How can Africa achieve an agricultural transformation through
smart irrigation strategies
lessons from Ethiopia’s policy and program interventions
By Zena Habtewold Biru
Director of the Planning-Monitoring and Evaluation of the
Ministry of Agriculture of Ethiopia, and Focal Person for CAADP
February 14, 2019,

Content
Introduction
1. Water resource management Policy
2. Small holder irrigation and drainage strategy
3. Institutional framework
4. Programs and projects
5. Achievements to date
6. Lessons learnt
7. Challenges

Introduction
• Ethiopia is a country in the horn of Africa and strategically important ,
• The current population increased to 100 million,
• More than 80 % of the population engaged on agriculture,
• Follow agriculture led development industrialization,
• The rural development policy emphasize on development benefits
to the population,
• Agriculture grew at 6.6 % during Growth and transformation I and
• 4,16 % during Growth and Transformation II
• Ethiopian irrigation potential is 11.1 million hectare

1. Water resource management Policy
• Ethiopian Water Resources Management Policy formulated in 1998
• sets guidelines for water resources planning, development and management
• The policy deals with
• water supply and sanitation,
• irrigation, hydropower,
• inland water transport, aquatic resources,
• water for tourism and recreation sub sectors

 The irrigation policy was embedded in the water resource management
policy
• emphasize on expanding irrigated agriculture, Improve irrigation water-
use efficiency and increase agricultural production efficiency
• Develop irrigation systems that are technically and financially
sustainable
• Address water logging problems in irrigated area

2. Small holder irrigation and drainage strategy
 Enhancing Policy and institutions
• Enhance legal and institutional frameworks and
• Capacity of government and other intuitions to implement and enforce
 Strengthening research and extension
• Strengthening research critical for the development of sub sector
• Strengthening linkage to extension and services

2. Small holder irrigation and drainage strategy
 Improving scheme planning design construction and management
• Improving all aspects of scheme delivery ,management,
• Performance and capacity of organizations involved
 Promoting technology supply chains
• Promote increased availability, accessibility, and affordability of
equipment, service and finance

3. Institutional famework
3.1 Coordination Committees
 Implementation needs cross sectoral integration
• Federal steering committee
• ensure strong coordination and alignment across key stakeholders,
development partners and the private sector,
• oversee implementation of strategy,
• review progress against interventions and address Federal issues
 National technical committee

Coordination Committees continued …
 Regional steering committee
• ensure strong coordination and alignment across key regional
stakeholders,
• oversee implementation of strategy,
• review progress against interventions and address issues to be
addressed at a regional level.
 Regional technical Committee

3.2 Federal and Regional institutions
Federal level
Ministry of water irrigation and electricity
• For design and development of large and medium scale irrigations
• Policy and strategy development ,system development etc
Ministry of agriculture
• for small scale irrigations development
Regional (local government)
• Regional Water bureau, Bureau of Agriculture

4. Programs and projects
 Large and medium scale irrigation projects by government
 Participatory small scale irrigation program IFAD
 Irrigation components in Agriculture Growth program
 Susatinable land management program (component)
 Productive satiate program(component)

5. Achievements to date
 Small holder Irrigation strategy developed
 Water users proclamation enacted
 Water user associations organized
 Mechanization, Rural job creation, small holder horticulture strategies developed
 Manuals and technology packages developed
 Standard of irrigation equipment's
 Training of irrigation Development agents
 Annual Irrigated land converge reached 1,5 million hectare
 Total production by irrigation reached 500 million quintal (horticultural crops)
 Productivity improved 125 quintal per hectare
 Income of the Small holder house hold increased

Small Scale Dams

Experience sharing

Irrigation for Rural youth Job creation
 Rural job creation

6. Lessons learned
 Government commitment
 Institutional support
 Mainstreaming irrigation issues in to development projects
 Scaling up of beset practices (one model farmer backup 3 farmers)
 Continuous training at all levels

7.Challenges
 Capacity limitation
 Supply of irrigation infrastructure
 Input supply
 Marketing

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