IMPACT OF SMALL-SCALE IRRIGATION ON HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY: THE CASE OF GURAWA DISTRICT, EAST HARARGHE ZONE OF OROMIA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

Irrigation is one means by which agricultural production can be increased to meet the growing food demand in Ethiopia. Small-scale irrigation has been identified as an excellent way to augment rain-fed agriculture while also assuring food security, particularly in places with limited rainfall. Small-scale irrigation is a policy priority in Ethiopia for rural poverty alleviation and growth, as well as climate adaptation. This study was intended to evaluate the impact of small-scale irrigation on household food security in Gurawa district of Eastern Oromia Regional State. The study used Yamane sampling techniques formula to get 220 randomly selected sample households of which 108 are irrigation users and 112 are non-users. Both descriptive and econometric statistical methods were used to analyze the data. The descriptive results based on daily calorie intake measure of food security revealed that, out of 220 sample households’ 65 percent were food secure and 35 percent were food insecure. The results of the study using Logit model indicate that sex of household head, land size, participation in irrigation, extension contact and participation in nonfarm activities have positively and significantly affected household food security. The impact analysis result obtained using propensity Score Matching Method found that irrigation increased the daily per capita caloric intake of user households by 321.56kcal than non-user households so that small scale irrigation utilization is one of the viable solutions to secure household food needs in the study area. The finding of this study shows that small-scale irrigation is one of the viable solutions to secure household food needs and diversify their diet composition which supports households to improve their food security in the study area. Thus, the concerned development partners being governmental or non-governmental should join hands to promote the development of such small-scale irrigation schemes in the study area and other similar areas with impact, socio-economic settings.