Estimating the potential for expanding smallholder irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Xie, Hui; You, Liangzhi; Wielgosz, Benjamin; Ringler, Claudia

doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2013.08.011

Cited by 159 publications

(133 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…You (2008) estimated that another 2 Mha could be irrigated by large-scale systems, with water stored behind dams, and 23 Mha could be irrigated by small-scale irrigation technologies, such as rainwater harvesting, pumping installations, small dams and river diversions. The potential is strongly dependent on cost assumptions and could be as high as between 27 and 82 Mha (Xie et al 2014).…”

Section: Water Resource Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compared to other regions in the world, infrastructure to capture water resources for irrigation is scarcely developed in SSA, yet many studies indicate that sufficient water is available to significantly increase the irrigated area in the region. According to multiple studies, SSA has a large potential of untapped water resources which can be used for irrigation (Hanjra and Gichuki 2008;Pavelic et al 2013;Svendsen et al 2009;Xie et al 2014;You 2008). You (2008) estimated that another 2 Mha could be irrigated by large-scale systems, with water stored behind dams, and 23 Mha could be irrigated by small-scale irrigation technologies, such as rainwater harvesting, pumping installations, small dams and river diversions.…”

Section: Water Resource Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence suggests that there is large untapped potential to expand the irrigated area in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (Hanjra and Gichuki 2008;Pavelic et al 2013;Svendsen et al 2009;Xie et al 2014;You 2008). Following years of neglected irrigation development, governments, international donors and private sector actors have renewed their interest in irrigation investments to make the region food and water secure by moving from drought-prone, rain-fed agriculture to irrigated agriculture.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Water user associations: a review of approaches and alternative management options for Sub-Saharan Africa

Aarnoudse¹,

Closas²,

Lefore³

2018

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Working PapersThe publications in this series record the work and thinking of IWMI researchers, and knowledge that the Institute's scientific management feels is worthy of documenting. This series will ensure that scientific data and other information gathered or prepared as a part of the research work of the Institute are recorded and referenced. Working Papers could include project reports, case studies, conference or workshop proceedings, discussion papers or reports on progress of research, country-specific research reports, monographs, etc. Working Papers may be copublished, by IWMI and partner organizations.Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI staff. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment. About IWMIIWMI's mission is to provide evidence-based solutions to sustainably manage water and land resources for food security, people's livelihoods and the environment. IWMI works in partnership with governments, civil society and the private sector to develop scalable agricultural water management solutions that have a tangible impact on poverty reduction, food security and ecosystem health.

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Section: Water Resource Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Water Resource Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Water user associations: a review of approaches and alternative management options for Sub-Saharan Africa

Aarnoudse¹,

Closas²,

Lefore³

2018

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“…Here, developing low-cost irrigation projects can increase the hectare yields. Low-cost irrigation has always been popular throughout SSA along the rivers, where water is lifted with basic pump techniques and it irrigates small farms usually on the river's bank [46]. The introduction of small diesel and electric pumps to increase the exploitation of local surface and groundwater resources, helps in increasing the small irrigation projects.…”

Section: Potential For Agricultural Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Index-Based Approach to Assess the Water Availability for Irrigated Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa

Zaki

Haghighi

Rossi

et al. 2018

Water

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Agriculture is a major economic sector in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, where it contributes 32 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and employs 65 percent of the population. However, SSA countries are farming only a small percentage of their potential cultivable area and are using only a fraction of their renewable water resources. Moreover, despite the importance of land and water resources in SSA, especially in rural areas, there has been little research on their potential. In this study, an index was developed to assess the potential for agriculture, considering renewable water availability of both surface water and groundwater. The index-based approach was then used to assess the potential increase in arable land area in 15 selected SSA countries. The selected countries were classified using the index, based on the availability of renewable water resources nationwide. We also assessed the future water demand by employing three scenarios and combining different rain-fed and irrigated options. The results show that, except for Zimbabwe, the current available surface water or groundwater resources could be sufficient to farm all of the potential cultivable areas in the selected countries when both rain-fed and irrigated systems are fully operational. The findings also indicate that targeted infrastructure projects (e.g., reservoirs, channels), crop management, and water saving techniques could improve surface and groundwater availability in the SSA region.

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“…A number of studies have made specific assessments of groundwater withdrawals in Ethiopia to determine the potential for sustainable irrigation development based on conservative estimates of recharge. For example, the implications of water quantity withdrawals for smallholder irrigation development with motorized diesel and petrol pumps have been presented by Xie et al (2014) 7 , indicating a potential increase to 6.5 * 10 9 m 3 y -1 water withdrawals assuming that smallholder farmers adopt motorized pumps. This is more than a threefold increase over current estimated withdrawals for smallholder farming irrigation of 1.8 * 10 9 m 3 y -1 , but constitutes only about 5% of the total annual freshwater recharge of Ethiopia (FAO AQUASTAT database 8 ).…”

Section: Environmental Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Business model scenarios and suitability: smallholder solar pump-based irrigation in Ethiopia. Agricultural Water Management – Making a Business Case for Smallholders

Otoo¹,

Lefore²,

Schmitter³

et al. 2018

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Research ReportsThe publications in this series cover a wide range of subjects-from computer modeling to experience with water user associations-and vary in content from directly applicable research to more basic studies, on which applied work ultimately depends. Some research reports are narrowly focused, analytical and detailed empirical studies; others are wide-ranging and synthetic overviews of generic problems.Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI staff, and by external reviewers. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment. About IWMIIWMI's mission is to provide evidence-based solutions to sustainably manage water and land resources for food security, people's livelihoods and the environment. IWMI works in partnership with governments, civil society and the private sector to develop scalable agricultural water management solutions that have a tangible impact on poverty reduction, food security and ecosystem health.

show abstract

Estimating the potential for expanding smallholder irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 159 publications

References 19 publications

Water user associations: a review of approaches and alternative management options for Sub-Saharan Africa

Water user associations: a review of approaches and alternative management options for Sub-Saharan Africa

An Index-Based Approach to Assess the Water Availability for Irrigated Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa

Business model scenarios and suitability: smallholder solar pump-based irrigation in Ethiopia. Agricultural Water Management – Making a Business Case for Smallholders

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