IMPROVING AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT IN AFRICAOpportunities and Challenges

Ian W MakinVice President (ICID)Lead Specialist - Irrigation (IWMI)

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4th African Regional Conference, Aswan - 26 April 2016

OVERVIEW

• Issues

• Agricultural Water Management

• Challenges

• Opportunities

• Conclusions

Issues

CORE ISSUES – AGRA AND WORLD BANK PRESS RELEASE (APRIL 2016)

• One in four Africans is hungry, and every one African child

in three is stunted. Food demand will rise by at least 20

percent globally over the next 15 years with the largest

increases projected in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Food production in Sub-Saharan Africa will need to

increase by about 60 percent. AGRA’s goal is to double

yields and incomes for 30 million farming households across

Sub-Saharan Africa by 2020.Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and World Bank

Agriculture Global Practice press releasehttp://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2016/04/20/boosting-african-agriculture-new-agra-world-bank-agreement-to-support-farming-led-

transformation (Accessed 20 April 2016)

AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT IN SSA

• Less than 4% of cultivated land is irrigated

• Average agricultural withdrawals are 3% of renewable

water resources and groundwater use is < 20% of

renewable supplies

• CAADP Pillar 1 aims to extend land under SLM and

reliable water control systems by 20 million ha by 2015

(target not achieved).

Why is AWM important.

• Growing population – changing diets

• Rural:Urban transition – increasing food and energy demands, rural labour shortages

• Falling contribution of agriculture to employment and GDP

• Changing role of agriculture in many HH livelihoods (out-migration, changing roles of women)

• Agriculture is largest user and consumer of H2O; climate change

• Multiple and Competing uses of water

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Agricultural Water Management

Agricultural Water management

Purely Rainfed Production Fully Irrigated

Different farmers have different needs

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• Improving AWM will impact the rural community – not just farmers –support for transformation must include increasing off-farm employment.

Farm SizeFarmer orientation

Subsistence Semi-commercial Commercial

Small XXX X X

Medium XXX XX

Large XX XXX

ABCDE+F Framework for analysis of water management (Perry.

2013):

A. Accounting for the available resources

B. Bargaining through political process to determine priorities and

allocations

C. Codification of the agreed priorities and allocations into rules,

statutes and laws

D. Delegation of implementation to appropriate institutions and agencies

E. Engineering to create the necessary infrastructure to deliver the

agreed services

F. Feedback or the cycle of policy and performance adjustment for

elements A to E.

Challenges

CURRENT CHALLENGES IN SSA

• Underperformance in both rain-fed and irrigated systems

• Low investment in hydraulic infrastructure and in the

development and management of water resources

• Inappropriate governance and institutional arrangements in

public irrigation schemes

• Impact of climate change on water resources

• Inadequate investment in irrigation R&D, CapDev, data

collection, analysis and dissemination to guide decision

making.

Opportunities

Small-Scale Irrigation: A thriving but overlooked sector with large potential

• In many SSA countries reaches more farmers than public

irrigation

• Significant income boost in the dry season

• Significant farmer demand and own investment

Source of images: IWMI/IFPRI/SUA.

Source: IWMI (2012).

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AWM IN SSA

• Under-developed and Underutilized water resources

• Huge potential for expansion of area under irrigation

• Increased demand for high value products responsive to

irrigation

• Renewed public and donor interest in irrigation

• Investors acknowledgement of need for R4D evidence to

guide irrigation investment

• Commitment of African governments to SDGs.

Conclusions

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Key messageImproving agricultural water management requires:

• Capacity at fields, farms, agencies, suppliers, and ministries;

• Technologies to improve operation of pumps, canals and drains;

• Enhanced management of agricultural water management support services

• Leadership and integrated actions

IRRIGATION IN AFRICA INITIATIVE - IWMI

• From 2016 IWMI is committing additional resources to develop

and support improved AWM in Africa

• Objective is to assist SSA countries to achieve SDGs aimed at

ending hunger and poverty and promoting sustainable agriculture

• Capitalizing on IWMI’s three decades of research into methods

and tools to support and guide public and private sector

investments in irrigation

• Provide evidence of the performance and value of irrigated

agricultural systems in SSA

Sustainable Irrigation Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SIGiSSA)

Thank You

Ian W Makin

i.makin@cgiar.org

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