Proceedings of Adaptation, Demonstration and Piloting of Irrigated Wheat Project: August 2021 - June 2025

This study assessed the adoption and impact of irrigated wheat technologies introduced through the Adaptation, Demonstration, and Piloting of Wheat Technologies for Irrigated Lowlands of Ethiopia (ADAPT-Wheat) project. The analysis is based on baseline (2022) and endline (2024) survey data collected from three districts in the Arsi Zone—Sire, Merti, and Jeju. Key findings: » Adoption patterns: Beneficiaries exhibited a higher rate of adoption of improved wheat varieties compared to non-beneficiaries. While Kingbird remained the dominant variety, the endline data revealed a shift toward newer varieties such as Daka and Boru, particularly among beneficiaries. This suggests a gradual diversification of wheat varieties influenced by project interventions, farmer preferences, and seed availability. » Input use and productivity: Wheat yields improved over time, with beneficiaries generally outperforming non-beneficiaries. Beneficiaries also reported slightly higher usage of fertilizers and herbicides, pointing to the impact of technical support and input access. These results underscore the importance of targeted interventions in seed distribution, fertilizer management, and extension services for enhancing productivity in irrigated wheat farming. » Spillover effects: Evidence of spillover effects was observed, as non-beneficiaries also adopted improved wheat technologies—particularly improved seed varieties. Adoption rates increased further when irrigation agronomy training was combined with other inputs. However, mechanization continued to exhibit lower adoption levels, likely due to access barriers such as cost and availability. »» Impact evaluation: The difference-in-differences (DID) analysis of yield outcomes showed positive but inconclusive results. While beneficiaries demonstrated a higher level of yield improvement, the short timeframe between baseline and endline likely limited the full capture of long-term impacts. Nonetheless, the observed gains provide an encouraging indication of progress, with the expectation that more conclusive impacts would emerge over a longer implementation and observation period. The findings confirm that well-targeted agricultural interventions—particularly those combining improved inputs with technical training—can drive adoption and improve productivity in smallholder irrigated wheat systems. While some adoption differences remain between direct and indirect beneficiaries, the positive trends in input use, varietal diversification, and yield improvement are promising. Strengthening seed systems, improving mechanization access, and extending the duration of support will be key to achieving sustained impact and scaling success across similar agroecological zones.