IMPACT OF SMALL SCALE IRRIGATION ON SMALL-HOLDER FARMERS’ INCOME: THE CASE OF KERSA DISTRICT, EAST HARARGHE ZONE OROMIA NATIONAL REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

Irrigation water is one of unexploited resources in our country. Recently, the Federal and the Regional Governments of Ethiopia, and donor agencies gave due attention to promote smallscale irrigation schemes in the country that targeted smallholder farmers. This is because irrigated farming plays a vital role towards domestic food security and poverty alleviation. This study identifies factors influencing participation in small-scale irrigated farming and its impact on annual income of smallholder farmers’ using cross-sectional data collected from 180 (90 participants and 90 non-participants) randomly selected households from Kersa district of East Hararghe zone. Descriptive statistics and econometric model called propensity score matching (PSM) were used to analyze data. The results obtained from logit model show that participation in small-scale irrigated farming was significantly influenced by five explanatory variables. Formal education of the household head and livestock ownership were found to have strong and positive relationship with participation in small scale irrigated farming. By contrast, distances from the nearest market, distance of the farm from irrigation scheme and total size of cultivated land have strong and negative effect on participation in small-scale irrigated farming. The ATT results obtained from PSM model show that participation in small-scale irrigated farming has a positive and statistically significant impact on annual income of the households. On average, it has increased annual income of the households’ by 7506.45 Birr for participating households compared to non-participating households. Hence, improving rural households access to market, livestock productivity, expanding rural road networks in order to open-up market for irrigated products, enhancing the educational status of the farmers possibly through adult education and expansion of primary education and investing in small-scale irrigation scheme would increase participation in small-scale irrigated farming and income