This document discusses opportunities and challenges for improving agricultural water management in Africa. It notes that food production needs to increase 60% to meet rising demand, yet only 4% of land is irrigated currently. Challenges include underperformance of rain-fed and irrigated systems, low investment, and inadequate governance. However, opportunities exist in developing underutilized water resources, expanding irrigation area, and increasing high-value crop production. Improving management requires building capacity at all levels as well as technologies, services, leadership, and integrated actions.

1. IMPROVING AGRICULTURAL WATER
MANAGEMENT IN AFRICA
Opportunities and Challenges
Ian W Makin
Vice President (ICID)
Lead Specialist - Irrigation (IWMI)
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4th African Regional Conference, Aswan - 26 April 2016

2. OVERVIEW
• Issues
• Agricultural Water Management
• Challenges
• Opportunities
• Conclusions

3. Issues

4. CORE ISSUES – AGRA AND WORLD BANK PRESS RELEASE (APRIL 2016)
• One in four Africans is hungry, and every one African child
in three is stunted. Food demand will rise by at least 20
percent globally over the next 15 years with the largest
increases projected in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Food production in Sub-Saharan Africa will need to
increase by about 60 percent. AGRA’s goal is to double
yields and incomes for 30 million farming households across
Sub-Saharan Africa by 2020.
Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and World Bank
Agriculture Global Practice press release
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2016/04/20/boosting-african-agriculture-new-agra-world-bank-agreement-to-support-farming-led-
transformation (Accessed 20 April 2016)

5. AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT 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).

6. Why is AWM important.
• Growing population – changing diets
• Rural:Urban transition – increasing food and energy
demands, rural labour shortages
• Falling contribution of agriculture to employment and GDP
• Changing role of agriculture in many HH livelihoods (out-
migration, changing roles of women)
• Agriculture is largest user and consumer of H2O; climate
change
• Multiple and Competing uses of water
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7. Agricultural Water Management

8. Agricultural Water management
Purely Rainfed Production Fully Irrigated

9. Different farmers have
different needs
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• Improving AWM will impact the rural
community – not just farmers –support
for transformation must include
increasing off-farm employment.
Farm Size
Farmer orientation
Subsistence Semi-commercial Commercial
Small XXX X X
Medium XXX XX
Large XX XXX

10. ABCDE+F Framework for analysis of water management (Perry.
2013):
A. Accounting for the available resources
B. Bargaining through political process to determine priorities and
allocations
C. Codification of the agreed priorities and allocations into rules,
statutes and laws
D. Delegation of implementation to appropriate institutions and agencies
E. Engineering to create the necessary infrastructure to deliver the
agreed services
F. Feedback or the cycle of policy and performance adjustment for
elements A to E.

11. Challenges

12. CURRENT CHALLENGES IN SSA
• Underperformance in both rain-fed 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 investment in irrigation R&D, CapDev, data
collection, analysis and dissemination to guide decision
making.

15. Opportunities

16. Small-Scale Irrigation: A thriving but overlooked
sector with large potential
• In many SSA countries reaches more farmers than public
irrigation
• Significant income boost in the dry season
• Significant farmer demand and own investment
Source of images: IWMI/IFPRI/SUA.
Source: IWMI (2012).

17. OPPORTUNITIES FOR AWM IN SSA
• Under-developed and Underutilized 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.

18. Conclusions

19. 19
Key message
Improving agricultural water management
requires:
• Capacity at fields, farms, agencies,
suppliers, and ministries;
• Technologies to improve operation of
pumps, canals and drains;
• Enhanced management of agricultural
water management support services
• Leadership and integrated actions

20. IRRIGATION IN AFRICA INITIATIVE - IWMI
• From 2016 IWMI is committing additional resources to develop
and support improved AWM in Africa
• Objective is to assist SSA countries to achieve SDGs aimed at
ending hunger and poverty and promoting sustainable agriculture
• Capitalizing on IWMI’s three decades of research into methods
and tools to support and guide public and private sector
investments in irrigation
• Provide evidence of the performance and value of irrigated
agricultural systems in SSA
Sustainable Irrigation Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SIGiSSA)

21. Thank You
Ian W Makin
i.makin@cgiar.org
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