| dc.description.abstract |
Chronic food insecurity remains a critical challenge among agro-pastoral households in the Afar
region of Ethiopia, primarily due to recurrent droughts, climate variability, and dependence on
rain-fed agricultural systems. Although the Gewane district possesses substantial irrigation
potential, its utilization remains below capacity, and empirical evidence on the relationship
between small-scale irrigation participation and household food security in this specific context is
limited. This study, therefore, aimed to analyze the impacts of small-scale irrigation participation
on agro-pastoral households' food security, identify factors influencing participation in irrigation
farming, examine determinants of irrigation participation intensity, and evaluate the impact of
irrigation on food security outcomes. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to select
356 households, 186 irrigation users and 170 non-users from three kebeles in the Gewane district,
Afar region, Ethiopia. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaires. Descriptive
statistics, a Double-Hurdle model, and Propensity Score Matching with a kernel matching
bandwidth of 0.1 were applied to estimate average treatment effects. Food security was measured
using daily calorie intake per adult equivalent against the national threshold of 2100 kcal, and
data analysis was conducted using STATA version 16. The probit model results indicated that sex
of the household head, livestock ownership, education, farm size, farming experience, distance to
irrigation water source, and off-farm income significantly influenced irrigation participation at
(p<0.01) and (p<0.05) significance levels, respectively. The truncated regression revealed that
farm size, extension contacts, education, dependency ratio, livestock holding, and distance to
irrigation significantly affected the intensity of participation at (p<0.01) and (p<0.05) significance
levels, respectively. Propensity Score Matching estimates showed that irrigation participation
increased daily per capita calorie intake by 803.05 kcal (ATT = 803.05, t = 10.06) relative to nonparticipants.
Furthermore,
net
grain
availability
for
irrigation
user
households
was
2727.16
kcal,
more
than double that of non-users (1290.33 kcal). It is concluded that small-scale irrigation
participation significantly enhances household food security among agro-pastoral households in
the study area. Strengthening extension services, improving access to credit, and training
households on irrigation interventions are recommended. |
en_US |