Abstract:
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
