Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to examine the contribution of small scale irrigation on farmers‟
livelihood in Chelia District. The study was employed „with‟ and „without‟ approach by
comparing farmers who used irrigation and farmers who did not use irrigation. Both
quantitative and qualitative data were used for analysis. Stratified random sampling technique
was used to select the respondents of irrigation user and non-user for the survey. Sample data
for the study were collected from randomly selected 156 farm households were 78 users and 78
non-users. Descriptive statistics like frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation were
employed to analyse quantitative data. The qualitative data collected through key informant
interview, focus group discussion and personal observation were analyzed by employing the
thematic content analysis. The result shows increased irrigation users‟ income as compared to
non-users. This shows that how significance role of small scale irrigation scheme are improving
the livelihood condition of poor farmers in the study area. The research result also identified
problems of small scale irrigation as lack of access to market, lack of water, lack of irrigable
land and lack of improved inputs. The study recommends small irrigation schemes have an
insightful effect on household income and fixed asset formation for livelihood improvement.
Hence, such schemes need to be encouraged and riding up to other areas and involve more
households. In this study access to market, extending appropriate crop protection mechanisms,
educating and raising farmers‟ awareness through extension and provision of other
complementary services would enhance the participation of irrigation for livelihood
improvement.
