Author(s):
Ethiopia’s economy is dependent on agriculture. Agriculture is highly dependent on rainfall. But the uneven temporal and spatial distribution of rainfall has significantly affected agriculture. Population in Ethiopia is rapidly increasing landholding size is decreasing substantially. Recurrent drought and dry spells continue to affect productivity and hamper agricultural production of rain fed agriculture. The challenge of food insecurity due to its dependency on rain-fed and the inability to develop the irrigation potential in Ethiopia is a concern and it is also a bottleneck problem in Ethiopia. Therefore, it is not possible to address issues such as poverty reduction and environmental protection without putting in place a mechanism for the exhaustive and efficient use of Irrigation water. So, the aim of this paper is to review the impact of irrigation on poverty reduction and environmental degradation in Ethiopia. In line with this review introduction and expansion of irrigation in Ethiopia is economically valuable and an important mechanism in fulfilling food self-sufficiency. But, most of the schemes are non-sustainable to meet the advantage of irrigation and drainage schemes and many of them have been unsuccessful and even have had negative impacts on the environment.
