As part of the seminar held by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in collaboration with IWMI, World fish and ICARDA “Options for improving irrigation water efficiency for sustainable agricultural development”.

1. Dr. Nisreen Lahham, Nexus Dialogue Programme (GIZ Cairo Office)
nisreen.lahham@giz.de
02.10.2019
Improving Water Efficiency
in Solar Pumping Irrigation Systems
Case studies from Tunisia and Morocco

2. Solar Powered Irrigation systems (SPIS) in
the MENA Region
one of the fastest growing applications
 Rapidly growing prices for fossil pumping installations.
 Phasing out of power and diesel subsidies for farmers.
 Extension of farming and hence irrigation into remote regions
unconnected to the grid.
 Dropping costs of PV panels.
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3. SPIS Impacts
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 Create jobs with economic benefits.
 Reduce production costs for farmers.
 Mitigate climate change impacts.
 A sustainable green business.
 Encourage greater water extraction.
 Inefficient use of water.
 A sustainability risk.
 A challenge to water management
Comes at RisksBenefits

4. 4
To improve irrigation water efficiency Solar pumping
has to be integrated into a broader approach
A Nexus Approach to Manage SPIS

5.  Survey for farmers.
 Highlight rules, regulations and policies needed
to manage risks and realize potentials of SPIS.
 Examine socio-economic effects of SPIS.
 Provide recommendations to promote
sustainable use of SPIS.
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Impacts of SPIS in Tunisia, Morocco
SPIS lead to 0 operational cost farmers increase water
pumped to intensify agriculture or extend irrigated surface.

6. Results

7.  Farmers believe that they use free and inexhaustible water.
 88% believe that increasing the amounts of water increases
necessarily the yield.
 More than 80% pump more water than before to the plot.
 50% of farmers do not have water meters.
• 37% of farmers do not invest in water storage due to their
limited financial resources.
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Irrigation Water Efficiency

8. Recommandations

9. Irrigation Water Efficiency
 Proper sizing of SP installations to prevent increased water consumption.
 Elaborate of a practical guide on the sizing of agricultural SP installations.
 Penalize installers that install at illegal wells (withdrawal of certificate).
 Allow farmers to make rational decisions on using energy and water:
selling electricity, rainwater harvesting- post harvesting treatment-
cooling- drying.
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10. Conditional Subsidies to Increase Water
Efficiency
 Condition the subsidy to installing a localized drip irrigation system.
 Condition the subsidy to the existence of a storage system.
 Encourage collective SPIS: granting preferential subsidy rates to
farmers wishing to switch from individual to collective pumping.
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11. Farmers views on “conditional subsidy” SP
installations
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More than ½ of farmers surveyed are in favor of conditional subsidy,
under the main condition of guaranteeing them sufficient volumes of
water to cover the crops’ water needs.

12. Capacity Development and Raising
Awareness
 Raise awareness among:
 Installers
 Farmers
 Training centers
 Public agricultural services
 Civil society
 Promote cooperation between institutions of agriculture, water and
energy.
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13. Way Forward
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The League of Arab States/ Arab Organization for
Agricultural Development- FOA RNE with GIZ conducting a
regional policy dialogue on SPIS.

14. Thank you for your attention!
Nexus Dialogue Programme
www.water-energy-food.org