Determinants of Smallholder Rural Farm Households’ Participation in Small Scale Irrigation and Its Effect on Income in North Gondar Zone: A Cross-Sectional Approach (Evidence from Dembia Woreda)

Agricultural intensification is presumed to be a necessary pre-condition for the development of the agricultural sector in Ethiopia in general and in North Gondar Zone in particular. To this end, various governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) initiated small-scale irrigation schemes throughout the country including the Amhara region. Despite these efforts, however, smallholder farmers in the study area are found to be reluctant to participate in small-scale irrigation schemes. Therefore, this study analyzed and investigated the factors that affect participation of smallholder farmers in small-scale irrigation and also it explored the effect of participation in small-scale irrigation on the income of rural farm households in Dembia Woreda of North Gondar Zone. Three stage sampling procedure was adopted for the selection of sample respondents. Results are based on data collected from a survey of 240 randomly selected rural farm households. Descriptive statistics and Heckman’s two-stage estimation were used to estimate determinants of small-scale irrigation participation and household income. The analysis revealed that distance from households farm to the nearest market center, education level of the household head, distance from households residence to the water source, access to extension service, total livestock holding, access to information, availability of family labor force, access to credit and gender of the household head are important determinants for participating in small- scale irrigation schemes. The analysis further revealed that irrigation participation, access to credit, gender of the household head, size of cultivated land, access to extension service and total livestock holding are positively and significantly associated with household total annual income. Finally, based on both descriptive and econometric results, improving rural farm households’ access to extension service and livestock sector, are likely to enhance participation in small-scale irrigation schemes thereby improve small holder rural farm households total annual income. Keywords: Small-scale Irrigation; Income; Rural Farm Households; Heckman two stage model; User; Non-user; Dembia; North Gondar; Ethiopia