1.
Irrigation to Transform
Agriculture and Food Systems
in Africa South of the Sahara
Claudia Ringler, Dawit Mekonnen, Hua Xie, and
Agbonlahor Mure

2.
Irrigation-
An important contributor to agricultural
transformation
• Irrigation supports production in areas
of seasonally or annually limited rainfall
• Irrigation de-risks production in areas
with less certain rainfall (basically
everywhere)
• Irrigation improves yields 30-60% but
requires availability of complementary
inputs (i.e. seeds, fertilizers, crop
protection and sustainable land man.)
• Important multiplier benefits (ag
processing units, accelerated rural
infrastructure, nutrition, incomes, jobs)

3.
..with large regional differences in
opportunity

4.
.. Receiving low public investment

5.
.. With different policies & institutions in place
• Framework for Irrigation Development and Agricultural Water Management developed by
AUC in 2019 considers:
1. Improved water management in rainfed areas
2. Farmer-led (small-scale irrigation)
3. Development and modernization of large schemes
4. Wastewater recovery and reuse
• Key principles for irrigation institutions
1. Integrated water resources planning
2. A closed financing loop
3. Beneficiaries sharing in the cost of irrigation development
4. Separating resources management functions from sector management
5. Involvement of women and men farmers in irrigation development and management
6. Organizing irrigation along hydrologic boundaries
7. Secure water rights

6.
Irrigation—the way forward
--improving equity
• Small-scale irrigation and advanced
technologies mostly managed by younger,
richer men
• Irrigated areas in large-scale systems often
allocated without consideration of
disadvantaged farmers; women seldom have
decision roles in water user associations
• Considering women in irrigation would require
not only improving their access to information
on irrigation, and access to irrigation
technologies, but also ensuring that they can
use the technologies, and benefit from the
proceeds of irrigation; adequate consideration
of women can directly support nutrition as
well
Hours spent per year on irrigation,
northern Ghana

7.
Irrigation—the way forward
--improving environmental sustainability
• Irrigation depletes water resources,
and--if agro-chemicals are not well
managed--then irrigation also
pollutes water bodies
• Solar irrigation will likely increase
irrigation dramatically in areas with
poor electricity access and high fuel
cost, and will reduce GHG
emissions, but will also accelerate
water depletion unless appropriate
institutions are introduced
Cropland with irrigation potential

8.
Public investments to sustain an
irrigation transformation
• Measure and monitor irrigation and pollution
• Consider unique country conditions when
adding implementing the Irrigation
Framework in national agricultural
investments plans (NAIPs)
• Accelerate irrigation development through
linkage with energy
• Strengthen water and related institutions to
support sustainable irrigation development
• Strengthen benefits (incomes/nutrition, etc.)
gained from irrigation
• Enable irrigation “for all”