GREAT LAND COLLEGE

MASTERS OF DEVELOPEMNT MANAGEMENT

Course: Policy Analysis

Group Assignment on
Policy Analysis on Irrigation potentials, Constraints and
opportunities for enhancing the system .
Group Members ID. No.
1. Melikte Yohannis GLC/2008/14
2. Worku Megersa GLC/2008/14
3. Birku Habte GLC/2008/14
4. Hinsene Mirkena GLC/2008/14
5. Tamirat Tilahuun GLC/2008/14

Submitted to: Dereje Tolera. (PhD)

Nekemet, Oromia, Ethiopia

Augst 2022 E.C

i
Table of Contents Page
Table of Contents....................................................................................................................................................ii
Acronyms............................................................................................................................................................... iii
List of table.............................................................................................................................................................v
Executive summary...............................................................................................................................................vi
1. Ethiopia’s Irrigation Sector and Future Development Potential................................................................1
1.1 The Importance of Irrigation in Agricultural Development...............................................................1
1.3 Existing Irrigation Development.................................................................................................................2
1.4 Opportunities for Increased Irrigation.......................................................................................................2
1.6 Reaching Irrigation’s Development Potential............................................................................................3
2.1 Gap in Plans versus Delivery of Irrigation Projects..................................................................................4
2.2 Low Performance of Existing Schemes.......................................................................................................5
2.3 Constraints on Scale-Up...............................................................................................................................5
2.4 Irrigation Development Sustainability........................................................................................................6
3. ANALISTS ROADMAP FOR ACCELERATING AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION IN ZONAL,
REGIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVEL..............................................................................................................8
3.1 Delivery on Plans..........................................................................................................................................8
3.2 Scheme Performance..................................................................................................................................10
3.3 System Scale-Up.........................................................................................................................................13
3.4 Implementation Resource Requirements and Timeline...........................................................................14
4. NEXT STEPS AND CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................15
5. REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................................16

ii
 Acronyms
AEMFI Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions
AEZ Agro-Ecological Zone
AGP Agricultural Growth Program
AWTF Agricultural Water Task Force
BMGF Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
BoARD Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development
BoIA Bureau of Irrigation Agency
BoWR Bureau of Water Resources
DA Development Agent
EIAR Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research
EIGS Ethiopian Institute for Geological Surveys
ETB Ethiopian Birr
FTC Farmer Training Center
FTE Full Time Equivalent
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GOE Government of Ethiopia
Ha Hectares
IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute
IT Information Technology
IWMI International Water Management Institute
JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency
LSI Large Scale Irrigation
MBA Masters of Business Administration
Mha Million hectares
MoARD Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
MoFED Ministry of Finance and Economic Development
MoIPD Ministry of Irrigation and Pastoralist Development
MoWR Ministry of Water Resources
MSI Medium Scale Irrigation
NGO Non-Government Organization
NRM Natural Resource Management
O&M Operations & Maintenance
PA Peasant Association
PASDEP Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty
PPP Public-Private Partnership
RDPS Rural Development Policy and Strategy
RWH Rain Water Harvesting
SSI Small Scale Irrigation

iii
ToR Terms of Reference
TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training
WUA Water User Associations
WSM Watershed Management
WW Water Works

iv
List of table
TABLE 1: Activities and targeted outcomes of AWTF..............................................................................8
TABLE 2: Proposed activities and targeted outcomes of project prioritization........................................10
TABLE 4: Proposed activities and targeted outcomes of farmers and DAs skill upgrading....................12
TABLE 5: Proposed activities and targeted outcomes to develop business cases and scale up cost
recovery.....................................................................................................................................................13
TABLE 6: Proposed activities and targeted outcomes in building irrigation staff....................................14

v
Executive summary

This report argues that water resource management in agriculture is a critical contributor to the
economic and social development of Buno Bedele Zone farmers. If successful, irrigation in
Buno Bedele Zone could represent a cornerstone of the agricultural development of the Zone,
contributing up to 1,500 households into food security.

However, irrigation is not a simple silver bullet: first, it can only work if other components of
the agricultural system are also effective (e.g., seeds, extension); second, all the tools in the
toolkit will be required 100 million Birr from small-scale irrigation to large-scale schemes – to
construct a viable solution. Like many Zones/District before it, Ethiopia have developed her
own spectrum of solutions to serve the needs of smallholder farmers as well those of broader
economic development.

Ethiopia has an important opportunity in water-led development, but it needs to address critical
challenges in the planning, design, delivery, and maintenance of its irrigation systems if it is to
capture its full potential. This analysis shows how Buno Bedele Zone Irrigation Development
Office can chart a practical path of initiatives that will allow it to support the scale-up of its
irrigated agricultural sector, the growth of its small holder farmer.

vi
1. Ethiopia’s Irrigation Sector and Future Development Potential
1.1 The Importance of Irrigation in Agricultural Development
The development of irrigation and agricultural water management holds significant potential to
improve productivity and reduce vulnerability to climactic volatility in any country. Although
Ethiopia has abundant rainfall and water resources, its agricultural system does not yet fully
benefit from the technologies of water management and irrigation. The majority of rural
dwellers in Ethiopia are among the poorest in the country, with limited access to agricultural
technology, limited possibilities to diversify agricultural production given underdeveloped rural
infrastructure, and little to no access to agricultural markets and to technological innovations.
These issues, combined with increasing degradation of the natural resource base, especially in
the highlands, aggravate the incidence of poverty and food insecurity in rural areas. Improved
water management for agriculture has many potential benefits in efforts to reduce vulnerability
and improve productivity. Specifically, primary rationales for developing the irrigation sector in
the Zone include:
■ Increased productivity of land and labor, which is especially pertinent given future constraints
from population growth
■ Reduced reliance on rainfall, thereby mitigating vulnerability to variability in rainfall
■ Reduced degradation of natural resources
■ Increased exports
■ Increased job opportunities, and promotion of a dynamic economy with rural
entrepreneurship.
Despite significant efforts by the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) and other stakeholders,
improving agricultural water management is hampered by constraints in policy, institutions,
technologies, capacity, infrastructure, and markets. Addressing these constraints is vital to
achieve sustainable growth and accelerated development of the sector in Zone and region level.

1.2 Overview of Buno Bedele Zone Irrigation Potentials

Buno Bedele Zone comprises 13,000 hectares (ha) of irrigation potential land. Cultivable land
area estimates 12,000 ha that means 92%. Currently, from the modern irrigation potential of
1500 hek. High estimates show that only 600 ha of land is under schemes cultivation. For the
existing cultivated area, our estimate is that only about 40% percent is irrigated, with existing
equipped irrigation schemes. This means that a significant portion of cultivated land in the Zone
is currently not irrigated. This section examines the Zone water sources for irrigation, current
irrigation schemes, and potential to increase irrigated lands.

1
Our premise is that well-managed irrigation development is key in helping our Zone even
Ethiopia overcome major challenges including population pressure; soil and land degradation;
high climate variability, and low agricultural productivity. In addition, agricultural water
development is crucial to improve smallholder livelihood and income in the Zone, since
irrigation can help farmers increase their crop production, increase crop variety, and lengthen
their agricultural seasons.

1.3 Existing Irrigation Development

As detailed below, the analysis estimates that current irrigation schemes cover about 600 ha in
the Zone
■ Small scale-irrigation (SSI), which are often community-based and traditional methods,
covering less than 200 hectares. Examples of SSI include household based RWH, hand-dug
wells, shallow wells, flooding (spate), individual household-based river diversions and other
traditional methods; these irrigation schemes vary widely in size and structure, from micro
irrigation (RWH), to river diversion, pumping, and small or large dams, etc.
1.4 Opportunities for Increased Irrigation
Before addressing specific areas for increasing irrigation in the District, this section
details how agricultural water management in can help tackle some of the nation’s
significant development challenges, including:
■ Overpopulation. Irrigation can support crop intensification through which small plots of land
can produce more per capita. The available household labor can also be engaged throughout the
year, thereby improving labor productivity. Provision of irrigation can also create employment
opportunities through the forward and backward linkages between irrigation and commodity
value chains.
■ Climate variability. Climate variability, including soil erosion and flooding, is a major
agricultural constraint of in the District. Climate variability is expected to increase the
occurrence and the severity of extreme events (flooding and erosion) and related shocks.
Improved water management and irrigation promote stability during prolonged droughts and can
reduce vulnerability during environmental shocks.
■ Land degradation. The Zone soil is estimated to be moderately to severely degraded, which
decreases the productivity of land. Irrigation and watershed management can reverse this
degradation by conserving soil and water, reducing flooding, and increasing recharge and base
flow.
■ Farmer productivity. The district crop productivity is frequently below potential. For
instance, in 2021/22, the average maize yield was 24ku/ha.
■ Gender equality. Irrigation can also provide significant benefits (and some costs) to rural
women by enabling women farmers to increase their cash incomes and diversify family nutrition

2
and food sources. To ensure equal access to land and water by women, irrigation access must be
carefully monitored. Participation of women in Water Users’ Associations should also be
promoted. At the same time, irrigation can have potentially negative consequences for women,
such as increasing the burden of labor on women, as irrigation is a labor-intensive form of
agriculture, and allowing men to capture an unfair share of farm profits. Increasing farmer
productivity is a crucial lever to improving smallholder income and livelihood. Irrigation helps
improve crop productivity, especially when used in conjunction with improved inputs (e.g.,
seed, fertilizer).
1.6 Reaching Irrigation’s Development Potential
As demonstrated above, Buno Bedele Zone has surface water, groundwater, and rainwater
sources that can be developed for at least 13,000 hectares of irrigation potential. Over the next
five years, Buno Bedele Zone Irrigation Development Office has already planned to increase its
total area of SSI irrigated land from the current 600 hectares to about 1500 hek. However,
beyond the next five years, Ethiopia will have to significantly expand its irrigation sector to
reach the full irrigable potential.

2. CHALLENGES TO DEVELOPING IRRIGATION IN BUNO BEDELE ZONE

In the next years Buno Bedele Zone Irrigation Development Office plans to significantly
increase its irrigated land from the current 600 ha to about 1500 ha, through small-scale
irrigation and supplementary irrigation harvesting, and other medium- and large-scale irrigation
projects.
■ Behind-schedule scheme delivery. There is often a significant gap between
plans for irrigation projects (number of projects, number of hectares to be irrigation) and the
actual construction or delivery of these projects. For example, the 2019/20 irrigation target from
the SHADEP Project plan was 350 hectares of three schemes irrigated land (100 percent by
SSI). But by mid-2020, only 50 hectares were currently equipped, which was 300 ha short of the
target.
This low percent performance from current irrigation potential it will require tremendous
resources, including funding, human capacity, infrastructure, and other human and capital
investments. However, in the district faces four key technical, socio-economic, institutional, and
environmental challenges that must be overcome in order to meet this ambitious target:
■ Low-performance of schemes. Many schemes currently operate significantly under their
design capacity. The team/analysis estimates that scheme performance is on average 20 percent
below design, implying a loss of about 100 hectares of irrigated land, leading to only 600ha
performing to the expectations.
■ Constraints on scale-up of irrigation projects. The regional state aspiration to nearly triple
the number of irrigated hectares over the next five years will only be met by overcoming a series

3
of scale-up constraints such as inadequate human capacity and labor constraints, and limited
knowledge private sector (Consultants) involvement.
■ protecting irrigation development sustainability. Sustainability is threatened by unregulated
surface and groundwater development, lack of watershed and environmental management, and
the need for smallholder farmer buy-in and investment. For example, land degradation caused
by soil erosion (about milion tons of topsoil are lost annually in the Zone, the following sections
provide an in-depth exploration of these four challenges in terms of institutional, human and
technical capacity, capability, policy context, and funding. The constraints are explored at each
decision-making level (federal, regional, Woreda, farmers) negatively affects agricultural
productivity.

2.1 Gap in Plans versus Delivery of Irrigation Projects

Over the last five years, the Oromia Regional State has increased its focus on irrigation
development and dedicated more resources to it. But while targets have been ambitious,
deliveries have failed to meet many of the irrigation targets.
For example, Buno Bedele Irrigation planned to construct 410 hectares of Small Scale irrigation
schemes in the original 2020/21-2021/2022 plan, but actually constructed projects covering only
about 50hectares by 2020/21, which is 12.19 percent below target. The discrepancy between
irrigation plans and delivery is driven by three primary constraints:
■ Institutional capacity and capability. Across many levels of the government (from
kebele/woreda, to regional/zone and federal level), there are significant institutional challenges
that prevent irrigation plans from being fully implemented.
These include no standardized approach across agencies for mapping/monitoring existing
projects; lack of project ownership; lack of institutional memory; and insufficient technical staff.
Decision makers also do not have guidelines or systems for prioritizing investment decisions
and project pipelines, which prevents efficient ranking and budgeting based on needs and
resources.
■ Technical capacity and tools. Many government agencies and private sector/ NGO
stakeholders lack the technical capacity and tools necessary for efficient irrigation planning and
implementation. No national database is available on existing irrigation projects or irrigation
needs, which could make data accessible from the federal to the local level. There is also no
reliable baseline data at any level, making it difficult to plan, coordinate, budget, or manage
irrigation schemes.
■ Inadequate policies and regulations. The GOE and Regional lacks a regulatory framework
for many issues surrounding irrigation schemes, including water fees, water rights, water
conflict resolution, incentives for collaboration between the local, regional, and federal levels;
incentives for accurate reporting of current projects, etc. All of these gaps increase the risk and

4
uncertainty of many irrigation schemes and prevent many projects from being realized. To
address these challenges, our analysis recommends several actions, including an inter-ministerial
agricultural water task force to increase accountability and governmental systems to prioritize
projects in order to improve delivery and resource allocation.
2.2 Low Performance of Existing Schemes
The second hurdle to irrigation development is the underperformance of existing irrigation
schemes. Many irrigation projects are operating significantly under their design capacity, with
the schemes analyzed below operating at just 12.19 percent of their design capacity 50hek
equipped.
There are multiples reasons for this low performance:
■ Operations/maintenance. Extensive research shows that non-/underperformance is caused
primarily by inadequate operations and maintenance (O&M) of projects, e.g., sedimentation
impact, inadequate structural design.
■ Human capacity. Human capacity is limited across multiple government and private sector
actors. This includes a shortage of skilled workers (e.g., engineers, designers) to build and
maintain projects and a lack of basic irrigation skills among farmers and development agents to
operate and maintain small-scale projects. Smallholders’ limited skills in the operation and
maintenance of small-scale projects; and poor contract and performance management for SSIP
intervention schemes, among other issues. The analysis for this report observed many of these
constraints during a field visit to the Buno Bedele Zone. In addition, scheme performance often
deteriorates over time due to wear and tear of irrigation structures and depletion of soil quality,
making operations and maintenance especially important.
■ Research/management capabilities. There is no coordinated research program on
agricultural water management, there is applied research on national irrigation systems, no link
between researchers, Reigons, Zones, Woredas and farmers, and there is no enogh training on
irrigation Guidelines/manuals for local crops. There is also poor management of project
contracts and performance – including non-transparent bidding and selection processes, lack of
contract management skills, lack of checks and balances – all of which can increase project
costs, delivery time, and risk. To address these challenges, members recommend several efforts,
including prioritizing applied research on irrigated agriculture, enhancing the training of farmers
and development agents on agricultural water management through the extension system.
2.3 Constraints on Scale-Up
The planned scale-up to 1500ha by 2025 will pose many challenges to the zone
irrigation infrastructure and processes. The primary constraints on scale-up include:
■ Sustainable funding pipeline. The team estimate that about ETB 100 million will be
required over the next five years to develop the additional irrigation projects to reach the zone
1500 ha goal, including construction costs and capital and operating expenditures. Without

5
adequate funding, many irrigation schemes will not be built, limiting Ethiopia’s ability to
develop its agricultural sector. Since GOE and donor funding is unlikely to cover these costs,
stakeholders will need to develop innovative funding strategies, including cost recovery, long-
term funding for operations and maintenance, and new collection mechanisms (potentially via
legal recognition of water user associations (WUAs).
■ Lack of human delivery capacity. There is currently a lack of human delivery capacity,
including capacity in engineering, agronomy, surveying, and drilling among technical experts,
as well as farmer knowledge, business plan development and planning/supervision/budgeting at
the farmer and governmental levels. With the planned increase in irrigation schemes in the next
five years, human capacity requirements will escalate. However, under current recruitment and
retention practices, the GOE is likely to face significant shortages of qualified staff. In addition,
a lack of overall construction capacity is likely to slow down construction and irrigation scale
up.
■ Private sector involvement. In the past, the private sector has played almost no role in
irrigation development. Public water works enterprises are currently working to bridge this gap,
but given the magnitude of the challenge the private sector should be further encouraged through
positive business models, opportunities for investments, and other incentives. Ethiopia has
successfully achieved private sector involvement in its domestic water supply, and could
develop the agricultural water infrastructure along this model. For example, the demands for
machinery (e.g., drilling rigs, loaders, excavators) to construct irrigation projects will be very
high over the next five years.
2.4 Irrigation Development Sustainability
The opportunity to greatly expand the country’s irrigation system presents both significant
opportunities and challenges in terms of environmental and economic sustainability. Key
challenges include:
■ Watershed and environmental management. Soil erosion is the main cause of land and
water degradation in In the Zone also in Ethiopia, which severely limits agricultural
productivity. Acidity problems due to soil erosion have already caused the abandonment of parts
of large irrigation schemes. Watershed and environmental management must be integrated into
all irrigation development projects. Since environmental and ecosystem protection are
prerequisites for successful irrigation development.
■ Smallholder farmer investments/buy-in. Despite recent increases in local and demand
driven small-scale irrigation and SSI/RWH projects (e.g., AGP), smallholders and kebeles are
not yet fully equipped to participate and need more knowledge about modern irrigation practices
and business development skills. In particular, the relatively high cost of irrigation infrastructure
represents a large investment risk for many smallholders. To attract smallholder involvement
and support for irrigation development, the following should be considered:

6
– If smallholders can see a positive return on investment and long-term benefits from irrigation,
they are more likely to invest their limited resources in irrigated agriculture.
– Farmers need a functioning irrigation supply chain, e.g., equipment and inputs for building and
maintaining SSI/RWH irrigation schemes.
– Smallholders, kebeles, and DAs need funding and training to use and promote small-scale
irrigation. This includes irrigation extension, training in how to apply for irrigation funding, and
other needs.

2.5 Summary
In sum, the Zone faces many challenges in its quest to expand irrigation and achieve the five-
year, 1500 ha target for irrigation development. These challenges include closing the gap
between planning versus delivery of irrigation projects; improving the performance of existing
irrigation schemes; removing constraints on the scale-up of irrigation projects; and ensuring the
sustainability of water resources for irrigation. Specific recommendations for overcoming these
challenges are detailed in the next section.

7
 3. ANALISTS ROADMAP FOR ACCELERATING AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION IN
ZONAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVEL
As detailed above, Buno Bedele Zone Irrigation Development Office plans to increase its
current SSIP coverage from 600 ha to the government’s target of 1500 ha in the next five years
will be a challenge. To achieve this ambitious goal, the analysts group recommends specific
steps in four key areas – improving scheme delivery, improving scheme performance, removing
constraints for scaling up the irrigation system, and focusing on scheme sustainability.
3.1 Delivery on Plans
To strengthen delivery on plans, our team recommend setting up an agricultural water task for to
ensure accountability and introducing a system to prioritize irrigation projects.
Recommendation I: Set up an agricultural water task force to ensure accountability
to standardize data collection and management of all existing and planned irrigation schemes
and monitor their performance, the GOE should set up an inter-ministerial/- regional irrigation
agriculture water task force (AWTF). The main goal is to monitor irrigation schemes and
develop reliable information management and decision-making mechanisms. The task force
should include representatives from the MoWR, MoARD, MoIPD, MoFED, and Regional
Irrigation Office and should build strong links with the regional Bureaus. It would eventually
become a shared services unit within the MoWR or the River Basin Authority whose mandate
would be to disseminate information and manage ongoing projects according to guidelines set
by the task force. The expected activities and proposed outcomes are provided in the following
table.

TABLE 1: Activities and targeted outcomes of AWTF

Activities proposed Targeted outcomes
 Establish task force between  All actors at all levels aligned and informed
MoFED,MoWR, and MoARD, about existing and planned irrigation
MoIPD Create strong links with investments Reliable and consistent baseline
regions for overall coordination information at all levels

 Create harmonized and efficient  Process and responsibilities clear and

reporting process Design aligned for regularly updating and quality
incentives for accurate reporting checking on baseline information
As first steps, the task force would:
■ Create a national baseline on irrigation projects with accurate information on existing
schemes and their performance. This will allow the GOE and other stakeholders to monitor and

8
maintain schemes, share knowledge of best practices, and create efficient resource allocation of
investment versus maintenance.
■ Develop a standardized reporting methodology for irrigation data, e.g., scheme
definitions, performance metrics, for all delivery levels from federal government to woreda to
individual schemes.
■ Design a process and communication strategy to share the methodology and baseline data.
This should include creating common reporting formats, and training actors at regional and local
levels in definitions, data collection, and monitoring of schemes.
■ Outline accountabilities and incentives for gathering and managing baseline information
at all GOE levels, including quality control, feedback to the regions, and local reports.
In order for the task force to institutionalize a standard reporting process and baseline
on irrigation projects, it must coordinate across the federal (e.g., MoWR, MoIPD, MoARD),
regional, and woreda levels to ensure accurate and timely reporting of irrigation data.
The task force can support the federal, regional, and woreda levels in achieving these
goals, as described below:
■ Task force (MoFED, MoARD, MoIPD MoWR). The task force should appoint one owner
of the process within the appropriate ministry. This owner should act as a facilitator between
other ministries, as necessary. The owner will need to create reporting guidelines and ensure
central storage of reporting files. Emphasis should be placed on building upon existing database
sections and programming departments within MoWR and MoIPD.
■ MoWR (M/LSI). At the MoIPD level, an owner of reporting should be assigned.
This owner will be the primary liaison between MoWR and the task force. With the help of the
task force, the owner should create a simple Excel-based reporting schedule; institutionalize
reporting, e.g., schedule regular updates to senior MoWR leadership; and establish a reporting
system with scheme managements. Finally, senior MoWR leadership should communicate the
new reporting processes and guidelines within the ministry, and to regions, to ensure adherence.
■ Regional bureaus (BoARD, BoIPD, BoWR,). At the regional level, regional heads
will help oversee the reporting process. In addition, the regional heads should
jointly appoint a regional process owner responsible for ensuring that data are
continuously updated and for liaising with the federal process owner. The primary
tasks of the regional heads are to reinforce commitment to the “clean sheet”
reporting approach, ensure integration of information at regional level; and
oversee management of the information gathered in the sectoral bureaus.
■ Zonal bureaus (BoARD, BoIPD, BoWR,). The involvement of zonal bureaus
should be optional for some regions. The responsibilities at the zonal level will be
similar to the regional duties, with the added task of ensuring communication
between the woredas and regions.

9
Heads of Irrigation and Agriculture. At the woreda level, the woreda head should
assign one of the two bureau heads to lead data management. The data
management owner’s role is to ensure quality and “clean sheet” reporting, as well
as to transmit data collection procedures and mechanisms to respective DAs and
Peasant Associations (PA) s.
Recommendation II: Introduce a project prioritization system
To enable stakeholders to focus on the most important, efficient and high-impact
irrigation projects, the GOE should develop and introduce a system to prioritize SSI,
MSI, and LSI schemes at the federal, regional and woreda levels. This system would
help the GOE improve transparency of irrigation projects, consolidate projects by
removing overlaps, reschedule or defer projects that cannot be implemented
immediately, and cancel projects that do not fulfill minimum criteria.
The expected activities and proposed outcomes are provided in the following table.
TABLE 2: Proposed activities and targeted outcomes of project prioritization
Activities proposed Targeted outcomes
 Systematize project investment decision  Clear fact base and selection criteria in
criteria with new review template (both place for coordinated irrigation
for medium/large and small scale) development and investment schedule
 Include prioritization process in regular  Project pipeline established at federal and
budgeting cycles at all levels regional levels with clarity on investment
 Align on local, regional, and federal challenges by project
priorities, implementation responsibilities  Donor discussions facilitated through
and timelines among different government clear government selection criteria and
levels in respective meetings priorities
 Use tool for donor dialogue on portfolio  Policy continuity along consistent
challenges and priorities prioritization criteria

To implement this system, the team recommends the following actions:

■ Develop project investment decision criteria. The team have developed a draft review
template that can help stakeholders evaluate irrigation projects based on four categories
(availability of resources, cost-benefit ratio, political fit, and alternatives/trade-offs), each of
which is comprised of multiple sub-categories (e.g., water/land availability, human capacity,
smallholder benefit, economic impact).
The prioritization of projects can be based on these overall scores. The team also recommend
creating a cut-off score for implementation, based on available resources.

10
3.2 Scheme Performance
To improve irrigation project performance, the team recommend enhancing applied research
into this important and complex field, provide training for farmers and development agents, and
reconfigure contract management.

Recommendation III: Enhance (applied) research on irrigated agriculture

The current research in agricultural water issues in Ethiopia is almost non-existent, and
what exists is not systematized and lacks leadership in undertaking strategic and
problem-oriented research. The main purpose of this recommendation is to enhance
applied research on irrigated agriculture, water resources, and climate change impact.
TABLE 3: Proposed activities and targeted outcomes of applied research in irrigated agriculture
Activities proposed Targeted outcomes
 Incorporate irrigated agriculture in  DAs supported by applied research and
regional research centers by hiring field training in farmer support in irrigated
irrigation agronomists into agriculture
existing centers  Manuals adapted and used by DAs for
 Develop locally adapted manuals farmer support in irrigated agriculture
for crops and scheduling leading to productivity increase and
 Develop irrigation sector through value-added crop production
interaction between farmers and  Best practices developed and shared
researchers between researchers and practitioners

To institutionalize applied research on irrigated agriculture at the federal and regional levels, the
GOE should prioritize demand-driven research by engaging all stakeholders, including the
private sector. The key components include demand-driven action research programs,
institutionalizing research, managing the sharing and dissemination of the generated knowledge
and funding.
The key aspects of these are the following:
■ Identify short-term and long-term strategic research priorities based on an inventory of
immediate and long-term research needs and end-user research demand. Areas would include
groundwater research and recharge techniques; irrigation productivity and performance; agro
ecology research to define crop and irrigation water requirements; institutional requirements to
transfer irrigation management (e.g., LSI schemes managed by smallholders); watershed
management interventions and impact; conflict resolution; water use and analysis of trade-offs
for competing uses. Other relevant research areas can be identified in the future with respect to
water resources, climate change, and water resources management.

11
■ Incorporate irrigated agriculture into regional research centers by hiring and equipping
irrigation researchers and agronomists. This could include establishing new research institutions
and strengthening existing ones with additional agricultural researchers.
■ Encourage interaction and knowledge-sharing between DAs, farmers, and regional and
federal researchers by, e.g., holding farmers’ days, running pilot irrigation plots for
exchanging research and farmer practice. A central research inventory would facilitate this
exchange and shape the agenda. To do the above, research institutions must be adequately
equipped and funded, and coordinated by a central research institution.
Recommendation IV: Improve farmer/DA skills in irrigated agriculture
In order to upgrade farmers’ and development agents’ skills in irrigated agriculture and business
case preparation and thereby increase the impact and sustainability of irrigation schemes, the
team recommend several steps to train farmers and DAs in water management and irrigated
agriculture practices.
TABLE 4: Proposed activities and targeted outcomes of farmers and DAs skill upgrading
Activities proposed Targeted outcomes
 Train farmers and DAs in water
 DAs will have adequate capacity to
management and improved irrigation
advise farmers Capacity to maintain
practices to improve productivity of
irrigation at woreda level will improve
farmers and increase sustainability
 Increased effectiveness of
 Develop relevant modules and
communicating knowledge to farmers
curricula to train WUAs and other
Woredas/ kebeles can make proposals/
farmer-based groups Introduce
requests for funding for irrigation
standard business case tool at federal
investment based on business cases
and local levels Train stakeholders at
Smallholders have long-term certainty
all levels in use (Ministry personnel,
of worthiness of irrigation investments
DAs, woreda staff)

The GOE should use existing platforms such as Technical Vocational Educational Training
(TVET) centers, extension systems such as Farmer Training Centers (FTCs), microfinance,
agricultural days, and field trips to provide training and share irrigated agriculture best practices
between farmers, DAs, other farmer-based groups and woredas.
Key efforts in training may cover steps such as:
■ Identify a partner, e.g., NGO, research institute, to develop local DA training manuals on
agricultural water management, horticulture, pest and disease control, marketing, etc.
■ Streamline the new curricula in TVETs and upgrade DA skills. Train DAs in line with
how they use irrigation techniques, e.g., start with woredas that have large areas of irrigated

12
land. Hold refresher training sessions for the DAs already in the field, every three months if
possible.
■ Train farmers and establish self-help and knowledge-sharing groups; train WUAs at scheme
level and, where feasible, link them to cooperatives.
■ Staff woredas with qualified irrigation experts, provide training on tools according to needs
e.g., business case development.

3.3 System Scale-Up

Key recommendations here are to develop business cases and scale up cost recovery, increase and retain
irrigation sector staff, and attract and support the local private sector.
Recommendation VI: Develop business cases and scale up cost recovery
In order to help the GOE finance existing and future irrigation projects, the team recommend scaling up
cost recovery mechanisms. This will help to scale up investments, provide a sustainable funding
pipeline, improve ownership of projects, and increase the profitability of investments. As outlined in
Table 9, this can be done through a variety of mechanisms, such as full cost recovery, water fees,
revolving loan fund for pumps/generators, O&M cost recovery, and farmer self-financing.
TABLE 5: Proposed activities and targeted outcomes to develop business cases and scale up cost
recovery
Activities proposed Targeted outcomes

 Establish cost recovery for

 Sustainable funding pipeline for
new/existing schemes where possible
developing and maintaining
 Develop scheme and farmer business
new/existing irrigation schemes
cases as basis for cost recovery
 Increased scheme ownership by end
details
users through economic participation
 Scale up existing cost recovery
 Increased equity in investment
mechanisms as appropriate
allocations given.

In order to establish this effort, the main action points include:

■ Strengthen collection mechanisms and accountabilities. There are several cost recovery
options that the GOE can pursue with irrigation projects, including: tariffs (farmer water fees
through WUAs), taxes (area taxes, collect fees from direct beneficiaries), donor grants/loans,
and by transferring long-term collection mandates for a scheme to a specific entity, such as a
water works construction enterprise or private provider.
■ Investigate options for establishing a revolving fund that provides loans to irrigation
projects, managed at both federal and regional levels to provide stable funding. Expected

13
impacts from this effort include funding secured for part of capital costs for irrigation
development; improved funding stream available for O&M expenditures; reduced risk of
under-/non-performance given end-user participation; freed-up resources for other interventions
(e.g., sustainability).

Recommendation VII: Increase and retain irrigation sector staff

Staff turnover and inability to get the most qualified staff in the irrigation sector are major
challenges to achieving irrigation development in Ethiopia. Ensuring that Ethiopia has highly
skilled personnel to implement its irrigation infrastructure plans requires many qualified staff
such as engineers, surveyors, agronomists, trainers for farmers/DAs and WUAs, and
management professionals to implement projects efficiently. Developing and retaining this staff
is essential to implementing the country’s irrigation infrastructure.
TABLE 6: Proposed activities and targeted outcomes in building irrigation staff
Activities proposed Targeted outcomes

 Increase graduate numbers in  Build-up of highly skilled

engineering at universities and introduce engineering capacity in country
specialized programs  Experienced personnel stays in
 Introduce retention efforts in WW sector
enterprises Conduct knowledge-sharing  Training of engineers through
programs among WW enterprises partner programs and foreign
 Increase private sector outsourcing contractors
where required

To implement these activities, the team recommends that the GOE take the following steps:
■ Assess staff needs in irrigation-related professions, e.g., engineers, agronomists,
hydrologists.
■ Increase engineering graduate numbers, e.g., through a university quota system, and
introduce specialized programs, e.g., by identifying facilities such as selected TVET for Design
training.
3.4 Implementation Resource Requirements and Timeline
The exceptionality of the irrigation development effort described in this analysis will require
institutional focus, attention, and resources from the GOE, the private sector, and other
stakeholders. The team believes that most of these recommendations cannot be carried out in the

14
context of “business as usual” – additional resources will be necessary to ensure that each
recommended action is rapidly implemented at different levels of government.

4. NEXT STEPS AND CONCLUSION

Ethiopia has made agricultural growth a development priority and recently embarked on
ambitious plans to significantly increase its irrigation development. We analysist believe that a
modern irrigation program that creates a sustainable water supply could revolutionize Ethiopia’s
agriculture and economy.

This analysis shows the crucial role water plays for transforming agriculture while achieving
sustainable growth in the country and the large resource potential that is available to achieve this
goal. The current efforts face challenges in four areas, namely plan delivery, low performance of
schemes, constraints on system scale-up, and development sustainability. For each area, the
team have developed two to three actionable recommendations, high-level implementation
guidelines, next steps, and resource requirement estimates to unlock the analyzed potential.

To implement these recommendations, senior GOE leaders must translate them into detailed
action plans and timelines; increase financial, human and technical resources; and coordinate
efforts between the MoWR, MoARD, Mo IPD, regions and other stakeholders up to Woreda
level.

In particular, the government needs to make a deliberate effort to

(i) dedicate staff to detailing the selected priorities into action plans and assign work stream
teams;
(ii) integrate actions into broader agricultural action steps where synergies exist;
(iii) mobilize required resources, and

15
(iv) implement, monitor and adjust the activities where needed through the new water task force
team.

A compelling case can be made for adopting the recommendations laid out in this document,
and the GOE should seek to coordinate resources from donor and development agencies as well
as the skills and capacity of agencies and NGOs to deliver against them.

5. REFERENCES
Asfaw, Girma. 2006. Evaluation of Failures and Design Practices of River Diversion Structures
for Irrigation: Case of Oromia Regional State. M.Sc. Thesis. Arba Minch University
Awulachew, Seleshi Bekele; Yilma, A D.; Loulseged, M.; Loiskandl, W.; Ayana, M.;
Alamirew, T. 2007. Water resources and irrigation development in Ethiopia. Colombo,
Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI) 66p. (IWMI Working
Paper 123)
Awulachew, Seleshi Bekele; Lambisso, R.; Asfaw, G.; Yilma, A. D.; Moges, S. A.
2010. Characterizing, assessment of performance and causes of under performance of
irrigation in Ethiopia. Ethiopian Journal of Development Research, (In press)
BCEOM. 1998. “Abbay river basin integrated development master plan, section II,
volume V – Water resources development, part 1 – Irrigation and drainage.” Ministry
of Water Resources, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
CIA 2010 World Facts (accessed July 2010).
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html
EIAR (Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research). No date. Agro-Ecological Zones
of Ethiopia (approximate date 2008), unpublished report.
EHRS (Ethiopian Highlands Reclamation Study,1984). An assessment of the cause,
severity, extent and probable consequences of degradation in the Ethiopian highlands.
LUPRD/MoA. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
FDRE (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia). 2009. Strategic Framework for
Countrywide Water Centered Development Program (Unpublished report)
IWMI (International Water Management Institute) 2007. Ethiopia: Agricultural Water
Management Policy Briefs. Issue 1, 2007
Lambiso, R. 2005. Assessment of Design Practices and Performance of Small Scale
Irrigation Structures in South Region. M.Sc. thesis. Arba Minch University, Ethiopia

16
MCE (Metaferia Consulting Engineers). 2004. The World Bank. Assessment of
experiences & opportunities on medium & large-scale irrigation in Ethiopia. Draft
Report
MoFED (Ministry of Finance and Economic Development). 2006. Ethiopia: Building
on Progress, A Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty
(PASDEP) 2005/06-2009/10, September, 2006, Addis Ababa: Ethiopia.
Molden, David.2007. Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in
Agriculture. 2007. Water for Food, Water for Life: A Comprehensive Assessment of
Water Management in Agriculture. London: Earthscan, and Colombo: International
Water Management Institute.
Think Tank on Water Resources. 2007. Water Centered Growth Opportunities for
Ethiopia. Section 1; Key challenges of socio-economic development and water-related
innovations and interventions for agricultural & water industry transformation.
Unpublished paper, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
World Bank. 2008. Ethiopia Public Expenditure Review. Washington, D.C.
WAPCOS (Water & Power Consultancy Services (I) Ltd.). 1995. The National Water
Resources Master Plan, Addis Ababa: Ethiopia.

17