Abstract:
The world concern on access to adequate and nutritional food for a growing population has
triggered the emergence of a number of strategies for different environments and under varied
leaderships, program and partnerships. In Ethiopia, agriculture is dominated by small-scale and
rain-fed production and its performance is subject to among others, irregular rainfall pattern.
Small-scale irrigation is believed to be helpful to address this problem thereby reducing rural
poverty, food insecurity as well as improving the overall contribution of agriculture to the
national economy. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of small-scale irrigation
on household food security in Gondar Zuria Woreda. The specific objectives were to compare
the household food security of irrigation users and non-users, to identify the determinant factors
that affect the household food security and to asses’ factors constraining use of irrigation in the
study area. Primary data were collected from 200 household heads (100 irrigation users and
100 non-users) using interview schedule. Secondary data were collected by reviewing the related
literature. Descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and binary logistic regression were used
for analyzing quantitative data. The findings of the study revealed that food security status of
small scale irrigator users were better than non-users. The major determinants of food security
were farm size, access to small scale irrigation, market distance, age, sex and educational status.
The major constraints of irrigation use were marketing system, water and inputs. Capacity
building such as short-term training, empowerment and scaling up of best practices should be
mandatory.
