258 Scarcity and Surfeittowns. These were concentrated in the Awash Valley (later spreading to the
Rift Valley and the Wabe Shebelle Basin) and fed the growth of agro-indus-
trial enterprises, including sugar estates, and fruit and cotton farms. In the
past, the technology transfer and operational management were entrusted
to a small technical and managerial elite working under large-scale foreign
interests. Today, agro-industrial operations are managed as parastatal enter-
prises. In the majority of cases, the development of agro-industrial schemes
did not involve the local farming population, nor traditional knowledge and
irrigation methods. As a result, modern water development projects to sup-
port agro-industrial schemes have by and large bypassed the peasant
farmer.
Large irrigated farms became the responsibility of the Ministry of State
Farms under the 1975 Rural Land Proclamation. Almost all small-scale irri-
gation schemes built after 1975 were made into producers' cooperatives.
These further undermined the role and potential of traditional irrigation sys-
tems. Today, many producer cooperatives are being privatised or divided as
part of land redistribution programmes.
Level of Present IrrigationIt is difficult to know exactly how much irrigated land exists in Ethiopia,
though it seems likely that the area of land under irrigation has decreased in
recent years, mirroring international trends. Recent estimates put the total
area of land under irrigation in Ethiopia at 160 000-198 000 hectares. This
estimate includes traditional, communal, private and public schemes (see
Table 2) of varying degrees of scale (see Box 3). Many schemes are concen-
trated (approximately 48%) in the Awash Valley, where 92% of all large
schemes were built prior to 1990.50
Many irrigation schemes were mismanaged or fell into disrepair.
Moreover, many producers' cooperatives were recently abandoned owing in
large measure to local opposition. In the Lower Awash Valley, an estimated
13 000 hectares of irrigated lands were abandoned, and another 8 000
hectares were abandoned in the Middle Awash Valley. Even before irriga-
tion schemes in the Awash Valley were widely abandoned, many did not
work to their full potential. It is estimated that in the Lower, Middle and
Upper Awash, the efficiency of irrigation schemes is only 40% owing to
inadequate levelling of land, and mechanisms to control and measure
water. Traditional irrigation methods used by smallholder farmers are fre-
quently inefficient as well, owing to a lack of appropriate technology,
information, inputs and extension advice. Many schemes are vulnerable to
variable water supplies, in part because water supplies are inadequately
managed.s' The low productivity of small-scale irrigation schemes reflects
these production constraints.