By Desalegne Tadesse
The Livestock and Irrigation Value Chain for the Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project strives for innovative research and ideas on natural resources management, livestock resources development, irrigation development and capacity-building. IWMI, as a partner of LIVES project, recently facilitated several trainings programs on irrigation scheme management to develop the knowledge and skills of related authorities and farmers with the aim of boosting value chain development in irrigation schemes. The training programs were carried out in Mehtsab Azmati Irrigation Scheme, in Rama, located in the central zone of Tigray in Ethiopia, from 16 to 17, January, 2017.
The LIVES project operates in 31 domain districts across four regions of Ethiopia: Amhara, Tigray, SNNPR and Oromia. In the Tigray regional state, LIVES has been working in seven intervention districts and eight domain districts. Rama was selected as an approach to go beyond the project’s domain districts.
The Mehtsab Azmati Irrigation Scheme supplies irrigation water to 8,000 households in Hamido Plain helping them produce higher yields with increased access to water. The scheme gives hope for irrigation development in Ethiopia, having the capacity to irrigate 2,000 hectares of land in Rama-Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Farmers in Rama have managed to profit from the increased production of vegetables and fruits, mainly of mangoes. The region is also developing a potential for fodder development through efficient access to irrigation water.
In December 2016, a team of experts comprising IWMI, LIVES, Tigray Regional State Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Tigray Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) conducted a field visit to the Mehtsab Azmati Irrigation Scheme including a scoping study to understand opportunities and challenges in developing integrated and market-oriented production. The mission also aimed at understanding the local implementers’ capacity and their perceptions on irrigation scheme management. Consequently, the scoping study team identified the presence of huge potential for Rama to be the market hub for vegetables, fruits and fodder in the region. However, there are areas of gaps that need to be filled, especially in relation to development of both livestock and irrigated crops value chain and several challenges related to efficient use of water, including salinity, rising groundwater levels and many other issues that could undermine the sustainability of the scheme.
The report on the scoping study mission highlighted the significant need for proper training of related authorities and farmers who work on the irrigation schemes to improve agricultural production and commodity value. Consequent to the study, the Tigray Regional State Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development requested LIVES and IWMI to share their expertise and experience and address the identified gaps. Therefore, the recent training programs on Irrigation Scheme Management comes as a demand-driven request from the the Bureau of Agriculture to promote efficient irrigation scheme management in resolving multifaceted agricultural water management challenges and in contributing to the development of the value chain.
The main objective of the training was to equip partners with the necessary knowledge and skills through learning and development to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and timely use of resources, methods and strategies for irrigation development, agronomy and watershed management. Twenty-six experts and development agents participated in this training program.
Dr. Fanuel Laekemariam (Wolayta University) explains how the poor irrigation management is contributing to the formation of salinity.
Insights and observations emerging from the training program and the field visit confirmed that the scheme is severely affected by poor land and water conditions, salinity issues, nutrient depletion and many other problems. With farmers having 24-hour access to an excess flow of water, the misuse of water resources in the scheme was identified as a major problem that urgently needs to be addressed.
Views of facilitator and participants
“The Mehtsab Azmati Irrigation Scheme is helping the farmers to produce vegetables, fruits and livestock feed. These commodities have huge potential to catalyze the value chain in improving productivity and marketing”. It will be the market hub for demands of vegetables, fruits and green feed of the region.
Dr. Gebremedhin Woldewahid, LIVES Coordinator for Tigray
“After the conclusion of the training program and field visit we observed that there is serious misuse of water resources in the scheme. A huge amount of water is flowing 24 hours without any blockage. This is a big loss to the district, the region, and the country. In addition, it also contributes to salinity and affects the quality of groundwater. So, the training program was very important to take immediate action to save this resource.”
Bisrat Keset, Fruit Expert, Rama-Tigray
“Access to water was one of the critical problems of the district. Now we have this scheme, we expect to feed more than 4,000 farmers. Therefore, the scheme is very crucial to change the livelihoods of the farmers. However, we are confronting challenges related to inefficient use of water. Farmers are not using the water properly. Thus, the training program was very helpful to solve the problems we encounter due to poor irrigation management”
G/Egziabher G/Hiwot, Irrigation Process Owner, Mereblek District
The field visit proved successful in bringing to light some of the abovementioned issues in the region. The team of trainers included IWMI’s Alemseged Tamiru (IWMI-Ethiopia), Desalegne Tadesse (IWMI-Ethiopia), Fanuel Laekemariam (Wolayta University) and Gebremedhin Woldewahid (LIVES). The training program covered the topics of crop water requirement, furrow irrigation method (including soil moisture distribution pattern), irrigation scheme management, criteria to evaluate water delivery service, and the significance of collecting/monitoring data in irrigation schemes. In addition, the lessons and experiences from the Koga Irrigation Scheme were also shared with the participants.
LIVES is an ILRI-led project funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) of Canada and aims to contribute to enhanced income and gender-equitable wealth creation for smallholders, and other value chain actors in Ethiopia. IWMI is responsible for the irrigation value chain components of the project.
LIVES is planned around five pillars: capacity development, knowledge management, promotion, value chain development, and research and documentation. It is implemented in 31 districts of four regions of Ethiopia: Amhara, Tigray, SNNPR and Oromia. The capacity-building packages of LIVES supported national and regional partners’ initiatives to boost natural resources management, livestock resources, and irrigation and commodity value chain developments in Ethiopia. These include short-term training programs and postgraduate courses. So far, LIVES has supported more than 200 postgraduate university students.
Visit: https://lives-ethiopia.org | www.iwmi.cgiar.org
