Key and Smart Actions to Alleviate Hunger and Poverty Through Irrigation and Drainage

Abstract

In the pursuit of information to support policies and actions to alleviate hunger and poverty through irrigation and drainage, this paper attempts to provide correlations between water scarcity, communities and poverty. Many reviews have found strong direct and indirect relationships between irrigation and poverty. One of the main goals of the international community is to eliminate hunger and poverty and in this perspective, through the Millennium Development Goals, much progress has been achieved and evidence obtained. Sustainable Development Goals and various other United Nations initiatives intend to move forward this agenda by making it a part of broader development frameworks. In this paper, the important elements of irrigation and drainage that affect the alleviation of hunger and poverty are discussed. These elements are grouped into governance, rights-based developments, water rights and pricing, management, efficiency improvement, and the role of technology. Both the potential and the need for innovative technology and solutions in irrigation are underlined, which can be used to cater for the challenges in different subsectors. The main focus of these solutions is on maximizing productivity and efficiency, reducing water losses, achieving sustainable intensification and managing demands on water resources and the associated trade-offs. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.key words: irrigation and drainage management; water management to alleviate hunger and poverty; irrigation modernization; water scarcity; poverty and hunger sur la réduction de la faim et de la pauvreté. Ces éléments sont regroupés dans la gouvernance, le développement basé sur les droits, les droits de l'eau et la tarification, la gestion, l'amélioration de l'efficacité, et le rôle de la technologie. Le potentiel ainsi que la nécessité de faire usage de la technologie et des solutions d'irrigation innovantes sont soulignés, et être utilisé pour relever les défis des différents sous-secteurs. L'objectif principal de ces solutions est la maximisation de la productivité et de l'efficacité, la réduction des pertes d'eau, la réalisation de l'intensification durable et la gestion des demandes en ressources en eau et les compromis associés.

International Organisations and the Icid Vision 2030

“…Participation in the WWF events brought collaborations in new areas such as multiple use of systems, which started in WWF4 in Mexico City in 2006 with the Multiple Use Group looking at domestic water supply systems, and then finding more fruitful opportunities with ICID in the multiple use of irrigation systems, especially for more effective poverty alleviation (Unver et al, ).…”

New Products and Emerging Irrigation Technologies in Light of the Icid Vision 2030

“…The ICID vision for 2030 is A water‐secure world free of poverty and hunger through sustainable rural development . In order to feed the more than 9 billion people in 2050 a 60% increase over the 2006 food production levels is necessary (Unver et al, ). These challenges have to be met with limited land and water resources, under climate change uncertainties, while coping with rapid developments in many other related areas.…”

“…Over the past number of years, innovations in agriculture technology (precision agricultural innovations, data analytics and processing, platforms for the collection and distribution of complex data streams, and ITdriven extensions) have been on the rise (Unver et al, ). Through the use of these technologies along the entire agriculture value chain, the world can increase the productivity of its farming systems, while simultaneously transforming agriculture into a source of environmental health.…”

“…Agriculture is the largest business sector, which is highly driven by technologies, and tools like satellite imageries, aerial imageries, GIS, GNSS/GPS, automated sensors, high tech machineries and high resolution data (Unver et al, ). The ultimate purpose of all the technologies is about optimization, precision, and to efficiently produce high crop yields.…”

Can Organic Amendments Improve Soil Physical Characteristics and Increase Maize Performances in Contrasting Soil Water Regimes?

“…Moreover, climate change projections for tropical regions suggest changes in rainfall regimes with an increase in the number of storm rainfall events during the dry season and an increase in the number and duration of dry periods during the rainy season, all of which can directly affect soil productivity [19][20][21]. Most farmers in these regions are smallholders, and their production depends directly on rainfall patterns, as their incomes are too low to cover the cost of installing and maintaining irrigation or drainage systems [22]. Consequently, for these small holders, in order to control the soil water status, it is necessary to find economically affordable and technically feasible alternatives to irrigation and drainage practices.…”