THE IMPACT OF IRRIGATION SCHEMES ON FARM INCOME ©Journal of Global Business and Technology, Volume 13, Number 2, Fall 2017 24 THE IMPACT OF IRRIGATION SCHEMES ON FARM INCOME: IMPLICATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN THE UPPER EAST REGION, GHANA Dadson Awunyo-Vitor and Daniel S. Ziba ABSTRACT The paper evaluates the impact of irrigation schemes on farmers’ income in northern Ghana as a means of developing sustainable livelihood. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to obtain 180 respondents for survey. The Logit estimation was employed to identify factors influencing the respondents’ decision to participate in the irrigation schemes. Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to analyze the impact of irrigation schemes on farmers’ income as a key livelihood outcome. The Logit result indicates that household size, and access to credit is the factors that signi ficantly influence farmers’ decision to participate in irrigation schemes. The PSM results reveal that irrigation schemes have positively increased farmers’ income by GH₵ 1335.09 (US$ 381.45) and GH₵ 1353.87 (US$ 386.82), using the Nearest Neighbor and Kernel based matching algorithms, respectively. The paper concludes that irrigation schemes play a role in the development of sustainable livelihoods for farmers. The study recommends that farmers should be encouraged to participate in irrigation farming and that the existing irrigated areas should be expanded. For all-year round production and development of sustainable livelihoods, farmers’ access to credit and farm inputs such as agro chemicals and enhanced seeds should also be improved. ‘ Keywords: Irrigation, sustainable livelihoods, income, propensity score matching, Ghana INTRODUCTION In Ghana over 60% of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihood and income (Al- Hassan & Diao, 2007), particularly the northern Ghana where the majority of the population is in agriculture. It contributes about 65% of household income (GSS, 2005). Most of the agricultural production is by smallholders who rely on seasonal rainfall that is unpredictable and sporadic. The onset of climate change, insufficient rainfall and occasional uncontrollable floods results in frequent crop failures, which are having a serious effect on farmers’ income and livelihoods. As a result, the population is extremely poor and food insecurity threatens every year. Northern Ghana has been described as having the most poverty stricken hunger spots in Ghana (GLSS, 2000). Although there are several irrigation schemes in the north, there is still high prevailing poverty incidence. The yield level of major crops has either declined or remained where it was decades ago and is unable to match the population growth rate. As a result of this mismatch there is an increase in the level of poverty in the north (IFAD, 2001; Dittoh, Bhattarai & Akuriba, 2013). ________________________ Dr. Dadson Awunyo-Vitor is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA), United Kingdom; and, a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountant (ICA) and Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIT) in Ghana. Awunyo-Victor obtained MSc and PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of London and the University of Ghana, respectively. He had his Bachelor degree from the University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. He has also completed the professional certificate course in security trading and investment analysis at the Ghana Stock Exchange. Currently, Awunyo-Victor is the Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) in Accra. Mr. Daniel Sii Ziba received his MPhil in Agricultural Economics from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. Presently, he is a teacher at the Bolgatanga Technical Institute in Upper East Region of Ghana. His research interest relates to impact studies, adoption of agricultural technology, food security, efficiency and productivity as well as the economics of climate change.