Mupaso, NormanMakombe, GodswillMugandani, RaymondMafongoya, Paramu L.2024-07-312024-07-312024-04Mupaso, N.; Makombe, G.; Mugandani, R.; Mafongoya, P.L. Assessing the Contribution of Smallholder Irrigation to Household Food Security in Zimbabwe. Agriculture 2024, 14, 617. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14040617.2077-0472 (online)10.3390/agriculture14040617http://hdl.handle.net/2263/97372DATA AVAILABITY STATEMENT: The data are available on request because of restrictionsSustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 seeks to end hunger and guarantee food and nutrition security worldwide by 2030. Smallholder irrigation development remains a key strategy to achieve SDG 2. This study assesses how smallholder irrigation contributes to household food security in Mberengwa district, Zimbabwe. Primary data were gathered from a randomly chosen sample of 444 farmers (344 irrigators and 100 non-irrigators) using a structured questionnaire. Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 27 software packages were used to analyse the data. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, t-test, and binary logistic regression were performed. The t-test results show significant differences in mean between irrigators and non-irrigators for household size, the dependency ratio, farming experience, farm income, food expenditure share, and livestock owned (p < 0.05). Irrigators had significantly higher area planted, yield, and quantity sold for maize during the summer than non-irrigators (p < 0.05). Food Consumption Score results show that 97% of irrigators and 45% of non-irrigators were food secure. Binary logistic regression results reveal a significant association between food security and household size, irrigation access, and farm income (p < 0.05). In conclusion, access to smallholder irrigation increases household food security. The government and its development partners should prioritise investments in smallholder irrigation development, expansion, and rehabilitation.en© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).Smallholder irrigationFood securityFood consumption scoreZimbabweSDG-02: Zero hungerArticle