Rural Households‟ Perceived Contributions Of Small Scale Irrigation For Livelihood Improvement: The Case Of Chelia District, West Shoa Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.

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.