The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia

While small-scale irrigation is largely designed and developed for agricultural production, irrigation water is used for multiple other purposes in rural low- and middle-income settings where dedicated water, sanitation, and hygiene services (WASH) are not available. Therefore, expanding access to i...

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Autores principales: Bryan, Elizabeth, van Biljon, Chloé, Lee, Yeyoung, Ringler, Claudia, Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: IWA Publishing 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/177412
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author Bryan, Elizabeth
van Biljon, Chloé
Lee, Yeyoung
Ringler, Claudia
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
author_browse Bryan, Elizabeth
Lee, Yeyoung
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Ringler, Claudia
van Biljon, Chloé
author_facet Bryan, Elizabeth
van Biljon, Chloé
Lee, Yeyoung
Ringler, Claudia
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
author_sort Bryan, Elizabeth
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description While small-scale irrigation is largely designed and developed for agricultural production, irrigation water is used for multiple other purposes in rural low- and middle-income settings where dedicated water, sanitation, and hygiene services (WASH) are not available. Therefore, expanding access to irrigation can potentially improve the WASH environment leading to health and nutrition benefits. This study examines the linkages between irrigation, use of irrigation water sources for multiple purposes, and WASH and health outcomes. We find that irrigation is associated with better household access to water and improved sanitation facilities. This relationship is driven by households that use groundwater for both irrigation and domestic uses. Moreover, our results show that hygiene practices and health outcomes are not influenced by irrigation or multiple uses of the same water source. To strengthen hygiene behavior, behavioral change communication will be important. For small-scale irrigation to effectively support WASH and, thus, to strengthen nutrition and health outcomes, systems would need to be co-designed by irrigation and health specialists, and women farmers who are largely responsible for providing WASH services at the household level would need to be empowered to participate in the design and management of these dual-purpose systems.
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spelling CGSpace1774122025-12-19T20:15:48Z The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia Bryan, Elizabeth van Biljon, Chloé Lee, Yeyoung Ringler, Claudia Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework agricultural production hygiene small-scale irrigation water supply While small-scale irrigation is largely designed and developed for agricultural production, irrigation water is used for multiple other purposes in rural low- and middle-income settings where dedicated water, sanitation, and hygiene services (WASH) are not available. Therefore, expanding access to irrigation can potentially improve the WASH environment leading to health and nutrition benefits. This study examines the linkages between irrigation, use of irrigation water sources for multiple purposes, and WASH and health outcomes. We find that irrigation is associated with better household access to water and improved sanitation facilities. This relationship is driven by households that use groundwater for both irrigation and domestic uses. Moreover, our results show that hygiene practices and health outcomes are not influenced by irrigation or multiple uses of the same water source. To strengthen hygiene behavior, behavioral change communication will be important. For small-scale irrigation to effectively support WASH and, thus, to strengthen nutrition and health outcomes, systems would need to be co-designed by irrigation and health specialists, and women farmers who are largely responsible for providing WASH services at the household level would need to be empowered to participate in the design and management of these dual-purpose systems. 2025-11 2025-10-29T17:45:05Z 2025-10-29T17:45:05Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/177412 en https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13395 https://doi.org/10.1142/S2382624X22500059 https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13297 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-018-0812-5 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139780 Open Access IWA Publishing Bryan, Elizabeth; van Biljon, Chloé; Lee, Yeyoung; Ringler, Claudia; and Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework. 2025. The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia. Journal of Water and Health 23(11): 1341-1354. https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2025.053
spellingShingle agricultural production
hygiene
small-scale irrigation
water supply
Bryan, Elizabeth
van Biljon, Chloé
Lee, Yeyoung
Ringler, Claudia
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia
title The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia
title_full The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia
title_fullStr The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia
title_short The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia
title_sort linkages between water supply sanitation and hygiene and small scale irrigation insights from rural ethiopia
topic agricultural production
hygiene
small-scale irrigation
water supply
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/177412
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