The Dhidhessa River Basin (DRB), in the Abbay River Basin in Ethiopia, is undergoing large-scale dam construction for sugarcane irrigation. We focused on the dynamics of population migration, settlement, relocation and water resource development in the DRB using primary and secondary data. Two major migration waves were observed in the basin: the first in 1984–1986 during a severe drought and the second during 2005–2017. Most rural migrants were ‘pulled’ by government initiative in the period 1984–2017, while a few migrated of their own accord due to famine. We found that the first migration wave from eastern Ethiopia (Harar) to DRB was due to scarcity of water, land and rainfall and the migration positively affected migrant livelihoods. In the second phase, dam construction displaced settled farmers and migrants, adversely affecting their livelihoods. Analysis is needed that considers the wellbeing of the displaced agrarian society and the migrant population in the dam-affected area.

埃塞俄比亚阿巴贝河流域的Dhidhessa流域（DRB）正在为甘蔗灌溉进行大规模水坝建设。我们使用主要和次要数据关注了DRB中人口迁移，定居，重新安置和水资源开发的动态。流域内观察到了两次主要的移民浪潮：第一次是在1984-1986年严重干旱期间，第二次是在2005-2017年期间。1984-2017年间，大多数农村移民被政府倡议“拖走”，而少数人则因饥荒而自行迁徙。我们发现，从埃塞俄比亚东部（Harar）到DRB的第一次移民浪潮是由于水，土地和降雨的短缺，而移民对移民的生计产生了积极影响。在第二阶段，水坝建设使定居的农民和移民流离失所，对他们的生计产生不利影响。需要进行分析，考虑流离失所的农业社会和受水坝影响地区的移民人口的福祉。