Water harvesting in northern Ethiopia: environmental, health and socio-economic impacts

In northern Ethiopia, water scarcity is a key factor in food security. In some areas, the water is so precious that the principle of ‘irrigating the crop and not the land’ is adopted in an attempt to curb rural exodus. In other areas, considerable effort is put to introduce innovative water harvesting and management systems. The introduction of small-scale irrigation using micro-dams has become an excellent option considering the hydro-climatological conditions of the region. In Tigray, over the last 10 years, about 50 micro-dams were constructed; consequently, considerable improvements were observed in the livelihood of the rural poor. Water security brought food security. Some negative impacts are being observed especially on soil salinity and erosion. Malaria has become a growing concern in micro-dam areas with altitude lower than 2000 metres above sea level (masl). In general, the positive and negative impacts of micro-dam water harvesting systems need to be well understood before further up-scaling. Research should focus on system design, farm hydrology, socio-economic constraints and systems transferability.