of irrigation schemes in Ethiopia’s most intensively used river basin, the Awash. The findings show that about 20 percent of the equipped area of irrigation schemes in the basin is not being irrigated, while the number of actual beneficiaries on average exceeds the number of planned beneficiaries. The results also show significant knowledge gaps among irrigation scheme managers, extension agents, and leaders of water users’ associations (WUAs): 96 percent of them do not know the total water withdrawals or the irrigation water requirement per season. About 14 percent of the surveyed irrigation schemes have neither traditional water committees nor WUAs, and only 21 percent are organized in legally registered WUAs despite a substantial number of identified benefits of these organizations. Moreover, only 58 out of 489 irrigation schemes have women committee members. Many schemes lack a clear strategy for covering maintenance costs: almost 40 percent of schemes collect contributions from members only when the system fails, while 17 percent report no contributions for maintenance at all suggesting considerable risk of system deterioration and failure. The results challenge some of the assumptions about irrigation infrastructure in Ethiopia and confirm and quantify other assumptions in the literature. 2024-10-28 2024-10-28T18:07:03Z 2024-10-28T18:07:03Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/158200 en https://www.cgiar.org/research/tool/awash-online-irrigation-dashboard/ https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139780 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Mekonnen, Dawit K.; Yimam, Seid; Arega, Tiruwork; Alemu, Tekie; Gonfa, Kidist H.; and Ringler, Claudia. 2024. Irrigation schemes in Ethiopia’s Awash River Basin: An examination of physical, knowledge, and governance infrastructures. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2287. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/158200
spellingShingle irrigation schemes
infrastructure
Awash River
river basins
advisory officers
water user associations
women
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Yimam, Seid
Arega, Tiruwork
Alemu, Tekie
Gonfa, Kidist H.
Ringler, Claudia
Irrigation schemes in Ethiopia’s Awash River Basin: An examination of physical, knowledge, and governance infrastructures
title Irrigation schemes in Ethiopia’s Awash River Basin: An examination of physical, knowledge, and governance infrastructures
title_full Irrigation schemes in Ethiopia’s Awash River Basin: An examination of physical, knowledge, and governance infrastructures
title_fullStr Irrigation schemes in Ethiopia’s Awash River Basin: An examination of physical, knowledge, and governance infrastructures
title_full_unstemmed Irrigation schemes in Ethiopia’s Awash River Basin: An examination of physical, knowledge, and governance infrastructures
title_short Irrigation schemes in Ethiopia’s Awash River Basin: An examination of physical, knowledge, and governance infrastructures
title_sort irrigation schemes in ethiopia s awash river basin an examination of physical knowledge and governance infrastructures
topic irrigation schemes
infrastructure
Awash River
river basins
advisory officers
water user associations
women
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/158200
work_keys_str_mv AT mekonnendawitkelemework irrigationschemesinethiopiasawashriverbasinanexaminationofphysicalknowledgeandgovernanceinfrastructures
AT yimamseid irrigationschemesinethiopiasawashriverbasinanexaminationofphysicalknowledgeandgovernanceinfrastructures
AT aregatiruwork irrigationschemesinethiopiasawashriverbasinanexaminationofphysicalknowledgeandgovernanceinfrastructures
AT alemutekie irrigationschemesinethiopiasawashriverbasinanexaminationofphysicalknowledgeandgovernanceinfrastructures
AT gonfakidisth irrigationschemesinethiopiasawashriverbasinanexaminationofphysicalknowledgeandgovernanceinfrastructures
AT ringlerclaudia irrigationschemesinethiopiasawashriverbasinanexaminationofphysicalknowledgeandgovernanceinfrastructures