WORKSHOP ON COMMUNITY- BASED IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT AT ILRI, ADDIS ABEBA May 2003 Paulos Dubale EARO

THE CHALLENGES ETHIOPIA FACES Feeding the rapidly increasing population (c. 2,000,000 p.a.) Youth Migration out of village to towns in search of jobs, farm lands or food as a result of low productivity of land Shrinking size of land Recurrent drought expanding to areas previously not affected (to the west)

Water Resources in Ethiopia 12 major river basins The potentials for irrigated agriculture is about 3.7 x 10 6 hectares Only 5% is used About a third of the irrigated agriculture is in Awash River basin

History of Irrigation in Ethiopia (1) There are more than ha of traditional and ha of modern type small-scale irrigation medium and large-scale irrigated agriculture There are also over 460 projects of small scale irrigation under construction or have started operation.

History of Irrigation (2) However, farmers face many problems in operating small scale irrigation plots At present there are many micro-dams and small ponds being constructed by the farmers Professionals in irrigation and drainage should give due attention to the proper construction and operation of these schemes

Past recommendation in Irrigation from Werer Center Crop water requirement for cotton, wheat, sesame, maize and groundnut has been studied and recommended Water requirement of some fruit trees and vegetables has also been studied and recommended although this requires further refining. Knowledge gap exists on water requirement for supplemental or off season crop production in the highlands.

Traditional Small Scale Irrigation Innovations Traditional small scale irrigation existed for some time but scaling up activities must have started since 1960s. Setbacks of the traditional irrigation practices – High labor requirement to build canals – Loss of some productive lands while building the structure – Gully formation as a result of deep canal – lack of proper water regulation or control to each canal, hence, poor water distribution to the farms – Limited extension advice on water management, hence, poor impact

Status of Irrigated Agriculture in each Regional State

OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT Assess the benefits, costs and impacts of different types of small-scale irrigation schemes and their water sources The role of small-scale irrigation in poverty reduction, water economy and water uses in the community Strengthening capacity building in the NARES

I WISH YOU A PRODUCTIVE DELIBRATION and THANK FOR LISTENING

SOIL EROSION Soil Erosion is the worst threat to Land Productivity in the Region compared to any other factor. Causative Factors: – population pressure – continuous cultivation – rugged topography & steep slope – Torrential rain concentrated within a short period – dwindling vegetation – Erosion vulnerable soil types

IMPACT OF SOIL EROSION Reduction in soil depth – low soil moisture retention Sedimentation at the downstream

INVESTMENT ON SOIL CONSERVATION In the different domains farmers’ soil conservation practices may include stone bunding, soil bunding, making drainage ditches, clearing stone, tree planting, tree nursery management, fence building, and live fence establishment. Stone bund is practiced in the cereal domains while soil bund is used LPC, HP & HM domains Tree planting is practiced in the HPC, LP & LM