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Drought is the most catastrophic natural event affecting food security and thus causing widespread periodic famine in many parts of Ethiopia. It affects many parts of the country on a regular basis causing extreme stress on coping mechanisms of the people. In order to alleviate the problem of recurrent drought and household food security, the government of Ethiopia has taken household level water harvesting ponds and shallow wells development as one strategy of the country's irrigation development. Ethiopians, however, debate on the worthiness of the recently introduced household level water harvesting program all over the country. This study, therefore, aims at establishing a better understanding and documenting the effects of the household level water harvesting irrigation development and its limitations.

The study was carried out in six villages through household level surveys, and discussions with various institutions and local authorities. The study focused on three household level water harvesting systems that include ponds, underground tankers, and shallow well irrigation.