Abstract:
Agricultural intensification is presumed to be a necessary pre-condition for the
development of the agricultural sector in Ethiopia. To this end, various government and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), among others, initiated small-scale irrigation
schemes throughout the country including the Tigray region. Despite these efforts,
however, smallholder farmers particularly in the study area are found to be reluctant to
participate in small-scale irrigation schemes. This study therefore, assessed the factors
that affect smallholder farmers’ participation in small-scale irrigation of the study area.
It also explored the effect of participation in small-scale irrigation on the income of
rural farm households. A two-stage sampling procedure was used to first select peasant
associations and then sample respondents. Descriptive statistics and Heckman’s twostage estimation were used to estimate determinants of small-scale irrigation
participation and household income. The analysis revealed that income, gender, access
to market information and health condition of households are important determinants
for participating in small scale irrigation schemes. The analysis further revealed that
irrigation participation, family labor force, livestock ownership and access to market
information and credit are positively and significantly associated with household
income. Hence, improving rural farm households’ access to market information and
health services, is likely to improve participation in irrigation schemes thereby improve
small holder farmers income.
