Determinants of Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for Improved Irrigation Water Use: The Case of Woliso District, Ethiopia

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to identify the key determinants of farmers’ willingness to pay for improved irrigation water use using the contingent valuation method. Cross sectional data were collected from 251 households using a two-stage sampling technique (purposive and random sampling techniques) from four kebeles of Woliso District through a semi-structured questionnaire. The result from the Tobit model revealed that education level, family size, irrigable land size, number of oxen owned, total annual income, experience in irrigated farming, dissatisfaction, credit utilization and cash crops have significant and positive effect on households’ WTP for the improvement of the existing irrigation use whereas initial bid was found to have a negative and significant effect. Since these variables are identified as major determinants of willingness to pay for improved irrigation water use, policy makers and government should take into account in the designing of improved irrigation water supply system.