Environmental and Social Impact Assessment - Gibe III

Gibe III – Environmental and Social Impact Assessment 300 ENV R CS 002 C - A9003099
5.4.5.3 Irrigated agriculture
Photo 5.10: Recession Cultivation Site at Dasenech - Tobacco Field
Irrigation farms and schemes are found mainly in the lower reaches of the Omo River, because the banks of
the river upstream are generally too high to permit efficient pumping. According to the Omo-Gibe River
Basin Development Master Plan Study of 1995, there are 1,350 ha under irrigation in the Weredas of Hamer
and Dasenech, although during the field investigation for this study there was an evidence only 150-200 ha
in operation.
Most are small farms growing high value crops like vegetables and fruits, particularly bananas, using either
diesel pumps or windmills to extract water from the river. There are also a few small, state-owned
demonstration and training farms with supervised tenant plots. There are no large commercial irrigated farms
but the (defunct) 10,000 ha State Farm near Omorate (Omo Higher Farm), which was established by the
“Ethio-Korea Joint Agricultural Development Venture Project” some years ago to grow cotton, has recently
been acquired by some investors and is apparently being developed to grow oil palm.
The present level of irrigation development is really quite minimal. The damage caused by annual flooding,
low river levels in the dry season (too low for pumping), and limited market development are probably some
of the reasons, but another may simply be the traditional, nomadic, pastoralist way of life of the people.
In Dasenech Wereda, windmills are popular for irrigating high value crops such as bananas and vegetables.
They are the result of an NGO project and Wereda officials estimated that some 20-30ha are irrigated by
windmills. Many of these were seen from Delegnum Kebele, southwards through the delta, on the banks of
the main river as well as the islands, although precise numbers were not available. Some are also used for
grain milling, supplied under the same project.
In Nyangatom Wereda officials reported that there is one private farm using a diesel pump to irrigate 2-3 ha.
In the Kara area of Hamer Wereda, the Ministry of Agriculture operates an irrigation demonstration/training
area of 15ha, growing maize, sorghum, beans, tomatoes, cabbage and onions, as well as bananas.
The list of existing and potential small scale irrigation developments in the lower Omo area is given in
Table 5.47 (see Figure 5.17 and Photos 5.11 to 5.14).
CESI SpA - Mid-Day International Consulting Engineers Page 171