Sustainable irrigation: the missing link in Africa’s green

revolution

Timothy Olalekan Williams

Director, Africa

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• Contextual background

• Status of irrigation in SSA

• Current issues in irrigation in SSA

• Drivers of change

• SIGSSA Initiative

• Indicators of success of irrigation in SSA

Source: World Bank. 2015 World Development Indicators

Context: Extreme poverty persists in Africa

Context: Persistence of hunger and undernourishment in Africa

Context: African extensification compared with Asian intensification

Irrigation can be utilized to address the challenges of poverty and hunger in Africa

STATUS OF IRRIGATION 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).

CURRENT ISSUES IN IRRIGATION IN SSA

Opportunities

• An underutilized endowment of 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.

CURRENT ISSUES IN IRRIGATION IN SSA

Challenges

• Underperformance in both rainfed 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 public sector investment in irrigation capacity development and data collection, analysis and dissemination to guide decision making.

Sustainable Irrigation Growth in Sub-

Saharan Africa (SIGSSA) Initiative

• A new partnership initiative championed by IWMI

• Objective is to assist SSA countries to achieve SDGs

aimed at ending hunger and poverty and promoting

sustainable agriculture

• It will capitalize on IWMI’s three decades of research

into methods and tools to support and guide new public

and private sector investment in irrigation and monitor

and evaluate the performance of irrigation systems.

A continuum of

irrigation systems

“Let a thousand

flowers bloom”

SIGSSA: Main Entry Points

• Understanding scale-effect of irrigation- Situational analysis to establish baseline data on area under each type

of irrigation system and determine pattern of evolution and growth

- Analyze scale effect, including tradeoffs/complementarities between

small-, medium- and large-scale irrigation

- Comparative analysis of land and water productivity of new and existing

irrigation schemes

• Ensuring sustainable irrigation outcomes - Improving irrigation systems performance from a biophysical, economic

and institutional perspective.

SIGSSA: Main Entry Points

• Analyzing and evaluating new innovations in irrigation

development - PPP in irrigation, growth corridors, FDI in agricultural land

• Build the next generation of irrigators and irrigation

managers - Knowledge management and capacity building across all aspects of

irrigation implementation and management.

INDICATORS OF SUCCESS

• Expansion of irrigated area in SSA

• Increased public and private sector investment in

irrigation development to improve agricultural

productivity, food and nutrition security and ecosystem

services

• AWM and irrigation increasingly used as instruments to

enhance resilience of African agriculture to climate

change

INDICATORS OF SUCCESS (CONTINUED)

• Effective gender-sensitive water rights systems for

farmers

• Introduction of policies, economic incentives and

institutional arrangements that will ensure continuous,

long-term sustainable development of irrigation in SSA

• Improved human and institutional capacity to implement

sustainable irrigation development programs.

ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION

• What strategies are needed to mobilize political support at

continental, regional, national and local government level for

irrigation development?

• How do we deploy new technologies and lessons learned from

successful and failed irrigation schemes to ensure that new public

and private sector investments flowing into irrigation sector achieve

desired outcomes and impacts?

Thank you for your attention