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Malabo Montpellier Panel Water-wise report
- 1. Dr. Karim El Aynaoui 18 December 2018 Malabo Montpellier Forum Rabat, Moroccowww.mamopanel.org WATER-WISE Smart Irrigation Strategies for Africa
- 2. Malabo Montpellier Forum The Rt. Hon. Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima Vice President Republic of Malawi H. E. Abdoulaye Bio-Tchané Minister of State in Charge of Planning and Development Republic of Benin
- 3. Malabo Montpellier Forum A platform to bring research into use at the cross-country or continental scale Guided by technical reports prepared by the Malabo Montpellier Panel on what works, why and how
- 4. Malabo Montpellier Panel Debisi Araba Tom Arnold Ousmane Badiane Noble Banadda Patrick Caron Sir Gordon Conway Gebisa Ejeta Karim El Aynaoui Ashok Gulati Sheryl Hendriks Muhammadou Kah Agnes Kalibata Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg Ishmael Sunga Rhoda Peace Tumusiime Joachim von
- 5. Outline Policy Frameworks The Potential Benefits of Irrigation in Africa Current Irrigation Uptake and Potential Opportunities for Innovation Overcoming Barriers to Irrigation Uptake • Funding Models and Commercialization of Irrigation Trade-Offs of Irrigation Country Case Studies
- 6. Continental and Global Policy Frameworks African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 Malabo Declaration • Goal #3: Commitment to ending hunger in Africa by 2025 • Goal #3.1: Access to agriculture inputs and technologies 2025 African Water Vision Sustainable Development Goals • Goal #6: Clean Water and Sanitation African Green Revolution Forum 2018
- 7. The potential benefits of irrigation in Africa Women’s empowerment Climate risk reduction Job creation Increased agricultural productivity
- 8. Climate change in Africa Projected impacts: By 2050, yields of rain-fed maize will decline by as much as 25% or more. (IFPRI, 2016) Yields of sorghum and millet are estimated to decline by more than 30% and 40% respectively. (Blanc, E., 2012) Wheat production is likely to disappear from Africa by the 2080s. (Fischer et al., 2005) In the Sahel, semi-arid lands will become more marginal making livestock production the only viable livelihood option (IPCC AR4, 2007) Crop net revenues will likely fall by as much as 90% by 2100 in South Africa. (IPCC AR4, 2007)
- 9. Current Irrigation Uptake and Potential
- 10. Current Irrigation Uptake and Potential Irrigation development can make good business sense: yields from irrigated crops are twice or more in comparison to rain-fed yields The potential to increase irrigation in Africa is 47 million ha. Much of the increase would take place in SSA, where irrigated land could be expanded to 38 million ha, from the current 7.7 million.
- 11. Opportunities for Innovation in Irrigation Traditional irrigation methods Innovative irrigation technologies Small-scale irrigation Community-led irrigation Rope-and-bucket River diversion Gravity-fed drip irrigation Rope-and-washer Tidal irrigation Center-pivot Hip pump Floppy Sprinkler Treadle pump Soil sensor Motorized pump Hyperspectral camera Solar pump Photos by: NECOFA, Kenya; David Stanley; BBC 2009; Neil Palmer, CIAT
- 12. ©MaMo Panel Factors affecting irrigation uptake Topographical / climatic factors: • Field size and shape, water availability, local climate and soil type. Market and economic factors: • crop prices, energy costs, and labor supply. • cost of technology, crop and farming characteristics regulatory factors: • groundwater pumping restrictions, drainage discharge limits, and water transfer provisions.
- 13. Overcoming Barriers to Irrigation Uptake Infrastructure and technologies Skill development Land tenure Access to finance Returns on investments Integrated approaches Access to finance Hiring services for irrigation equipment Public–private partnerships (PPPs) Multiple-use water systems (MUS) The Green Climate Fund (GCF) The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP)
- 14. © Remi Nono-Womdim, FAO 2010 Trade-Offs of Irrigation: risks Environment and health Water competition Exclusion and conflicts
- 15. Country case-studies: selection Level of irrigation (%) Pace of expansion of irrigated areas (%) Morocco 18.9 Ethiopia 51.5 South Africa 13.4 Kenya 36.8 Mali 5.8 Niger 20.0 Selected by: (1) the percentage of the total area equipped for irrigation between 2012 and 2014 (2) the percentage increase in the share of arable land under irrigation between 2002–2004 and 2012–2014 (3) regional representation by North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa
- 16. Institutional Innovation in Ethiopia Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity Water Works Design & Supervision Enterprise Water Works Construction Enterprise Water Resources Development Fund Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resource Development Community- managed small-scale irrigation schemes (<250 ha) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Environmental impact of irrigation projects Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation Capital budget for construction of irrigation projects Agricultural Transformation Agency Chaired by the Prime Minister
- 17. ©USAID Inclusivity in Mali A minimum of 15% of government irrigated lands to be allocated to women and youth.
- 18. Smart technology in Kenya • Sensor-based automatic irrigation system app • Solar drip irrigation kits • Treadle and hip pumps © Jeffery M Walcott IWMI
- 19. © World Bank 2015 Small–scale irrigation success in Niger Accelerated Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy 2002 Rural Development Strategy 2003: private investment in small-scale irrigation. Private Irrigation Promotion Project (2003-08) by Agency for the Promotion of Private Irrigation Strategy of Small Irrigation 2015
- 20. © Bertramz, 2008 Small–scale irrigation success in Nigeria Government financing for construction of boreholes and tube wells, and distribution of motor pumps. FADAMA I, FADAMA II & FADAMA III subsidized simple, low-cost irrigation technologies community-driven development project supporting the acquisition of irrigation equipment, rural infrastructure development, demand-driven extension services, and natural resource conflict resolution.
- 21. Smart regulation in South Africa © Trevor Samson, World Bank, 2015 Use & management of water resources: • 1998 National Water Act • Irrigation Strategy for South Africa • The 2nd National Water Resource Strategy Multiple use water systems
- 22. Irrigation development in Morocco 7.46/5.53 on Malabo Commitment area #3.1 (2017 benchmark) Regional Offices of Agricultural Development Irrigation equipment is exempt from VAT 80% - 100% subsidy on drip irrigation equipment Plan Maroc Vert • National Program for Irrigation Water Saving Innovative Public-Private Partnerships Program Desalination in Chtouka in the region of Souss Massa Draa
- 23. Recommendations: Smart Irrigation Strategies for Africa Policy and investment priority Innovative technologies Smart regulation Private sector involvement incl through PPPs Skill development and training Supportive fiscal regime © Rejané Claasen, 2005
- 24. Thank you for your attention! @MaMoPanel MaMoPanel : The Malabo Montpellier Panelwww.mamopanel.org
Editor's Notes
- Welcome and introductions Your excellencies, honorable ministers, respected guests, friends and colleagues… etc I am pleased to welcome you to Rabat and to Morocco for this third Malabo Montpellier Forum. OCP is pleased to partner with the Panel to organize the Forum …
- The Malabo Montpellier Forum provides a platform to promote policy innovation by using the evidence produced by the Panel to facilitate dialogue and exchange among high-level decision-makers on African agriculture, nutrition and food security. Co-chaired by The Right Honorable Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima, Vice President of the Republic of Malawi and His Excellency Abdoulaye Bio-Tchané, Minister of State in Charge of Planning and Development of the Republic of Benin.
- The Forum meets several times annually and gathers leading decision makers to review progress among African countries and related success factors in dealing with issues of strategic importance for attainment of the goals of the African Union under the Agenda 2063 and in particular the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). It serves as a platform to bring research into use at the cross-country or continental scale. Every session gathers countries that have made the most progress in a given strategic area to share their experience with other countries for the purpose of mutual learning and spreading of best practices.
- The Malabo Montpellier Panel convenes 17 leading experts in agriculture, ecology, nutrition and food security to guide policy choices by African governments to accelerate progress towards food security and improved nutrition in Africa. The Panel identifies areas of progress and positive change across the continent and assesses what successful countries have done differently. It then identifies the most important institutional innovations and policy and program interventions that can be replicated and scaled up by other countries.
- This forum will focus on the latest report that the Panel has been working on for the last 6 months. Outline The current report—Water-Wise: Smart Irrigation Strategies for Africa—summarizes the key findings of a systematic analysis of what six African countries at the forefront of progress on irrigation have done right. It builds somewhat on the previous Panel report on mechanization in African agriculture. African farmers are already feeling the impacts of climate change across the continent. In many countries across the continent, rainfall is highly variable or insufficient. Yet food production continues to be almost exclusively rain-fed. Where there is only one growing season, farmers are thus more vulnerable to erratic rainfall patterns and droughts, resulting in low yields and incomes. At the same time, a growing population across the continent demands more, reliable and continuous supply of food. As a result, Africa is seeing a surge of interest in irrigation among small-scale farmers. This latest report – Water-wise: Smart Irrigation Strategies for Africa seeks to identify interventions that have worked and recommend options for policy and program innovation that allow countries to upgrade or expand current irrigation systems. We look at policies and practices, that if brought to scale, could have significant impact on agricultural transformation in Africa. The report provides a roadmap for African governments to take concerted action to deliver on the growth and transformation targets set out by the Malabo Declaration and the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Continental and global policy frameworks So why should we be looking at increasing irrigation uptake in Africa? There is now growing attention amongst policymakers to the need for and potential of irrigation to contribute to continental and global agricultural transformation agendas. There are a variety of relevant approaches, some specifically targeting irrigation uptake, and others addressing water-use and water resource management in agriculture, as well as more ecosystem-based approaches. Under African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 Goal #7 seeks to increase levels of water productivity from rain-fed agriculture and irrigation by 60 percent from 2013 levels, and to harvest at least 10 percent of rainwater for human, agricultural and industrial use. Goal #5 promotes policies that contribute to value addition in agriculture through investments in agro-processing, irrigation, and road infrastructure to meet several targets, including the doubling of agricultural productivity Under the Malabo Declaration Goal #3: Commitment to ending hunger in Africa by 2025 Goal #3.1 covers investments in and development of irrigation schemes. In 2017, only eight countries were on track to meeting the goal: Ethiopia, Ghana, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Rwanda and Zambia. The BR explicitly notes the need for investments in irrigation in five countries, namely Niger, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. But it is useful to bear in mind that there isn’t a dedicated indicator on irrigation development within the Biennial Review – and this could potentially be very useful. The 2025 African Water Vision created by the African Union, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) which calls for “an Africa where there is an equitable and sustainable use and management of water resources for poverty alleviation, socio-economic development, regional cooperation, and the environment.” The framework stresses the need to increase water productivity of rain-fed agriculture and irrigation by 60 percent and the area under irrigation by 100 percent by 2025. On the global scale, Sustainable Development Goals Within Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #6 the need for improving water quality, integrated water resource management, and the protection and restoration of water-related ecosystems is stressed. Most recently, at the AGRF in Kigali this September, a joint statement affirmed the support for inclusive and sustainable farmer-led irrigation in Africa and its role for achieving food security and poverty reduction.
- The potential benefits of irrigation By increasing water supplies and enabling cultivation during the dry season, irrigation can help farmers to extend the growing season(s) and thus diversify activities, increase productivity levels and incomes. Available estimates also indicate that across SSA small-scale irrigation could boost maize yields by 141–195 percent and paddy yields by 270–283 percent, compared to yields achieved under rain-fed agriculture Inclusive irrigation policies can contribute to improved farmer resilience and livelihoods, as well as to better nutrition, women’s empowerment, and employment generation for rural youth. Estimates show that, without substantial additional investment in irrigation, the share of people at risk of hunger in Africa could increase by 5 percent by 2030 and by 12 percent by 2050 due to climate change. Smallholders using irrigation frequently grow vegetables, fruits, and other cash crops rich in micronutrients during the dry season that also increase household income when they are sold at markets at high prices. Research has shown that crops grown under irrigation, especially horticultural crops, can generate important employment opportunities for rural and urban youth.
- Climate change in Africa Across Africa and other parts of the world, farmers are already battling the adverse impacts of climate change. Rising global temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, more extreme weather events are already causing more frequent and intense floods and droughts. This in turn is increasingly disrupting the availability and use of water for rain-fed agriculture. The 2015/16 El Niño led to the lowest rainfall levels in 35 years in Africa and caused intense drought in the Horn Africa, with devastating impacts on the region’s food security and countries’ economies. South Africa’s Cape Town nearly arrived at its Day Zero scenario when there would be no water available for its citizens, let alone agriculture. Foods in Nigeria devastated vast croplands. Future projections are equally bleak: some studies suggest that by 2050 grain crop yields across Africa will shrink substantially. According to models developed by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), by 2050, yields of rain-fed maize will decline by as much as 25 percent or more in some parts of Africa, relative to 2000 levels. Yields of sorghum and millet are also estimated to decline by more than 30 and 40 percent respectively. Falling yields have an impact on the cost of food too. Some studies project that maize, rice and wheat prices in 2050 will be 4, 7 and 15 percent higher respectively. Prices sweet potato, cassava and millet will increase by 26, 20 and 4 percent respectively. And these impacts will not be limited simply to the agricultural sectors. Since agricultural GDP is a key part of national GDP in most African nations, climate change has a direct impact on whole economies. For instance, a once- in-10-year drought event could reduce the GDP of Malawi by 4 percent, with even larger impacts for 15- and 25-year droughts.
- So it is vital that we look into irrigation as a means to improve the resilience of farmers to climate change. Despite the clear needs and benefits of irrigation, investment in irrigation in Africa remains low, especially when compared to Asia. Despite highly variable and, in many countries, insufficient rainfall, food production in Africa continues to be almost exclusively rain-fed, resulting in lower than average yields compared to other developing regions. A mere 6 percent of cultivated land is currently irrigated in Africa, compared to 14 and 37 percent in Latin America and Asia respectively.
- Current Irrigation Uptake and Potential Of this 6 percent, more than two-thirds is concentrated in just five countries—Egypt, Madagascar, Morocco, South Africa and Sudan—each of which have more than a million hectares of irrigated land. Yet, African countries produce 38 percent of their crops by value under irrigation, while 62 percent are rain-fed. Fortunately, the potential to increase irrigation in Africa is high, at 47 million hectares. Considering both land and water resources, much of the increase would take place in SSA, where irrigated land could be expanded to 38 million hectares, up from the current 7.7 million.
- Opportunities for Innovation in irrigation As can be seen across the continent, there are innovations that can substantially increase countries’ irrigation potential. In many countries across Africa, irrigated areas rely on basic or improvised techniques such as flood recession, spate irrigation, and use of wetlands, all of which are less productive and reliable than modern irrigation technologies. However, there are signs of increasing uptake of on-farm pressurized irrigation technologies, such as sprinklers and micro-irrigation, that have potential to reduce water consumption and significantly improve the productivity and quality of horticultural crops. In Morocco, government efforts have led to the amount of land equipped with drip irrigation increase significantly between 2008 and 2014 to 450,000 ha, with the aim of reaching 550,000 ha by 2020 under the Plan Maroc Vert.
- Because irrigation is highly site-specific and not limited to a single method, a range of factors need to be considered in the selection of different irrigation innovations and water harvesting methods, including the size of farms, water availability, and other topo-graphical features, such as field size, shape and soil type. Market factors, such as crop prices, energy costs, and labor supply also need to be taken into consideration when developing irrigation technologies and systems. In addition, the costs of technologies, crop and farming characteristics, local climate, regulatory provisions such as groundwater pumping restrictions, drainage discharge limits, and water transfer provisions will define the effectiveness of the technology applied.
- Overcoming barriers to Irrigation uptake Although the potential for increasing irrigation across the continent is high and the benefits of irrigation could be remarkable, there are a number of barriers and potential risks that hinder irrigation development and expansion. This includes barriers such as poor infrastructure, limited access to finance, insufficient skill development, and insecure land tenure. Infrastructure and technologies: energy infrastructure and technologies to access groundwater are particularly inadequate across Africa to enable farmers to harness water resources. Skills development: it is critical to equip farmers and service providers with the skills to design, operate, maintain and repair some of the more advanced and sophisticated irrigation technologies and systems. Without the right set of skills, misuse and mismanagement of machinery can result in water and yield losses and severely hinder the continued use of modern irrigation technologies. In Morocco, 52 agricultural vocational training centers across the country improve the technical and competitive capacities of businesses and farms. Land tenure: Irrigation uptake therefore requires a transparent land tenure system that guarantees rights for producers, particularly for the most vulnerable, including women and young people. Mali passed a law in 2017 which ensures that a minimum of 15 percent of irrigated land is allocated to women and youth. Access to finance: The significant up-front costs of purchasing and installing irrigation systems put most irrigation technologies far beyond the reach of smallholder farmers. To finance irrigation expansion at scale across Africa, a mix of investments and smart design of large- and small-scale irrigation schemes will be needed to benefit smallholder farmers and to leverage countries’ full irrigation potential. African governments on average dedicated just 3.1 percent of national budgets to agriculture. Studies suggest that if governments were to meet the 10 percent CAADP expenditure target for agriculture and allocate just 1–5 percent to irrigation development, considerable investments in irrigation infrastructure would in fact be feasible and profitable. There are opportunities to replicate innovative financing models from other parts of the agricultural sector, such as hiring services, and PPPs to share the risk between the private sector and the government. One innovative approach in this context are Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) models in which the ownership of the project stays with the government, while a private company is given the temporary right to operate the facility commercially. After the project period, the facility is transferred to the government. Multiple-use water systems (MUS) involve different interest groups and the diversification and pooling of possible funding sources. Outside of local and domestic sources of funding, irrigation projects can also access grants and low-interest loans from global funds such as the Green Climate Fund, and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program. In Morocco, the GCF, together with the Moroccan government and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), is investing approximately US$90 million in a five-year project for irrigation development and adaptation of irrigated agriculture to climate change at the Guir wadi. The project will build an irrigation system connected to a nearby dam, thereby ensuring sustainable flows of water to farms while preserving water resources for other downstream users. It is estimated that the project will benefit 15,500 farmers. Returns on investment: the return on irrigation investment would be higher if farmers could get better prices for their produce. Thus it is crucial that they have better storage facilities and access to markets. Integrated approaches: similarly, irrigation would be more effective if farmers also have improved access to other inputs such as seeds
- Trade-offs Irrigation has also some risks that are well understood today including adverse impacts on environment and health, water competition, exclusion and conflicts. Therefore, measures to effectively manage them should be systematically integrated in irrigation development goals.
- Country case studies Several countries across Africa have a high level of irrigation infrastructure, have made good progress in improving their level of irrigation uptake, or both. The report analyzed data on the percentage of the total area equipped for irrigation between 2012 and 2014 to measure a country’s level of irrigation, and the percentage increase in the share of arable land under irrigation between 2002–2004 and 2012–2014 to measure progress in irrigation uptake. The country selection also accounted for regional representation across the continent, including North Africa and SSA. Morocco, South Africa and Mali were identified for their high level of irrigation; Ethiopia, Kenya and Niger were identified for their pace of irrigation expansion.
- Ethiopia is one of the countries that has shown strong institutional innovation with respect to irrigation, involving different ministries in the development of irrigation schemes across the country. The Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity leads the development and implementation of water sector policy, planning, and water resource regulation and is the main actor to handle medium- and large-scale irrigation schemes. It is also responsible for regional and interregional water resource development and management, as well as for functions that involve international procurement; The Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resource Development is responsible for developing community-managed small-scale irrigation schemes (up to 250 ha); The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is in charge of investigating the environmental impact of irrigation projects; and the The Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation is responsible for allocating capital budget for the construction of such projects. In addition, in 2010, the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) was established, chaired by the Prime Minister.
- Mali has shown leadership in terms of the regulatory environment and passed a law facilitating access to land for irrigation land for the most vulnerable and marginalized people. In 2017, the government of Mali passed a law which requires a minimum of 15 percent of irrigated lands to be allocated to women and youth.
- In Kenya Irrigation technologies such as the “sensor-based automatic irrigation system” app that monitors the need for water in fields and controls irrigation equipment are being developed by Kenya's Meru University of Science and Technology. The private sector is also active in disseminating modern irrigation technologies through the sale of solar irrigation kits to Kenyan smallholder farmers since 2013 and different types of pumps including a treadle pump and a hip pump. Treadle pumps and hip pumps have the capacity to pump water from a depth of seven meters, a maximum pumping height of 14m and an overall push distance of 200m on flat ground. The hip pump irrigates up to 0.5 hectares of land, while the treadle pump could irrigate up to 0.8 hectares per day.
- Niger on the other has had a strong emphasis on implementing small-scale irrigation interventions through national policies and programs including: The Accelerated Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy of 2002 The Rural Development Strategy of 2003 promoting private investment in small-scale irrigation The Private Irrigation Promotion Project (2003-08) implemented by the Agency for the Promotion of Private Irrigation The Strategy of Small Irrigation of 2015
- In Nigeria, the government subsidized simple and low-cost irrigation technologies including motorized pumps, boreholes, and tube wells under FADAMA I. The beneficiaries, smallholder farmers, produced mainly rice, maize and vegetables including tomatoes, cabbages, okra and pumpkins. Based on the lessons learnt in FADAMA I, the second National Fadama Development Project (FADAMA II) was launched over a period of six years starting in 2004 in 12 states. FADAMA II was a community driven development project supporting the acquisition of irrigation equipment, rural infrastructure development, demand-driven extension services and natural resource conflict resolution. Furthermore, encouraged by the positive results of FADAMA II, the Government of Nigeria decided to expand the project to the entire country during its third phase (FADAMA III).
- In South Africa is one of the global leaders when it comes to regulation governing the use of water in agriculture and a range of smart water regulations have been implemented. The National Water Act set out a legal framework for the government to protect, use, develop, conserve, manage, and control the country’s water resources. It also incorporates the establishment of catchment management agencies, the transformation of existing irrigation boards into water users’ associations, and the possible establishment of an agency to manage the national water resource infrastructure. Although the approach showed ambition, its implementation has been paltry. The 2nd National Water Resource Strategy, implemented from 2013, also touches on irrigation and underlines the need for groundwater development and management, water harvesting, importation of water-intensive goods, and infrastructure management, as well as the advantages of multiple use planning
- Irrigation Development in Morocco 20% of Morocco’s arable land is equipped for irrigation. Our score of 7.46 on the 2018 Biennial review vastly exceeds the 2017 minimum score of 5.53. Created Regional Offices of Agricultural Development (ORMVA) in the 60s within the Ministry of Agriculture – responsible for technical studies, project execution and management of hydro-agricultural equipment, management of water resources for agricultural use, and dissemination of new farming technologies. Departments responsible for managing irrigation systems have been equipped with computerized tools and clear procedures and guidelines for the planning, programming, operation, and maintenance of irrigation systems. National Program for Irrigation Water Saving (PNEEI) aims to improve and modernize traditional and collective irrigation systems for expanding the use of drip irrigation. Farmers can access financial assistance from the Agricultural Development Fund to help them purchase the equipment. In addition, farmers benefit from advice and guidance on how to increase the return on water used by producing high-value crops and joining aggregation systems.
- Recommendations: The present report has identified the set of policies and practices that, if brought to scale, could significantly improve the resilience and livelihoods of rural communities and spur overall agricultural growth and transformation in Africa. Irrigation needs to be elevated to a top policy and long-term investment priority. Smart regulation for water use needs to be coupled with incentives to promote the dissemination of technologies for the use of treated waste water. To take irrigation to scale through effective public–private partnerships, financial securities, smart subsidies, or tax waivers need to be put in place as incentives for the private sector to engage with smallholders. Increased investment in institutional and physical infrastructure to expand access to skills development and upgrading is critical. The acquisition of new irrigation systems and equipment by smallholder farmers requires a supportive fiscal regime where barriers to accessing finance for equipment and services are removed and access to micro-credits and leasing arrangements for irrigation equipment is facilitated.