In recent years, Ethiopia has been making encouraging moves towards the utilization of its estimated 10.1 million hectares of irrigable land. In connection with this, the country organized a new Irrigation Commission (IC) in charge of leading the sector last year.
The Commission is responsible for the development of medium and large scale irrigation development projects. Currently, it is undertaking massive irrigation projects after undertaking a careful selection process and various feasibility studies.
In the budget year, the government announced the implementation of four irrigation projects. The bidding process for other projects is also underway. The projects have mainly focused on improving the benefits of youth by improving agricultural production and productivity.
IC Commissioner, Dr. Michael Mehari told The Ethiopian Herald that the Commission has been doing its level best to identify potential areas and come up with various irrigation schemes in different parts of the country.
“At the beginning of the current fiscal year, four new irrigation projects have been launched and are well underway. In the first round construction, Chelchel, Upper Guder and Ribb are expected to see up to 15 percent of their construction work completed this year,” he said. “They are doing well despite moderate social problems due to residents’ relocation, compensation payments, and other issues.”
There are also other projects whose bidding process is well underway and expected to be finalized in the coming weeks. The Chacha, Kaza and Dalocha dam and irrigation development projects are among the ongoing projects in the near future. The bidding process for the construction of a community irrigation project in the Tendaho area on about 2,500 hectares of land will start over the next few weeks. Other drinking water and related projects’ constructions will be held around the Gidabo and Shinile irrigation dam areas in which youth will be allowed to practice irrigation.
Besides, the Commission is also working actively in developing irrigation infrastructure at the existing irrigation dam projects. “We are working hard to finish existing irrigation projects that are not completed. The Commission is also introducing a new strategy towards integrating the irrigation projects that are not yet developed.”
The Commission is facilitating ways to create jobs in large amounts for the youth. The youth will enter into fruit and vegetables, cash crop and other cereals production through the use of existing irrigation schemes. The majority of the existing irrigation development projects are owned by the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation and partly by private investors.
According to him, in terms of profitability and productivity, among the Commission’s best experiences is the Koga irrigation project, which located 40 kilometers from Bahir Dar, the capital of the Amhara State. It is better than some of the medium and large scale irrigation projects found in the country. About six thousand hectares is being developed utilizing the Koga irrigation project. The farmers are also benefited more from the project. They are producing ample produces in the past. Thus, it will make a difference if market-related problems are solved and the market chain is formed among fruit and vegetable as well as other crop traders.
In addition, modernizing irrigation works is important to carry out massive irrigation using surface and underground water. The Commission mainly undertakes irrigation by collecting water through the canal and releasing it to the farming lands. As this method results in inefficient utilization of water, the latest irrigation and water-saving technologies need to be applied to solve the problem.
The Commission organized an independent Irrigation Technology and Capacity Building Directorate so as to try new technologies. The purpose of the Directorate is to partner with technology vendors as well as technology companies (both international and national) and introduce state-of-the-art technologies, such as water-saving technologies such as drip irrigation, whenever new ones come about. Experts mentioned that insecticides, alien weed, long market channels, lack of well trained and skilled human powers on irrigation, inadequate budget and limitations to plant new irrigation investments are the major challenges that the agriculture sector is facing.
The favorable climate, fertile land, untapped water resources, fitting land and investment policies, abundant human resources, and huge demand for irrigation and improved agricultural production are great opportunities to scale-up small and large scale irrigation across the country.
Ethiopia has a huge potential in undertaking successful irrigation projects, particularly taking the abundant surface and underground water potential at hand. Therefore, a step by step strategy is required to shift from rain-fed agricultural crop production into market-oriented fruit and vegetables as well as export-oriented cash crop productions.
The Ethiopian Herald February 20/2020
BY TEWODROS KASSA
