IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i9p3580-d1382134.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Socioeconomic Determinants of Poverty Reduction among Irrigating Farmers in Mberengwa District, Zimbabwe

Author

Listed:
  • Norman Mupaso

    (Department of Agricultural Economics and Development, Midlands State University, Gweru P.O. Box 9055, Zimbabwe)

  • Godswill Makombe

    (Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, Lynnwood Rd, Hatfield, Pretoria 0002, South Africa)

  • Raymond Mugandani

    (Department of Lands and Water Resources Management, Midlands State University, Gweru P.O. Box 9055, Zimbabwe)

  • Paramu L. Mafongoya

    (School of Agriculture, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 3201, South Africa)

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goal 1 aims to end extreme poverty everywhere by the year 2030. Smallholder irrigation development is arguably a vital strategy to reduce rural poverty. The authors assessed the socioeconomic determinants of poverty reduction in Mberengwa district, Zimbabwe. Data were collected from 444 randomly selected households. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 27 and Microsoft Excel 2019 software packages. Chi-square tests, t -tests, and Foster–Greer–Thorbecke (FGT) poverty index and binary logistic regression model tests were performed. The chi-square test results show an association between access to irrigation and farmer’s level of education ( p < 0.01). The t -test results show significant differences between irrigators and non-irrigators for household size ( p < 0.01), household labor ( p < 0.05), and rainfed plot size ( p < 0.05). FGT indices show that the poverty incidence, depth, and severity were lesser for irrigators than non-irrigators. The binary logistic regression model results show that age, household size, access to irrigation and household income significantly influence household poverty status. In conclusion, access to irrigation reduces poverty in rural areas. However, access to irrigation is not a panacea for poverty reduction in rural areas. Smallholder irrigation development policies should consider socioeconomic determinants of poverty reduction to properly target and tailor interventions, and increase the relevance and effectiveness of poverty reduction efforts.

Suggested Citation

  • Norman Mupaso & Godswill Makombe & Raymond Mugandani & Paramu L. Mafongoya, 2024. "Socioeconomic Determinants of Poverty Reduction among Irrigating Farmers in Mberengwa District, Zimbabwe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:9:p:3580-:d:1382134
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/9/3580/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/9/3580/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mutambara, Solomon & Darkoh, Michael B.K. & Atlhopheng, Julius R., 2016. "A comparative review of water management sustainability challenges in smallholder irrigation schemes in Africa and Asia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 63-72.
    2. Elizabeth Bryan & Claudia Ringler & Ruth Meinzen-Dick, 2023. "Gender, Resilience, and Food Systems," Palgrave Studies in Agricultural Economics and Food Policy, in: Christophe Béné & Stephen Devereux (ed.), Resilience and Food Security in a Food Systems Context, chapter 0, pages 239-280, Palgrave Macmillan.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Higgins, Daniel & Arslan, Aslihan & Winters, Paul, 2021. "What role can small-scale irrigation play in promoting inclusive rural transformation? Evidence from smallholder rice farmers in the Philippines," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    2. Tran, Thong Anh & Nguyen, Tri Huu & Vo, Thang Tat, 2019. "Adaptation to flood and salinity environments in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta: Empirical analysis of farmer-led innovations," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 89-97.
    3. Sekyi-Annan, Ephraim & Tischbein, Bernhard & Diekkrüger, Bernd & Khamzina, Asia, 2018. "Performance evaluation of reservoir-based irrigation schemes in the Upper East region of Ghana," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 134-145.
    4. Xinchao Ma & Zhanming Tan & Yunxia Cheng & Tingting Wang & Man Cao & Zhengying Xuan & Hongbin Du, 2024. "Water-Nutrient Coupling Strategies That Improve the Carbon, Nitrogen Metabolism, and Yield of Cucumber under Sandy Cultivated Land," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-15, June.
    5. Duker, A.E.C. & Mawoyo, T.A. & Bolding, A. & de Fraiture, C. & van der Zaag, P., 2020. "Shifting or drifting? The crisis-driven advancement and failure of private smallholder irrigation from sand river aquifers in southern arid Zimbabwe," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    6. Mfanufikile Mabuza & Jorine T. Ndoro, 2023. "Borich’s Needs Model Analysis of Smallholder Farmers’ Competence in Irrigation Water Management: Case Study of Nkomazi Local Municipality, Mpumalanga Province in South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-17, March.
    7. Sharofiddinov, Husniddin & Islam, Moinul & Kotani, Koji, 2024. "How does the number of water users in a land reform matter for water availability in agriculture?," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    8. Ratchaneewan Chuchird & Nophea Sasaki & Issei Abe, 2017. "Influencing Factors of the Adoption of Agricultural Irrigation Technologies and the Economic Returns: A Case Study in Chaiyaphum Province, Thailand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, August.
    9. Haileslassie, Amare & Mekuria, Wolde & Uhlenbrook, Stefan & Ludi, Eva & Schmitter, Petra, 2022. "Gap analysis and methodological framework to assess and develop water centric sustainable agricultural intensification pathways in Sub-Saharan Africa," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 1-4:747610..
    10. dos Santos Almeida, Alexsandro Claudio & Mamédio, Mário Roberto & Goelzer, Ademar & Rodrigues, Lucas Araujo & Mateos, Luciano, 2023. "Shared centre pivot. An experience of smallholder irrigation in Midwest Brazil," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    11. Qu, Feng & Zhang, Qi & Jiang, Zhaoxi & Zhang, Caihong & Zhang, Zhi & Hu, Xiaohui, 2022. "Optimizing irrigation and fertilization frequency for greenhouse cucumber grown at different air temperatures using a comprehensive evaluation model," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    12. Aarnoudse, E. & Closas, Alvar & Lefore, Nicole, 2018. "Water user associations: a review of approaches and alternative management options for Sub-Saharan Africa," IWMI Working Papers H048782, International Water Management Institute.
    13. Chandra, Ankit & Heeren, Derek M. & Odhiambo, Lameck & Brozović, Nicholas, 2023. "Water-energy-food linkages in community smallholder irrigation schemes: Center pivot irrigation in Rwanda," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    14. Edgar Muhoyi & Josue Mbonigaba, 2022. "Stakeholder consultations on small-scale irrigation schemes’ constraints in Zimbabwe," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(11), pages 13198-13217, November.
    15. Fitsum Assefa Adela & Joachim Aurbacher & Gumataw Kifle Abebe, 2019. "Small-scale irrigation scheme governance - poverty nexus: evidence from Ethiopia," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(4), pages 897-913, August.
    16. Coyago-Cruz, Elena & Meléndez-Martínez, Antonio J. & Moriana, Alfonso & Girón, Ignacio F. & Martín-Palomo, María José & Galindo, Alejandro & Pérez-López, David & Torrecillas, Arturo & Beltrán-Sinchigu, 2019. "Yield response to regulated deficit irrigation of greenhouse cherry tomatoes," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 212-221.
    17. Vos, Jeroen & Boelens, Rutgerd & Venot, Jean-Philippe & Kuper, Marcel, 2020. "Rooted water collectives: Towards an analytical framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    18. He, Zhihao & Li, Manning & Cai, Zelin & Zhao, Rongsheng & Hong, Tingting & Yang, Zhi & Zhang, Zhi, 2021. "Optimal irrigation and fertilizer amounts based on multi-level fuzzy comprehensive evaluation of yield, growth and fruit quality on cherry tomato," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    19. Berhe, Gebremeskel Teklay & Baartman, Jantiene E.M. & Veldwisch, Gert Jan & Grum, Berhane & Ritsema, Coen J., 2022. "Irrigation development and management practices in Ethiopia: A systematic review on existing problems, sustainability issues and future directions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).
    20. Yohannes, Degol Fissahaye & Ritsema, C.J. & Eyasu, Y. & Solomon, H. & van Dam, J.C. & Froebrich, J. & Ritzema, H.P. & Meressa, A., 2019. "A participatory and practical irrigation scheduling in semiarid areas: the case of Gumselassa irrigation scheme in Northern Ethiopia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 102-114.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:9:p:3580-:d:1382134. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.