Federal democratic republic of ethiopia ministry of agriculture
Sub-component 2.4: Capacity development to enhance technology adaptation, generation, maintenance and promotion (physical and human capacity)
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- Physical capacity
- Human capacity development
- Component Overview
Sub-component 2.4: Capacity development to enhance technology adaptation, generation, maintenance and promotion (physical and human capacity)The status of transport facilities and agricultural machineries in terms of both number and functionality is very limiting in the research system. Shortage of irrigation facilities in most research centers is also other major problems observed. Moreover, most analytical laboratories are inefficient and not functioning up to the standard. Thus, strengthening the capacity of the research system with vehicles, agricultural machineries, irrigation facilities and laboratory equipment and supplies is indispensable for proper functioning and enhanced technology delivery of the research system. Moreover, it is very important to strengthen the capacity of the research human power with provision of short-term skill enhancing trainings. Hence, the objective of this sub-component is to build the capacity of the research system to effectively deliver technologies. The AGP-II program will support the following capacity building interventions, with needs assessment preceding the proposed areas of capacity building interventions.
Component Overview Smallholder agricultural production in Ethiopia is predominantly rain-fed depending heavily on the summer rains (June to September) in a single crop per year and non-diversification of local farming systems. Moreover, production is highly subjected to uncertainties such as drought flood and erratic rainfall. Therefore, it would be difficult to achieve the agricultural development targets identified in the GTP without mitigating the adverse impact of erratic rainfall. To overcome these challenges, there is a need for improved water control and management for irrigation. Irrigation is a vital input for increasing the productivity of agricultural land. Irrigation as an input could make significant impact on agricultural productivity as well as in increasing cropping intensity in irrigated area. Irrigation is also a fundamental condition for building resilience to climate change; and hence to minimize the effects of climatic condition of the country. In spite of this, there is a lack of water control for irrigation in most of Ethiopian agriculture. The issue is not only with the lack of infrastructure, but also with the weak capacity in water management and water use organizations. To address this challenge, there is a need to develop effective water management and irrigation practices by having effective linkages between farmers and service providers and improving understanding of marketing issues that will ensue once the expected production gains are realized. Although Ethiopia is reported to have more than 2.0 Million ha of irrigated land, the scheme performance is estimated to be on average 30 percent below design estimation, implying a considerable loss of irrigated land. The main issue contributing to operational problems in irrigation systems is the way they have been designed, constructed and/or managed. Flawed designs without considering geographical and hydrological factors have contributed to several existing systems frequently being in disrepair, where failure is inbuilt in the design and/or construction. Consequently, such irrigation schemes have not been able to provide better services. This, in turn, has led to water scarcity and conflicts arising from the inability to distribute allocated water to all the farmers in the scheme. Poor distribution infrastructure system design has also forced farmers to irrigate from plot to plot, which has been contributing to water wastage and shortage downstream. Irrigated crop produces have the best potential return on investment for farmers. However, this potential has been difficult for smallholder farmers to realize because of limited access to quality seeds, scarcity of local wholesalers as well as absence of agro-processing facilities, storage facilities and market linkages. In particular, most of the irrigated agriculture outputs are perishable requiring special storage, processing, preservation, and transportation facilities. Inadequate storage, post-harvest handling and processing facilities in rural areas have led to products being sold directly from the field leading to low price captured by the farmers. To address this inadequacy, there is a need to provide high level expertise, mobilize huge initial investments, and effectively develop effective business models to address risks associated with long gestation period and low rate of returns on investment. The objective of this component is to increase the access to and efficient utilization of irrigation water of smallholder farmers. For the realization of this objective, the AGP II intends to develop appropriate small scale irrigation systems and introduce improved irrigated agriculture advisory services including irrigation water management practices for the smallholder farmers in order to boost crop production. In addition, this component will have complementarities with other core components especially component 1 and 4 as irrigation is key input to increase productivity. The smallholder irrigation7 component will directly benefit from the strengthened public advisory services in component-I which will directly contribute to the strengthening of the irrigated agriculture extension. Subcomponent of adaptation and generation of land and water resources technologies under component-II will directly contribute to strengthening the component-III through generation of irrigation technologies. While the component-IV activities will improve access to quality seeds, increase local wholesalers as well as improve storage facilities and market linkages which will contribute to the development of market for irrigated agricultural produce. This component addresses cross-cutting issues as follows:
The component will promote the development, expansion, improvement, upgrading and/or rehabilitation of SSI subprograms8 where technically feasible, economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally friendly. It will focus on the development of new and rehabilitation/improvement of existing smallholder irrigation systems including household irrigation as well as support to Irrigation Water Users Associations (IWUA) and other farmer organizations/groups for irrigation development. Directory: archives archives -> PriceWaterhouseCoopers Archive 148 linear feet in 98 record cartons and 4 flat boxes. Biography/History archives -> In this issue archives -> - archives -> Contents Subgroup I. Photographs 2 Subgroup II. Artwork 72 archives -> In this issue archives -> School Name: Agape’ Christian Academy Class archives -> A. general information archives -> Johnny O'Connell Biography archives -> April 13, 2009 The Digest archives -> School Name: Pembroke Pines Charter Class Download 0.99 Mb. Share with your friends:
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