Irrigation in Ethiopia.Is it really small,medium & large?

IRRIGATION CATEGORIES /CLASSIFICATION/ IN ETHIOPIA

 

 

1.    Categories of irrigation schemes:

In the Ethiopian context, the irrigation sub-sector was conventionally classified as small (less than 200ha), medium (200 to 3000ha) and large-scale (over 3000ha) schemes in the early years of its emergence. It refers only to size of land and ignores the ownership type, scales of capital, knowledge and technology involved. This customary arrangement was opted for its simplicity ,as then the large scale farms were either private company or  public owned and the small scale farms were that of farmers(private or communal).  However, that situation is consistently eroding as small scale, high capital, and knowledge intensive farms by private companies emerged; and farmers holdings started to shoot up. Furthermore, the scale of the finance, technology and management which were disguised require attention to determine the optimum coordination and management.

The other major problem is when you ,for example, present the total irrigated land area in the country per regional states as a basis for further planning and funding.the reason is as follows.In the regional states like Oromia, Afar, and the SNNP Region where farmers were either forcefully evicted/or denied their  communal/group/ and private water and land rights  for public enterprises, private farms , and  in the periods state farms were further established and expanded (during  the 'Derg' regime) the amount  of irrigated commands have relatively soared.   

However the  the share/%/ of the actual irrigated land areas owned and managed by farmers,and the benefits the local population got was insignificant.As a result,When these values are put against the regional states it  conceals the facts on the ground, and so presents as though the populations of the regions have benefited from irrigation , and wittingly implies priority of planning and funding for other regions.

  In order to overcome, this lump sum approach and investigate the concealed facts of ownership, scale of investment, and knowledge in the Oromia region, Ligdi (2003) used an alternative approach which was also very common in other countries and  the region. This recommendation was opted for and presented   as follows. 

Irrigated Agriculture is categorized into 3 major categories (Ligdi, 2003)

1.    Communal Small Holder  Irrigation Schemes
 

These small holder schemes are are constructed and developed by self –help or through projects with External inputs by Governments and NGO’S and Participation of Farmers. They are usually communal and managed by the small holder farmers themselves.

These Communal smallholder schemes Comprise of 

a.    the traditional communal Irrigation Schemes  (usually termed as Traditional Schemes) and;

b.     the Improved /”Modern”/ Communal Schemes mostly termed as Modern Small Scale Irrigation Schemes, SSIS

2.    Private /Commercial/ Irrigation Schemes

These schemes are constructed, owned, and managed by enterpreuners, individual investors (Smallholder farmers), or small or large commercial companies

3.    Public Irrigation Schemes

 These are mostly medium and large scale schemes developed/nationalized/, owned and managed by the government as commercial farms producing for export to generate foreign currency, create employment opportunities, etc..

Figure  : Irrigated land area in the different categories in Ethiopia

1.1   Communal Small Holder Irrigation Schemes

General (Major) features

These small holder schemes are dominated by self –help irrigation and Water undertakings based solely on local knowledge and skills with no or a very Low External inputs as the case is in traditional irrigation; and also includes the projects developed through External inputs by Governments and NGO’S and Participation of Farmers, and termed as Improved Small scale Irrigation, SSI schemes ,

Both the Traditional and Improved schemes are usually managed by the farmers themselves, through appropriately organized farmers user groups termed as Irrigation Water Users Associations, WUA’S.

Initial costs of small holder irrigation schemes are small, and O&M costs are relatively low.

1.1.1 Traditional irrigation schemes:

Specific  Features

• These schemes are constructed under self-help program carried out by farmers on their own initiative and and in general each scheme vary from less than 50 to 100 ha.
• The total irrigated area is estimated to be about 138,000 ha and about 572,000 farmers are involved.
• Traditional water committees, locally known as ‘water fathers’, administer the water distribution and coordinate the maintenance activities of the schemes.

•     Traditional irrigation is also very common in peri-urban areas, particularly in Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar, for the production of vegetables for the local market.

•      The major drawback of traditional irrigation schemes is related to unstable headworks and faulty systems of irrigation stemming from lack of technology and knowledge.
•       Simple and mostly temporary.
•       The total area irrigated under traditional irrigation as complied from master plan studies & reports of the regions is estimated to be about 64,000 ha

1.1.2   Improved /Modern/ communal irrigation schemes      (Generally termed as Modern small-scale irrigation schemes, SSIS)

These schemes use technologies for irrigating up to 200 ha and are constructed by the government/NGOs with farmer participation. (Range- 20 ha to 200 ha)

Specific Features

They are generally based on direct river diversions but they may also involve micro-dams for storage.

Example OROMIA

The Evaluation study (OIDA, 2ooo) also disclosed that rivers are the main water resource for the irrigation schemes in Oromia Region. Out of the 96 schemes, 72 schemes obtain water from rivers. The intake facilities are represented by diversion weirs. Among 96 irrigation schemes, 67 schemes are run-of -river type with diversion weirs, while pumping irrigation is operated to the limited extent.

The area equipped for irrigation in 2002 was about 48 300 ha and about 74 100 farmers were involved.

The operation and maintenance of the schemes are the responsibility of the water users, supported by the regional authorities/bureaus in charge of irrigation development and management.

Water Users Associations (WUAs) are formally established in some schemes but traditional water management dominates in most of the modern schemes.

1.2       Private /Commercial/ Irrigation Schemes (Usually termed as  Modern private irrigation Schemes):

These schemes are constructed, owned, and managed by entrepreneurs, individual investors (Smallholder farmers),or small or large commercial companies

• Virtually all the early commercial farms in the 1960’s and the irrigated state farms were privately owned farms until nationalization of the rural lands/private property/  through in the mid 1970s.
•  Some of these schemes were initially privately owned until later nationalized in  coming to power  of a  socialist government and then returned by back to through privatization after disowning/abandonment

• Private investment in irrigation has recently re-emerged with the adoption of a market-based economy policy in the early 1980s.
• According Ethiopian Investment Authority 18 modern private irrigation projects are now operational.
• Accordingly, at the end of 2000, private investors had developed about 5 500 ha of irrigated farms, distributed in Afar (37 percent), Oromia (48 percent) and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNPR) also known as the Southern Region (15 percent).
•  Built and operated by entrepreneurs, these schemes may range in size a few hectares to several  thousand hectares,
•  Depend on low- lift pumping or run-of river diversion for irrigation water abstraction.

1.3. Public Irrigation Schemes

• These schemes comprise medium- and large-scale irrigation schemes with areas of 200-3 000 ha and above 3 000 ha respectively and a total estimated area of about 97 700 ha.

•     They are constructed, owned and operated by public enterprises. These schemes are concentrated along the Awash River Course and were constructed in the 1960s-70s as either private farms or joint ventures.

•      No such schemes have been developed for the last 7-8 years up to 2004.
•       They constitute an area of about 61,000 ha
•       75% of the total is found in the Awash valley, the Blue Nile and the Wabe Shebele river basins 
•      Masonry weirs\ in some cases pump is used to abstract irrigation water.

• Conveyance & Operation is through open gravity canals.
•  Furrow irrigation scheme is the norm from water application, except in case of Fincaa sugar estate     where sprinkler is used.
•  Irrigation efficiency is low (Aswash), 40% (adequate land leveling, water control   & water  measuring devices).

About 62 percent of the area equipped for irrigation is located in the Rift Valley, while 29 percent of the area equipped for irrigation is located in the Nile basin. The remaining 9 percent is located in the Shebelli-Juba basin.

Region-wise, about 39 percent of the irrigated area is in Oromia in central Ethiopia, followed by 24 percent in Amhara in the north, 15 percent in Afar in the northeast and 12 percent in SNNPR, while the remaining 10 percent is in the other regions. Nearly 100 percent of the irrigated land is supplied from surface water, while groundwater use has just been started on a pilot scale in East Amhara. Sprinkler irrigation is practiced on about 2 percent of the irrigated area for sugar cane production by government enterprises, while localized irrigation has recently started in the Tigray and Amhara regions. Pump irrigation by a group of farm households and private farms is practiced in some areas, while human-powered (treadle pump) irrigation has also recently started in the Tigray and Amhara regions. Though quantitative information is not available, spate irrigation and flood recession cropping are practiced in the lowland areas of the country, particularly in Dire Dawa, Somali, East Amhara, and Tigray in the eastern and northeastern parts of the country.

  REFERENCES  AND LITERATURE CITED

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